SPOTLIGHT: The Dust Bowl Orphans

Sunday April 14, 1935
The worst dust storm our nation ever experienced happened thanks to years of drought, overproduction of the land, reduced soil conservation, and the Great Depression. Black clouds darkened the sky, killed livestock, and created an economic crisis. Yet, rarely if ever, have we heard its impact on the African-American community.

Faith Wilson & Zoe Edwards
The heroines of our story share visage as well as lineage, finding one another through a photograph taken in 1935 when Faith was 15 and separated from family as a result of this natural phenomenon.

My Inspiration
My grandfather was born in the tiny town of Wellston, Oklahoma where The Dust Bowl Orphans begins. This story is a tribute to my great grandparents who, in the 1930s, dared to pull up stakes and migrate to California in search of better life opportunities for themselves and their six children. Additionally, it is a love song to African-Americans who were lost to or survived the Dust Bowl but whose stories were never told.