Ken Burns seeks Dust Bowl stories
Filmmaker Ken Burns is seeking stories for his upcoming film “The Dust Bowl.” Burns writes “… Like our earlier films on World War II, Jazz, Baseball, and The Civil War, we think the Dust Bowl is an important event in all of American history. We’re in the early stages of our research, but we know that Oklahoma will be a major part of the Dust Bowl story we want to tell. We’re looking for first-person stories of Oklahomans who lived through those hard, hard times, especially out in the Panhandle, where the Dust Bowl was the worst. We hope to find people who can share their experiences with us - or their photographs, diaries, or home movies from the 1930s, to help us tell this important story.”
If you have or know of a person who has a dust bowl story to share,
email: dustbowl@oeta.tv
call: the Oklahoma PBS station OETA at 1-800-846-7665
or writing to:
OETA Dustbowl Stories
P.O. Box 14190
Oklahoma City, OK 73113
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July 13th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
I called OETA, 800-846-7665, today. I left the message that I can connect the producers with resources in the panhandle of Oklahoma. My 90-year-old mother grew up in Boise City, OK., and has told me stories about her Dust Bowl experiences all of my life. She especially recalls the Sunday afternoon known as Black Sunday, April 14, 1935. She was 17 and recalls the terror of what she thought was the “end of the world”. Her parents were driving their family to Kenton, OK., for a picnic when caught in the middle of the fast approaching black broiling bank of dust clouds filling the skies. My mother, Maudie Ellis Kincannon, is vibrant and articulate and can recall and re-enact many of her experiences, as well as her family’s and friends’. The Dust Bowl is an American survival story which is such a shining moment, representing the human spirit’s ability to deal with natural forces and rise above the fear and devastation of an unexpected life event. It made an indelible imprint on the lives of my parents which they passed on to me in terms of life’s basic values and contributing to the greater good. I spent every summer of my young life in Boise City, transplanted from Houston, TX., to spend time with both of my parents’ relatives. The simplicity of the panhandle of Oklahoma is both desolate and beautiful. In our high tech world, I find it to be a respite now. The Dust Bowl days are an integral part of the spirit of their communities…people still trusting one another and willing to help their neighbor to the other side of the dark cloud. Please call or email if we can assist you with this invaluable part of our nation’s history. Ken Burns, thank you for telling this incredible story!