On this day in labor history, the year was 1940. That was the day The Grapes of Wrath opened in movie theaters.
Adapted from John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, John Ford directed the film, which starred Henry Fonda as Tom Joad. Pleased with the adaptation, Steinbeck stated, “it pulled no punches and was in fact harsher than the book.”
It is considered one of the greatest films of all time. Like the book, the film focused on the plight of poor white tenant farmers fleeing Oklahoma for a better life in California.
The Joads were devastated by dust bowl conditions, bank foreclosure and mechanization during the Great Depression. They joined thousands of other families heading west on Route 66 to advertised farm jobs that never materialized.
The family gets stuck in New Deal Resettlement Administration camps and ends up on both sides of agricultural workers struggles. They narrowly escape starvation and state police.
At the time of its release, The Grapes of Wrath was critically acclaimed for its depiction of the poor. But the Associated Farmers of California condemned it as Communist propaganda.
Steinbeck visited resettlement camps as part of his research. Union organizing and police violence unfolded during the Salinas Lettuce Strike, which began as he wrote. Woody Guthrie’s classic “Ballad of Tom Joad,” soon followed the movie release.
Recent critics contend that Agricultural Adjustment Administration policies were more to blame than banks. Others assert it presents a sympathetic portrayal of white tenant farmers at the expense of black sharecroppers.
Historian Erik Loomis adds that Steinbeck and Ford both disappear the plight of the non-white, exploited labor already in California. Nonetheless, the film and movie both provide a deep look into the misery created by the Great Depression.
From 2015:
https://laborhistoryin2.podbean.com/e/march-15-the-painters-union-is-founded/
From 2016:
https://laborhistoryin2.podbean.com/e/march-15-2016-bruce/
From 2017:
https://laborhistoryin2.podbean.com/e/march-15-the-grapes-of-wrath-opens-in-theaters/
October 2 - Rebuilding in Tough Times
October 1 - The Jerry Level
September 30 - The Elaine, Arkansas Massacre
September 29 - Creating a Standing Army
September 28 - Solidarity on the Docks
September 27 - Wreck of the Old ‘97
September 26 - Disaster on the Job Around the Globe
September 25 - Martyred for the Vote
September 24 - Banned in Canada
September 23 - Dr. Harriet Louise Hardy is Born
September 22 - The First Farm Aid
September 21 - Fighting Just to Maintain Standards
September 20 - The Fight for Equality
September 19 - The End of My Sweet Jennie
September 18 - The Atlanta Compromise
September 17 - Striking in the South
September 16 - NHL Managers Lock Out Players
September 15 - The Invergordon Mutiny
September 14 - The Murder of Ella Mae Wiggins
September 13 - Attica!
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