The government camps, like Weedpatch Camp (also known as the Arvin Federal Government Camp and the Sunset Labor Camp), were built by the Farm Security Administration of the United States of America. The goal of those camps was to give home to the migrant workers during the Great Depression.
In the case of Weedpatch Camp, this was created during the drought that caused the Dust Bowl. One of the most affected cities of the United States of America was Oklahoma. A lot of farmers of this city moved away and migrated to search a job and survive with their families. This people migrated in a big amount to California, but they weren’t the unique. A lot of people of Arkansas, Texas and Missouri moved to California searching a job too. This huge group of migrants was going from farm to farm looking for a job like pickers.
The problem with these migrants was that they always lived in deplorable conditions. They lived in tends near the road (squatter camps, like the camp where the characters of the book were) or camps created by the farmers. The hygiene and security was worrying and these troubles were the biggest reason for the Farm Security Administration to build the government camps.
The government camps were like little cities. These had schools, post office, barber shop, community hall, libraries and running water. The conditions of these camps were much better than the squatter camps. Giving a good home to the migrants wasn’t the unique mission of these government camps. They also helped the unemployed people to find a work. The houses of these camps, where the migrants lived, were made of wood and single structures. It is important to say, that the people who lived in the Weedpatch Camp was discriminated by the local people and they were knew like “okies”.
The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands in the 1930s. (Wikipedia)
