The causes of the Dust Bowl continue to be a contentious topic among historians. At the core of understanding the Dust Bowl is the question of whose fault it was. Was it the result of government policies that encouraged farmers to till land beyond what Mother Nature could bear, or is guilt to be laid at the feet of Mother Nature herself? These documents thrust students into a heated scholarly debate that has hardly abated since this catastrophe first visited our land.
Image: Photo of Oklahoma farmer and sons walking in the face of a dust storm taken in 1936 by Arthur Rothstein. From the Library of Congress.
