Kansas in The Great Depression

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Prior to 1930, Kansas had been a force within the States and assured of her standing. She was prosperous, growing, politically astute and on the cutting edge of technology. This would change dramatically during the following decade. At the end of the post WWI depression, farmers had managed to retain their farms, but barely. Then the drought started and crops died; the exposed dirt would blow in the winds and seep into the homes, closets and cupboards. Some dust storms would leave inches to feet of dust in its wake. On May 10, 1934, the dust storms were so bad that Kansas dirt was hurled all the way to Chicago and is said to have covered more then 75% of the country. When the rain started falling again in 1939, the Soil Conservation Service started researching ways to stop another "Dust Bowl". Some of their solutions (planting trees as windbreaks, ground cover, crop rotation and terracing fields) may have averted another "Dirty Thirties" episode. Debbie's mother said she would help her mother hang wet cloths over windows and doors to help stop the dirt from seeping into the house. Sometimes the storms were so bad they would have to go to the tornado cave. She said you could tell when the dirt was from Oklahoma because it was red instead of the rich, black soil from Kansas. When homes built prior to the 30s are torn down, it is not unusual to find a foot or more of dust still standing between the walls.