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Voices from the Dustbowl
Produced by Barrett Golding
Edited by Jeff Rogers

Emmett
Frank and Myra Pipkins being recorded by Charles Todd. 1941 Photo by Robert Herring. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

  • Listen with RealAudio in 14.4 or 28.8 flavors.
  • Sonkin and Todd kept a journal of their experiences.
  • For more information about the Dust Bowl, visit the American Folklife Center, library of congress.

    Names of Dust Bowl refugees heard in this story:

    Recordist Charles Todd
    "Cotton Eyed Joe": King Family
    Charlie Spurlock ("red dust storm...")
    "She Ain't That Kind": Floyd Jones- harmonica
    Mrs. Flora Robertson ("black cloud...")
    Tom Higginbotham ("chickens starve...")
    Going Down The Road Feeling Bad: Huber, Ruth & Judd, Lois
    Roy Turner ("left OK walkin...")
    Mrs. J. W. Becker ("didn't have money...")
    Sherman Loop ("house trailer...")
    "Charming Betsy": Mr. & Mrs. Stankewitz
    "Oklahoma Farewell": Roy Turner
    "Wildwood Flower": Nelson, Norman, guitar
    Wayne "Gene" Dinwiddie ("stopped in NM...")
    Tom Higginbotham ("living conditions in AR...")
    Wayne "Gene" Dinwiddie ("come on over in CA...")
    "Sunny Cal": Jack Bryant- with guitar
    "Associated Farmers Have A Farm": Ruby Rains- with guitar
    Augustus Martinez ("in those ranches...")
    "Goverment Camp Song": Mary & Betty Campbell
    Tom Higginbotham ("government camps...")
    Mrs. J. W. Becker ("it's pitiful...")
    (Stage Announcer: Sherman Loop)
    "Girl I Left Behind": King Family (reg & gourd versions)
    (Square dance with Jew's harp, guitar, and
    caller: Shafter FSA Camp)
    Cotton Fever: Fred Ross- poem, Luther Quinton- fiddle, Floyd Jones- guitar
    (Imitations): Donald Leach
    "Barbara Ellen": Mrs. Mary Sullivan
    "Old Apple Tree in the Orchard, The": Ruth Elliot,
    "Dandoo": Joy Pike, with Russ Pike- guitar


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    Copyright © 2000 The Kitchen Sisters