Who were the Okies or Dust Bowl refugees?
These Dust Bowl refugees were called “Okies.” Okies faced discrimination, menial labor and pitiable wages upon reaching California. Many of them lived in shantytowns and tents along irrigation ditches. “Okie” soon became a term of disdain used to refer to any poor Dust Bowl migrant, regardless of their state of origin.
How did the Dust Bowl affect Okies life?
The damaging environmental effects of the dust storms had not only dried up the land, but it had also dried up jobs and the economy. The drought caused a cessation of agricultural production, leading to less income for farmers, and consequently less food on the table for their families.
Why are migrants Okies?
Because they arrived impoverished and because wages were low, many lived in filth and squalor in tents and shantytowns along the irrigation ditches. Consequently, they were despised as “Okies,” a term of disdain, even hate, pinned on economically degraded farm laborers no matter their state of origin.
How did Californians view Dust Bowl refugees Okies?
Californians derided the newcomers as “hillbillies,” “fruit tramps” and other names, but “Okie”—a term applied to migrants regardless of what state they came from—was the one that seemed to stick, according to historian Michael L. Cooper’s account in Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930s.
Who were the Okies or Dust Bowl refugees where were they from and to what state did many of them go searching for work?
Although the Dust Bowl included many Great Plains states, the migrants were generically known as “Okies,” referring to the approximately 20 percent who were from Oklahoma. The migrants represented in Voices from the Dust Bowl came primarily from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri.
Who were the Okies and what did they do?
“Okies,” as Californians labeled them, were refugee farm families from the Southern Plains who migrated to California in the 1930s to escape the ruin of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.
What are Okies and Arkies?
– Okies – Dust Bowl migrants from Oklahoma & the Plains. – Arkies – Dust Bowl migrants from Arkansas. (in the 1930’s), migrating to California.
What two causes contributed to the Dust Bowl?
Economic depression coupled with extended drought, unusually high temperatures, poor agricultural practices and the resulting wind erosion all contributed to making the Dust Bowl.
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.
What did the Okies do?
“Okies,” as Californians labeled them, were refugee farm families from the Southern Plains who migrated to California in the 1930s to escape the ruin of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Okies were escaping two distinct although simultaneous and bordering catastrophes, one economic, the other more environmental.
What happened to the Okies?
What eventually happened to Okies?
Who were the Okies?
OAKIES “Okies,” as Californians labeled them, were refugee farm families from the Southern Plains who migrated to California in the 1930s to escape the ruin of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.
What happened to the Okies after the Dust Bowl?
What became of those 350,000 Dust Bowl victims of the 1930s, the Okies, who piled in their overburdened flivvers and streamed west to California, the rejected refuse of the Great Depression? Well, the Okies certainly did not die out. But it appears, three generations after their ordeal, that Ma Joad’s prediction was a bit off.
Who were the Dust Bowl migrants from Oklahoma?
Okies, Dust Bowl Migrants from Oklahoma & the Plains Okies As the “double whammy” of drought and depression deepened on the Great Plains, more and more farmers gave up or were forced off of their land.
Who are the Okies in Hello Again Oakies?
OAKIES. “Okies,” as Californians labeled them, were refugee farm families from the Southern Plains who migrated to California in the 1930s to escape the ruin of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. The refugees came from several states, including the drought-ravaged corners of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico but especially…