Excerpt from 'On Drought Conditions'
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
1936
Passage Summary:
This speech, made by 32nd President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt (served 1933-1945), addresses the problems of the Great Depression and the “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s—during which severe drought and erosion conditions led to a prolonged agricultural crisis.
When and How to Pair: Have students read this text before beginning the novel as background information on the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Pair “Excerpt from ‘On Drought Conditions’” with The Grapes of Wrath and ask students to compare how both texts frame the destruction of this environmental crisis, and to consider how, historically, the U.S. responded to this crisis.