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Documentary

All Episodes of The Dust Bowl

PBS

Browse all episodes of The Dust Bowl

All Episodes of The Dust Bowl

Chronicles the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, in which the frenzied wheat boom of the Great Plow-Up, followed by a decade-long drought during...
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Season 1

  • The Great Plow Up
    N/A/100 votes

    The Great Plow Up

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 11/18/2012

    The grasslands of the southern Plains were rapidly turned into wheat fields. Then following the early years of the drought, storms killed crops and livestock and literally rearranged the landscape. The worst storm of them all was on April 14, 1935—Black Sunday—a searing experience for everyone caught in it, including a young songwriter from Pampa, Texas, named Woody Guthrie.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Reaping the Whirlwind
    N/A/100 votes

    Reaping the Whirlwind

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 11/19/2012

    Black Sunday was only halfway through the decade-long crisis. The storms continued. The Great Depression still affected people. Government programs were instituted to help. Learn what FDR’s administration did to try to keep the southern Plains from becoming a North American Sahara desert. Find out why some residents finally decided they had to give up and move somewhere else and how some held on.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown