ARVIN FEDERAL CAMP

1. ARVIN FEDERAL CAMP “Weedpatch” Temporary home of the Joads

2. DUST BOWL: REVIEW • Between 1935 and 1940, more than 1 million people left their homes in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri to escape wind, drought, and dust. • They traveled Route 66 for California in search of work and a better life, where “no one ever went hungry.”

3. Government response • The Arvin Federal Camp, or “Weedpatch,” prepared for the influx of “Okies.” It is located near Lamont, California, not far from Sacramento. • The camp was on land leased to the United States Department of Agriculture by philanthropist Bertha Rankin. Its buildings were erected by the federal Farm Security Administration. • Camp included a manager’s house; sanitary units; showers; laundry facilities; spaces for tents.

4. “Weedpatch” Appeal • The migrants sought out Weedpatch because it was safe: as soon as they crossed California border, they were ridiculed, shamed, and rejected. • Weedpatch was no “paradise”: it was clean, though, and a vast improvement over the squatters’ camps and Hoovervilles. • The families were large, and many residents were children who were regarded by locals as stupid, dirty, and sub-human. Many attended school bare-footed.

5. 1936: A key year • In 1936, the camp housed about 300 people in one-room tin cabins and tents. Cost was $1 a week. • That year, a newspaper reporter named John Steinbeck, researching the plight of the “Okies,” stayed in neighboring Weedpatch. • He gathered material for what would become The Grapes of Wrath. • When “Grapes” became a Pulitzer-Prize winner and movie rights were bought, some scenes were filmed at Weedpatch Camp. The original post office was used in the film as the manager’s office. • Steinbeck dedicated “Grapes” to Weedpatch manager Tom Collins, who affectionately viewed the migrant farmers as “colorful relics of the nation’s rural past.”

6. 1939-’40 • In 1939, newly elected Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Leo Hart, took interest in the kids at the camp. He was determined to help them adjust into society. • Teachers and parents did not want these “Okie” children in the local schools. • In 1940, Hart determined that these children should have their own school: This story is documented in Jerry Stanley’s “Children of the Dust Bowl.”

7. Weedpatch Legacy • The camp eventually became the Sunset Labor Camp; it was taken over in 1958 by Kern County and deeded to Kern County Housing Authority in 1965. • Wooden-framed buildings have replaced the tin structures and tents; the original post office, library, and community building still stand are being restored. • People who still remember living in Weedpatch return often, saying it is a “cleansing experience” to revisit. Many say they are proud to be “Okies.” • In 1996, the key, original structures were placed in the National Register of Historic Places. • It is still used by migrant workers today. • A Dust Bowl festival is scheduled there every year.

8. Weedpatch Memories • “Togetherness and standing shoulder to shoulder made us able to stand when it would have been easy to give up.” • “We stuck together, went to church together, and when one of us needed a boost we all together rallied and helped.” • Iva Townson Helm: “Iva’s Dust Bowl Memories”

9. Weedpatch in “Grapes of Wrath” • The episode at the dance is symbolic of the integrity of self-governance: a reflection of how much better it is when power is distributed amongst the people. • “You’re our own folks. You belong with us. Don’t knife your own folks.” • The episode in with Ruthie’s rude behavior with the other children in chapter 22 – where she is ignored when she interrupts the game – is symbolic of the ultimate punishment: ostracism from the group.