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Stock Market Crash
On October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday hit Wall Street and billions of dollars were lost. After Black Tuesday, investors were wiped out, banks were closed, and businesses failed. As a result more than 15 million Americans became unemployed and people were found living on the streets. Herbert Hoover was president during this time. As the economy got worse, Hoover continued to not provide federal assistance. In the election of 1932, President Hoover was badly defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt Takes Office
On March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States. He addressed the people when he said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Roosevelt gave people hope when he explained how his election would achieve goals to pull America out of the Great Depression. One of Roosevelt's plans created the New Deal, offering relief, reform, and recovery. The New Deal created jobs for Americans that were funded by the government. -
Soil Erosion Service Created
In 1933, the Soil Erosion Service was established in the Department of Interior. Hugh Hammond Bennett was selected as the director of the Soil Erosion Service after he researched ways to prevent soil erosion. The Soil Erosion Service was given temporary government funding until 1935 which gave Bennett a small amount of time to fix the erosion problem of the Great Plains. -
Dust storm Hits Washington D.C.
On May 11, 1934, a dust storm reached the east coast bringing more attention to soil erosion. At the time, Hugh Bennett was trying to convince Congress to keep the funding of the Soil Erosion Service because soil erosion was still an ongoing problem. -
Black Sunday
On April 14, 1935, the largest dust storm hit the Midwest. The day had started out clear, bringing people out of their homes, but sudden temperature changes rolled in as well as a dark dust cloud. This deadly dust storm later became known as "Black Sunday". Black Sunday brought more awareness to the erosion problems in the Great Plains. -
Soil Conservation Service Created
Shortly after the Washington D.C. and Black Sunday dust storms, the Soil Conservation Service was created due to rising awareness of the erosion problem in the Great Plains. In the early years of the Soil Conservation Service, soil surveys were conducted and new farming techniques that included soil conservation techniques were introduced. Hugh Bennett continued to work at chief of the Soil Conservation Service until his retirement in 1952. -
Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act
The Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act was created in 1936. The act was a plan to support farm income by paying farmers to farm soil building crops instead of the soil diminishing crops that had drained the nutrients from the soil. The Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act educated farmers on how to farm their lands responsibly. Soil erosion dropped 21% three years after the act was adopted. -
First Soil Conservation District Created
On August 4th, 1937, the Standard States Soil Conservation Districts Law created the first Soil Conservation district in the Brown's Creek Watershed in North Carolina. There are thousands of conservation districts today that focus locally on improving the soil.
