The Great Depression Families - Dust Bowl Refugees and Survival Stories

The Great Depression devastated American families during the 1930s, especially farmers in the Dust Bowl regions of the Great Plains. Economic collapse, drought, and massive dust storms forced hundreds of thousands to migrate west in search of survival. Their struggles revealed deep weaknesses in the economy but also reshaped the role of government through New Deal reforms. The era became one of the defining survival stories in American history.