Young People in US History

The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin

Did you ever listen to the weather report, and hope for a snow day? Do you ever just leave the house without listening to the weather report? Or without a coat?

In 1888, weather forecasting was in its infancy. The Great Plains area – now North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska - was just being settled by thousands of impoverished European immigrants.

The morning of January 12th, 1888 was unseasonably warm. Farmers worked out of doors; children walked to their one-room schoolhouses, some without hats or coats. Suddenly, there was a roaring sound and winds up to 80 mph blasted dust-fine snow across the plains, dropping temperatures by more than 20 degrees in 3 minutes.

Anyone caught outdoors had only seconds to react. Those who remained outside found themselves unable to see two inches in front of them, unable to breath due to the fine snow and lost in a sea of white as ice froze their eyelids shut. Schoolteachers had to decide whether to keep their students in the schoolhouses, or to dismiss them and let them attempt to get home in the storm. A bad decision could be fatal.


Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman

The Great Depression was a hard time for many people in the United States. Many families could not afford food or housing. Their children had to do without new shoes and clothing, and toys were a rarity. Many children had to leave school and go to work to help support their families. The author of this book draws on primary source material including diaries, letters, photographs and newspapers to show how children lived in the 1930s.


Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930s by Michael L. Cooper

The Great Depression was not the only disaster to hit the United States in the 1930s. There was also the drought that led to the dust bowl – dust storms that carpeted the Great Plains. Farmers lost everything, small towns emptied out, and a mass migration westward took place, along the famous Route 66. Entire families lived in their cars, or in shanties, or became migrant workers in California, struggling to survive. This book features anecdotes from famous people, and historical photographs, and tells how this pair of calamities changed the United States.