perspectives

climate

1) weather- I keep having this image of rain for some reason. Rain on a mountain. its really weird and I'm not at all sure why that is the first thing that came to my mind......
2) atmosphere-the things around me are the atmosphere
3) storage- like climate controlled storage facilities.
4)change- climate change is said a lot. thinking about global warming.
5) humidity- When the climate changes (global warming) I think heat. Heat makes me think humidity. miserable humidity.


My Question:
What have we done as a population that has worked in the past and is still implemented in the future? In other words, What have we done right?

Dust Bowl Memorial and Museum

Welcome to the American Dust Bowl Museum & Memorial. Here, guests will encounter and understand the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. The facility is separated into three buildings, the main building, composed of 6 small exhibits; the “green”ery , which is an indoor farm facility, and lastly “the shack”.

Descriptions of each exhibit may be found on this guide. Note the numbering on the map corresponds with the numbering on this guide.

1.     The Timeline Room- This room was designed to give the guest a very brief preview and background on the decade in which the Dust Bowl took place. Major events are listed such as “Black Sunday” and the massive migrations from the affected areas of the dust storms.

2.     The Culture Room- This is the space dedicated to the popular culture of and about the time. This is the only room in the museum which music is constantly played. The music that can be heard is Woody Guthrie’s songs about living in and surviving the Dust Bowl.  

3.     The Photo Gallery- This space is filled with the photographs from the Dust Bowl, these photos are meant to give the viewer a brief glimpse of the devastation brought about by the storms.

4.     The Film Room- this room is set up like a modern movie theatre and plays documentaries for guests wishing to deepen their knowledge on the time period.

5.     The news room- this is the room that covers the political side of the Dust Bowl; what the president and his cabinet to aid the relief of the drought and the dust storms that were affecting over 75% of the country.

6.     The conference room- This is a space in which groups may divide and interact and act as if they were in the time period and try to solve the problems that the citizens of the United States in the 30s.

7.     The “Green”ery- This space is an “outdoor” classroom so to speak. The greenhouse is divided into 2 sections. A majority dedicated to the proper techniques of farming that could have prevented the Dust Bowl. Where as the other is a small patch that demonstrates the improper farming techniques given the drought conditions that caused the Dust Bowl.  Farming was a large contributing factor to the Dust Bowl, and this building is to give it the importance it is due for the cause of the tragic events of the decade.

8.     “The Shack”- This last building is meant for visitors to see in person the conditions of the homes of people living during the Dust Bowl. Guests will enter the “shack” and experience a dust filled house similar to the conditions of the “Dirty Thirties”.

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/depwwii/dustbowl/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/dustbowl/

http://www.history.com/topics/dust-bowl

http://www.allmusic.com/album/dust-bowl-ballads-mw0000652784

1930s reading questions

1) Hoover didn't take the problems of the Great Depression seriously, and said that the poverty would fix itself in 60 days. He didn't believe that it was the government's issue

2)

3)If I had experienced Black Sunday, I would honestly be terrified. I probably wouldn't walk outside foe a while unless I had to.

4) my questions/thoughts during Black Sunday would have been:

• why is this happening?
• why is this one so much worse than the others?
• I wonder/hope everyone I know is safe.
• I hope it's all over soon

5) the drought began in the east and moved west

6)The drought was caused by improper farming techniques.

7) I somewhat agree with the quote at the end of the article, because droughts happen throughout the world all the time. I think that it may the fault of the people in the US at the time in combination with the natural environment. We are seeing the effects of global warming today, so why couldn't they have been occurring in the 1930s as well?

8) The "Dust Bowl exodus" was the largest migration in US history.

9)When migrants came from california, they came to realize that life in california would be just as hard as what they left from. They were unfamiliar with the crops and modernized ways of farming, and were paid very little. and what they were paid, they'd have to spend to rent shelter for the night, which would be extremely expensive based upon what they were paid. so the overall standard of living was extremely low.

1930s radio ads

I did some research on some of the ads that were played in the 1930s and came across a particularly interesting ad for soap. It was nothing like the ads we have today where companies just list every reason why we as consumers should buy the product. It was a story that engaged the listener, it was a story that the listener could remember, thus making the product stand out. Similar to todays ads, when we hear something that makes us laugh or we find repulsive or ridiculous, we are more likely to remember it.
I was taken through the story about a girl with bad body odor, or as it is called in the story "just plain B.O.!"

I went looking for a few more ads to compare to the soap ad and I found an Ipana ad. I had heard of Ipana from Grease, and decided that I wanted to see if the ad was the same as I had originally heard. As it turns out, it wasn't, it was similar to the story that was in the soap commercial.

What I have learned about advertising in the 30s is that people told stories to give a message about a product. So much more could be said on the radio than could be printed.

Speech on CH 24

            As all of you know, the 1920s in the US was a period of constant change. I find that the 1920s was the turning point, which separated the ways of old American tradition from the modernized lifestyle we live today.

I like to view history as a story of how collective groups of people have progressed. In American history, we can view the 1920s as the climax that answers the questions of the past, and point us towards the future. 

Poorer and less urban Americans stuck to the traditions of old, where as the younger, richer and more urban people were open to change and willing to be a part of the change that was being brought about during the decade.

Before the 20s, the average family didn’t have the electrical appliances that we think of today as essentials, things like washing machines, vacuums and refrigerators. For the first time, families could afford to buy both need and luxury based items, and thanks to that affordability of cars allowed people to escape their daily lives and take vacations. Life for the most of the youth in the 20s could not have been any better.

But the 20s weren’t all about buying products and making life easier, for a large part of the country it was about art of many varieties; paintings, drawings, poetry and novels. Some of the best artistic work in history was crafted in this decade.  

However for some, the 1920s in America didn’t seem so glamorous. There were many people who took dissatisfaction with the time. They were known as the “disenchanted”. They were repulsed with the idea of consumerism and the country’s obsession with material wealth.

When the National Origins Act was passed, America took a step backwards in its progress. Congress limited the immigration from most of the world and completely eliminated immigration from East Asia.

The lives that each of us lead today would be drastically different if people who lived in the 20s weren’t open to progress. If they hadn’t adopted the new ideas, embraced the art, and immersed themselves in the ever-changing culture of America, our lives wouldn’t be as simple as they are today.