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Grapes of Wrath Resources Page

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Use the use the links listed and annotated here to:  a) explore the world of the Dust Bowl migrants to California, b) deepen your understanding of Steinbeck’s novel, and c) gather background information that will help you define your character in the role play.   

The American Memory Collections in the Library of Congress

* From the Great Depression to WWII: Photographs of the Farm Security Administration   http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html.  A great collection of photographs, including classics by Dorothea Lange and others.  (TIP:  From the collection home page, go to “Black and White Photos,” and then to the Geographic Index.  Then, pick an area of California and examine the available photos.  OR, use the internal search engine to search for key words in the photo titles, such as “migrant.”) 

* Voices of the Dust Bowl http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html.  An impressive collection of sources on the Dust Bowl migrants, including images, songs, and audio recordings of oral testimony. You can search the collection by key word.  Or you can browse different sections.  (TIP:  The oral testimony AND the songs are both found under  “Performers/ Interviewees.” The section just lists names without telling you which are music and which are oral history.  To help you find the interviews, here’s a list of names to look for that should take you to oral testimony): 

 *  The New Deal Network  http://newdeal.feri.org/.  A strong collection of sources on all aspects of the New Deal.  To find particularly useful resources for this activity, including newspaper articles and Congressional testimony, go to the “Document Library, and then “Search by Subject.”  (TIP:  The search is a key word index of categories you can click on.  Some categories to try:  Agricultural Labor, California, Migrant Labor, or Oklahoma.)                       

* John Steinbeck Page from the U. of Missouri. http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~wsimkins/steinb.html.  An interesting if quirky collection of resources, including some Steinbeck essays and letters, a set of reviews and critical essays, and links to other Steinbeck sites.  (TIP:  I found the  “Secondary Sources” to be the best part of the site—especially Critical Essays.  See what you think.)

Supplemental Web resources:

* The Grapes of Wrath.  http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Steinbeck/grapes.html.  Chapter by chapter summary, for those who want a brief refresher.

* WeedPatch Camp http://www.netxn.com/~weedpatch/.  A cute but limited site on the camp that was supposedly the basis for Steinbeck’s research.

* SF Museum  http://www.best.com/~sfmuseum/hist8/ok.html.  A few short newspaper articles.

* Surviving the Dust Bowl. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dustbowl/.  A site based on the PBS documentary by the same name.