Rebecca Alvarado's Journal
45964
Stinging Dust - Forgotten Lives
January 12th, 2016, Friday
After watching "Stinging Dust - Forgotten Lives," I learned many important facts about the Dust Bowl in American history. I learned that it lasted for approximately 10 years in the 1930's, and how it led many to live tragic lives. The Dust Bowl hit one of the largest grasslands in the world, extending for miles and affecting millions in the United States. Storms increased in the years of 1935 and 1938. Many left the Dust Bowl states (the main ones being Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado) for California. Others decided to stay in hopes of subsiding storms. Little did those people know it was to continue for years and years, eventually getting worse, until they had to resort to masks to prevent infections from the debris. Being poor farmers, they had to make many of their masks from home, using utilities such as the water-less water cans and home appliances to cover their faces. Unfortunately, these homemade masks were not always enough to get the stinging dust out of their lungs. Many children developed dust pneumonia, to which there was no cure, and died. "Stinging Dust - Forgotten Lives" has opened my eyes to the tragedies of the Dust Bowl and has helped me see, in a visual format, just how catastrophic these times left America.