What's Happening
I N
C A L I F O R N I A
BY LAWRENCE GABLE
Americans
Celebrate
The Grapes
of Wrath
ohn Steinbeck holds an important place
in American literature. His most famous
novel is The Grapes of Wrath, which
appeared in 1939. It became a bestseller that led
Americans to think about important social issues.
This year Americans are celebrating the 75 th
anniversary of that book.
Mr. Steinbeck grew up in Salinas. In
the summers he worked on ranches, where he
learned about the difficulties of migrant workers.
In the 1930s he wrote a series of seven newspaper articles about them. That information
formed the basis of The Grapes of Wrath.
In the 1930s a long drought ruined farmland in the Midwest. Because of tremendous
dust storms there, people refer to that entire era
as the “Dust Bowl.” People were desperate for
work, so about 400, 000 people left Oklahoma,
Arkansas, Texas and Missouri. They formed the
largest internal migration in U.S. history. Their
dream was to find work on farms in California.
The Grapes of Wrath is the story of the
Joads, a family of farmers in Oklahoma. Their
crops have failed, so they have no income.
When the bank takes their farm, they drive on
Route 66 to California. They arrive in Kern
County, but find bad working conditions there.
Workers live in migrant camps, wages are low,
J
?
VOL 15, NO 10 JUNE 2014
and the workers have few
rights. Tom Joad gets
into trouble while fighting for justice. He has
to flee, but promises
that he always will stand
up for the powerless.
The novel had an
immediate impact. The U.S.
Congress changed labor laws. In the
first year alone the book sold 428, 000 hardcover
copies. Not everyone loved it though. In agricultural areas of California the employers hated it.
In Kern County, for example, the authorities
burned the books and banned them from libraries
and schools.
In 1962 John Steinbeck won the Nobel
Prize in Literature. Of course the Swedish
Academy recognized all of his writing, but it
made special note of The Grapes of Wrath. In
his acceptance speech he said that he tried to
write about the “courage, compassion and love”
that humans need in order to combat “weakness
and despair.”
A number of places are celebrating this
year’s anniversary. The National Steinbeck
Center in Salinas asked artists, writers and
musicians to drive the Joads’ route again.
Along the way they led programs and workshops.
They also created art that explores the struggles
of Americans today.
The Grapes of Wrath depicts one family’s
struggles at one point in American history.
However, their fight for dignity, justice and
income equality is not restricted to that time.
As people reread and discuss John Steinbeck’s
great novel, they are finding that it reveals as
much about life today as it did 75 years ago.
What's Happening
I N
C A L I F O R N I A
BY LAWRENCE GABLE
?
VOL 15, NO 10 JUNE 2014
BIOGRAPHY
ELIZABETH WELDEN-SMITH
CURATOR OF EDUCATION AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS, NATIONAL STEINBECK CENTER
Salinas frames Elizabeth Welden-
After graduation Ms.
Welden-Smith traveled through
Smith’s life. She was born there
Europe for four months. Of course
and grew up in a rural community
she went to as many museums as
not far away. Although her educashe could. Then in 2006 she
tion and career took her to faraway
studied Museum Studies at a
places, she returned to Monterey
university in Australia. That
County. Since 2011 she has been
program allowed her to work
working at the National Steinbeck
and learn in many museums there.
Center in Salinas.
She even got to work at the
When she was young,
National Museum of Australia.
Elizabeth and her family enjoyed
“I
was
anxious
to
learn
the
Ms. Welden-Smith
the outdoors. She was naturally
inner
workings
of
museums.”
returned to California in 2010.
curious. Often she roamed the
She looked for jobs all around the U.S., but she
fields, climbed trees, and picked up interesting
got one near home. For 18 months she worked
things along the way. As a family they went
at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Then in October
backpacking, skiing and diving. At home they
2011 the National Steinbeck Center hired her.
kept animals like chickens, rabbits and ducks.
In this position she tries to reach out to people
Elizabeth’s interest in museums comes
not just in the region, but also nationally.
naturally. Her mother has been the director of an
For the 75 th anniversary of The Grapes
agricultural museum for 33 years. Through her
Elizabeth developed an interest in how a museum of Wrath she made the journey on Route 66.
She traveled with the artists for eleven days.
creates an exhibit from just an idea. She used to
It was a memorable experience for her and
volunteer at a museum in Monterey too. There
the others. They met many people in communshe led tours and organized archives.
ities along the way who told stories of their
In college that interest in museums grew
local history.
even stronger. Mills College had a fine museum.
Elizabeth Welden-Smith has read most of
A professor there recommended that she go to
John Steinbeck’s books. Her first one, The Pearl,
New York City in the summers and work as an
intern. For one of those summers she worked at a was in the 6 th grade, and she remembers thinking
that it was sad. Now she finds a lot of wisdom
design museum. It is part of the Smithsonian
and beauty in Steinbeck’s writing. Even better,
Institution. There she got to do more things than
most interns get to. She even helped gather items in her job she gets to share her love of his writing
with people everywhere.
for an important exhibit.
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
Background Information
The Grapes of Wrath appeared on April 14, 1939. It won
the Pulitzer Prize in 1940.
John Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968 in New York
City.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt read The Grapes of Wrath
and called it “an unforgettable experience.” Then she
visited migrant camps in California and saw the poor
conditions.
The Swedish Academy called Mr. Steinbeck an “independent expounder of the truth.”
In an interview after the book was published, Mr.
Steinbeck said that he had been “filled with certain
angers at people who were doing injustices to other
people.” He also expressed his belief that the migrants
to California would “change things almost as much as
did the coming of the first American settlers.”
Mr. Steinbeck’s series of newspaper articles was titled
“The Harvest Gypsies.” Photographs by the great
American photographer Dorothea Lange appeared with
them.
The 34 th annual Steinbeck Festival at the National
Steinbeck Center took place May 2–4.
The artists on the National Steinbeck Center’s journey
last fall collected oral histories from people along Route
66. They are available at California State University
Bakersfield, Stanford University and The Autry Museum
in Los Angeles.
San Jose State University is home to the Martha Heasley
Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies. It is now the world’s
largest Steinbeck archive. The public can use the collection and view displays of paintings, drawings, movie
posters, memorabilia and artifacts.
CSU Bakersfield continues to celebrate the 75 th anniversary of The Grapes of Wrath. Its schedule of public events
includes films, concerts, lectures and drama that connect
the novel to the cultural legacy of the region.
The ban in Kern County remained in effect for a year and
a half. San Jose Public Library also banned The Grapes of
Wrath when it appeared.
In 2012 the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns made a
film called “The Dust Bowl.”
The classic film version of The Grapes of Wrath was
filmed in 1940. Some of it was filmed at the Weedpatch
Migration Camp. In 1996 the government placed several
buildings there on the National Historic Register.
Topics for Discussion and Writing
Pre-reading:
• Use the Internet to find a map of old Route 66 and
trace its route from east to west.
Comprehension:
• What is the time period in which The Grapes of Wrath
takes place?
Beyond the Text:
• Who are the agricultural workers in California today?
• Why do some works of literature remain popular long
after they were written?
• What are the motives of people who want to ban
certain books?
Vocabulary
Article-specific: literature; anniversary; drought; era;
desperate; Nobel Prize; compassion; despair
High-use: novel; issue; migrant; series; basis; internal;
income; to flee; impact; authorities; to ban; to depict;
restricted; to reveal
Sources
San Francisco Chronicle www.sfgate.com
April 21, February 20, 2014
National Public Radio “Here and Now” April 14, 2014
National Public Radio “Morning Edition”
September 30, 2008
National Steinbeck Center www.steinbeck.org
Nobel Prize Foundation www.nobelprize.org
San Jose State University Center for Steinbeck Studies
www.as.sjsu.edu
Common Core Curricular Standards
Reading—Grades 5–12
Quote accurately from text
Cite textual evidence
Draw inferences
Determine central ideas
Analyze structure of text
Interpret words and phrases
© 2014 Lawrence Gable www.whpubs.com