Dust Bowl

Read by Mary Lou Dieterich, in the 1930s a drought combined with dry winds to cause major damage to U.S. Great Plains states. It was called the "Dust Bowl" and it caused over two million people to migrate from the area. Many settled in Stanislaus County, including Florence Owens Thompson. She became immortalized as the face of the time in one of the most famous photos in history; the photo is known as the "Migrant Mother," by photographer Dorothea Lange.