Dust Bowl exhibit to blow into area

How to go

What: “Dust, Drought and Dreams Gone Dry” traveling exhibit

Where: Urbana University’s Swedenborg Library, 579 College Way, Urbana

When: March 9-April 17 during library hours

Admission: No cost

More info: 937-772-9315

Program schedule

Following is a list of programs and lectures tying into Urbana University’s “Dust, Drought and Dreams Gone Dry” exhibit. These will be in the Swedenborg Memorial Library on the campus unless noted.

There is no cost to attend the exhibit, lectures or programs.

For more information, go online to www.urbana.edu/resources/community/dust-bowl.html or call 937-772-9315.

March 7-April 6: “Images of the Great Depression: Documentary Portraits Revisited” at Urbana University Miller Center for Visual Arts. Exhibit open 9:30–10:45 a.m. Tuesdays; 9:30–10:45 a.m. and 1-4 p.m. Thursdays; and 1–4 p.m. Saturdays.

Saturday, March 7, 7 p.m.: Grand Opening. Includes Champaign County premiere of “Farmland.” Reservations requested, call 937-772-9315.

Tuesday, March 10, 6 p.m.: Wing family’s agricultural history; at the Mechanicsburg Public Library, 60 S. Main St.

March 16- 27: Photo wall displays at the Champaign County, Mechanicsburg and St. Paris public libraries.

March 17, 7 p.m.: “Caroline Henderson and the Women of the Dust Bowl” presented by J. Michael Rhyne, Ph.D.

March 18, noon: “Soil Health and Water Quality Enhancement,” presented by George Derringer.

March 22 and 29, 2-5 p.m.: “Ken Burns’ Dust Bowl”movie and discussion.

March 24, noon: “Ink & Attitude: Political Cartoons of the 1930s,” presented by Sylvia Wirsing Bryant, Ph.D.

March 24, 4 p.m.: “The Federal Theatre Project,” presented by student Brooke Tuttle.

March 26-28, 8 p.m.: “Triple-A Plowed Under,” in the Black Box Theatre in the Hub at Urbana University. Reservations are required at 937-772-9315.

March 30, 6 p.m.: “The Greatest Generation,” presented by Frank Giampetro.

April 1, noon: “Once the Dust Settled,” presented by Jeffrey Kalbus, Ryan Enlow and Margaret Piatt.

April 6, noon: “Grimes Manufacturing: Light in Urbana’s Skies in the 1930s,” presented by author Nancy Patzer.

April 7, 7 p.m.: “Mr. Roosevelt’s Constitutional Crisis: Court Packin’ and the New Deal,” presented by Ryan Enlow.

April 9, noon: “The Healing of the Land” presented by Mary Anne Frazee, Ph.D.

April 14, 4-6 p.m.: Mechanicsburg Public Library. Don Hunt and Glenn Lewis will host an open house to discuss the book “Mr. Wilson: My Life in My Words.”

April 16, noon: “Dust in My Lungs: Health During the Dust Bowl” presented by Barbara Miville, Ph.D.

As we slog through an apparently endless winter, Urbana University will remind us of another historical environmental challenge in U.S. history.

“Dust, Drought and Dreams Gone Dry” is a national traveling exhibit that focuses on the dust storms and drought that plagued the Great Plains states agriculture and ecology in the 1930s. The exhibit will open this weekend along with a slew of programs related to the event with local focus and lecturers.

The exhibit, which will be in Urbana University’s Swedenborg Memorial Library, will have a grand opening Saturday evening. This will be followed by the Champaign County premiere of the film “Farmland.” There is no cost to attend, but reservations are requested at 937-772-9315.

The exhibit, which was created by The American Library Association Public Programs Office, will run through April 17.

Exploring what turned otherwise productive farmland into nothing and answering how such an event could impact the future are part of the exhibit.

“It’s a great opportunity to think about where we are now in our environment and question if we are making the right choices now,” said Julie McDaniel, director of Library Services. “There were some scary things going on with this, and we need to ask if we are proper in our water use and land use.”

McDaniel said that this is the only Ohio stop for the exhibit, which will mainly tour the Plains states hit by the Dust Bowl.

Ohio was fortunate not to be affected by the phenomenon, but this is where 16 programs and lectures relating to the exhibit will be offered over five weeks.