Geography 417: California For Educators

History Lab 2: Myth vs. Primary Sources   

History Lab 2: Dustbowl Mythologies and Primary Source Data.

Background: The ability to do some rudimentary historical and/or spatial thinking has been shown to improve teacher quality.  Part of such thinking stems from the epistemological question "How do you know what you know?"  To this end, this exercise has been developed to help you gain some skill using primary sources.  Mythology is one of the most powerful forms of historical knowledge.   Responsible historians and geographers are always wary of that which "everyone knows", because such "truths" may be wrong, but are very difficult to dislodge from public perception.   TEACHERS must be careful not to propagate mythologies, because many school-aged pupils may carry the falsehoods around with them forever and into places where such ideas can be dangerous...such as...into the voting booth

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CSBE Standard:  This exercise addresses in part several of the California State standards for 4th graders:

4.4 Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power, tracing the transformation of the California economy and its political and cultural development since the 1850s.

  1. Discuss immigration and migration to California between 1850 and 1900, including the diverse composition of those who came; the countries of origin and their relative locations; and conflicts and accords among the diverse groups (e.g., the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act).

  2. Describe rapid American immigration, internal migration, settlement, and the growth of towns and cities (e.g., Los Angeles).

  3. Discuss the effects of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and World War II on California.

  4. Describe the development and locations of new industries since the nineteenth century, such as the aerospace industry, electronics industry, large-scale commercial agriculture and irrigation projects, the oil and automobile industries, communications and defense industries, and important trade links with the Pacific Basin.

  5. Trace the evolution of California's water system into a network of dams, aqueducts, and reservoirs.

  6. Describe the history and development of California's public education system, including universities and community colleges.

  7. Analyze the impact of twentieth-century Californians on the nation's artistic and cultural development, including the rise of the entertainment industry (e.g., Louis B. Meyer, Walt Disney, John Steinbeck, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, John Wayne).

CSET Standard: This exercise address in part several CSET Skills and Abilities requirements.  Specifically covered by this lab are the domains below:

Part II-B. Candidates for Multiple Subject Teaching Credentials analyze, interpret and evaluate research evidence in history and the social sciences.

  1. They interpret primary and secondary sources, including written documents, narratives, photographs, art and artifacts revealed through archeology. **

  2. In relation to confirmed research evidence they assess textbooks and contrast differing points of view on historic and current events.  **

  3. In the interpretation of historical and current events, candidates identify, explain and discuss multiple causes and effects. **

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Directions:  Read Dust Bowl Odyssey, the 11th chapter in the book After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection. Click here for .pdf  *requires password

Part I: Vocabulary and Background.

1.  In what year did the Dust Bowl begin "in earnest"? .

2.  What naturally occurring plant community had prevented dust-bowl conditions prior to the 20th century? 

3.  What author wrote The Grapes of Wrath?

4.  What highway was the escape route for those fleeing the dusty plains states for California during the Depression?

5.  What is the name of the photographer who took or snapped the famous photograph "Migrant Mother #6"

6.  What was the "migrant mother's" child doing in the first photo of this series that made it far less famous ?

7.  From what town in Oklahoma did the fictional Joad family emigrate?

8.  Fill in the blank.  According to the U.S. census, decade beginning in  was the decade in which most people from the Western South migrated to California.

9.  If you were going to pick snap beans or strawberries in California during the Great Depression, your employer probably would not have been White, but instead would probably have been  .

10.  What ethnic group was displaced in the San Joaquin Valley by incoming White migrants during the 1930s ?.

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Part II: Write an Essay

Write a short essay entitled, “Dust Bowl Myth and Fact”.  In this essay you must recount five ways in which popular notions (contained in Grapes of Wrath, WPA photography, etc. ) about the Dust Bowl migrations are not accurate.  Among the topics you should devote a paragraph's explanation to are mythologies surrounding: 1 ) changes in agricultural economics, 2) census information, 3) discussion of migration route itself, 4) the nature of agricultural laborers in California and 5) the destinations of the migrants who came to California.  Other mythologies exist and you are welcome to use those instead.

It shouldn't be any more than 2 full pages.

Things to keep in mind as you compose your essay:

1.  Make sure that you write this as an essay, that you make collegiate use of topic sentences.

2.  Make sure you introduce your argument with a thematic statement of some sort can be found in your introductory paragraph.  A concluding paragraph should briefly restate the validity of your thematic statement.  Your thematic statement should probably include some reference to the unreliability of mythologies, especially those surrounding the Dust Bowl migrations to California.

3. Make sure your grammar and spelling are in order because essays with multiple grammar or spelling mistakes will not earn an A.

4.  Most of all write about what you are supposed to be writing about.  More students earn poor grades for not following the directions than for any other reason.

5.  Consult this rubric to see how your essay will be evaluated. 

Compose your essay using a word processing software and save the file with the following naming convention "417_lab3_{your last name}".  So if your last name was Jones, you would save this essay as 417_lab3_jones.doc.

Make sure the file is virus free and send it as an email attachment to your instructor. 

Please remember to fill in the information below before you press Enter or click the submit button.

Name

Email

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If you have questions or comments, please contact me at steve.graves@csun.edu