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Dr. Shelly Lemons Gives Virtual Dust Bowl-Inspired Presentation in Goodwell, Oklahoma

by Tina Tebbe

Lebanon, IL (03/17/2022) — Dr. Shelly Lemons, professor of history at McKendree University, teamed up with Dr. Steven Kite, a professor of history at the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith, Ark., to give a virtual presentation on Thursday, Feb. 24 at the No Man's Land Museum in Goodwell, Okla. The presentation was called "Oasis in No Man's Land: Researching the Dust Bowl Using Local Museum Collections."

The presentation was in the making when Lemons and Kite began researching for this passion project in 2001. They had looked through museum archives at the No Man's Land Museum, which acted like a much-needed oasis as they researched women who stayed during the Dust Bowl and the role they played.

"When we first started this project in 2001, I had never been west of I-35," Lemons said. "I'm from the Ozarks in Missouri and I had moved to Stillwater, but I had no idea what it was like as you got into the (Dust Bowl) area. Time always describes people leaving the community and heading to California during the Dust Bowl, not the people who stayed."

Thanks to the historical society museum, Lemons and Kite collected oral history by speaking with and interviewing with 100 women who stayed in the Panhandle area during the Dust Bowl. The presentation included personal stories from these women, many of whom the audience remembered or recognized.

"We finally got to where you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face; it was completely black," Aline Couch said upon recalling a vivid memory of the dust storm that occurred one Easter Sunday.

"We had a lot of chickens, and it was in the daytime, so they weren't in the hen house where they ought to have been. The storm blew them down in the pasture," said Lula (Rider) Wood, another woman who stayed during the Dust Bowl. "After the storm was over, we went and picked up the chickens, and there was mud all over them."

Lemons asserts that studying the Dust Bowl, particularly from the angle of women who chose to remain in the area, can teach us about empathy, community, choice and change.

"We continue to build this story, continue to find new leads and new connections. If it weren't for places like museums that provided us with these pieces of an oasis, we wouldn't be able to make these connecting parts fit together," Lemons said.

You can view the entire presentation by clicking here.

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