Who migrated to California during the Great Depression?
In the 1930s, farmers from the Midwestern Dust Bowl states, especially Oklahoma and Arkansas, began to move to California; 250,000 arrived by 1940, including a third who moved into the San Joaquin Valley, which had a 1930 population of 540,000. During the 1930s, some 2.5 million people left the Plains states.
What did most migrant workers do to make a living in California during the 1930s?
The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, a period of drought that destroyed millions of acres of farmland, forces white farmers to sell their farms and become migrant workers who travel from farm to farm to pick fruit and other crops at starvation wages.
What was life like in California during the Great Depression?
California was hit hard by the economic collapse of the 1930s. Businesses failed, workers lost their jobs, and families fell into poverty. While the political response to the depression often was confused and ineffective, social messiahs offered alluring panaceas promising relief and recovery.
What happened to the Okies in California?
Okies–They Sank Roots and Changed the Heart of California : History: Unwanted and shunned, the 1930s refugees from the Dust Bowl endured, spawning new generations. Their legacy can be found in towns scattered throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Well, the Okies certainly did not die out.
Is Okie a pejorative?
“Okie” has been historically defined as “a migrant agricultural worker; esp: such a worker from Oklahoma” (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary). The term became derogatory in the 1930s when massive migration westward occurred.
Where did most of the Okies go?
The migrants included people from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico, but were all referred to as “Okies” and “Arkies.” More of the migrants were from Oklahoma than any other state, and a total of 15% of the Oklahoma population left for California.
Is Okie a slur?
In the early twentieth century people from Oklahoma were occasionally nicknamed “Okies,” a special appellation that seemed a natural shortening of the state’s name. Reddick seized the Oklahoma nickname and began to apply it to all migrants. Indeed, the term “Okie” took on the same negativity as a racial or ethnic slur.
What does it mean when someone says Okie?
1 informal : a native or resident of Oklahoma. 2 informal + sometimes disparaging : a migrant agricultural worker especially : one from Oklahoma in the 1930s.
Why did the Dust Bowl lead to increased migration?
Migrants Fled Widespread Drought in Midwest “Farm communities in the larger region were also hurt by falling cotton prices. All of this contributed to what has become known as the Dust Bowl migration,” Gregory says.
How many people died in the Dust Bowl migration?
7,000 people
Why did Dust Bowl refugees go to California?
The arrival of the Dust Bowl migrants forced California to examine its attitude toward farm work, laborers, and newcomers to the state. The Okies changed the composition of California farm labor. They displaced the Mexican workers who had dominated the work force for nearly two decades.
Who was president when the Dust Bowl began?
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Where did the Dust Bowl refugees come from?
The press called them Dust Bowl refugees, although actually few came from the area devastated by dust storms. Instead they came from a broad area encompassing four southern plains states: Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. More than half a million left the region in the 1930s, mostly heading for California.
What was life like during the Dust Bowl?
Despite all the dust and the wind, we were putting in crops, but making no crops and barely living out of barnyard products only. We made five crop failures in five years.” Life during the Dust Bowl years was a challenge for those who remained on the Plains. Windows were taped and wet sheets hung to catch the dust.