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Dust Bowl Refugees
Migrants, Musicians and
Photographers
In the 'Great Depression'
Robert D. Morritt
Availability
 As
a child I heard more about 'The Great Depression' almost daily, in table talk
at home conducted by my Father. He was born 'Out West' and grew up in the
1920's and early 1930's. With no local work available, he (as did many
others) "Rode the rods" (hiked aboard railroad freight trains) and
headed east. Eventually as a graphic artist he found work drawing
illustrations for advertisements for The Timothy Eaton Store catalogue (Its
counterpart in the U.S.A., was the Sears-Roebuck or the Montgomery Ward, mail
order catalogue. This book describes the onslaught of the 'Dust storms' with
visual evidence, the resettlement of migrants, many of whom ended up in
California work camps as described within Steinbeck's "The Grapes of
Wrath". Much focus is devoted to the FSA photographers, their
insight into the human condition evidenced by the depth that we witness in
each image. The book ends with an overview the Lomax prison work camp field
recordings and musicians and recordings of that era.
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