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'The Grapes of Wrath' summer book project in California: Reading libraries plan events around Steinbeck's tale of immigration. Published: July 11, 2002 By SHANNON STARR THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE As migrant workers drove their jalopies to the land of plenty during the Great Depression, many ended up in the Inland Empire. Their dream was to work in the fields and orchards to support their families and earn a living. In 1936, California's native son John Steinbeck chronicled their experiences in his Pulitzer Prize winning novel "The Grapes of Wrath." Finding a copy of the book this summer may be a little difficult because the California Council for the Humanities is having a statewide reading of the Joads' odyssey from Oklahoma to the Golden State. In June the council announced a program to get Californians to read the book and then discuss it at activities planned to start in October. Inland area libraries will hold discussions, show films and have displays of Steinbeck's life and books. There will also be programs offered at area high schools. Fourteen Inland area libraries are among the 142 statewide that will be taking part in the program. Janet McCrorey is heading up the program for the Glen Avon Regional Library. "I like Steinbeck a lot," said McCrorey. "I wanted the opportunity to have the public share in the work of a literary giant. There are 27 branches and one book mobile in the Riverside County Library system where readers can get the book. Even those who have read the book in the past might want to read it again." The state program is sending 20 copies of the book, five in Spanish and 15 in English, to each participating libraries to supplement those already on the shelves. Julie Fredericksen is spearheading the Corona Library program, which kicked off during the July 4th parade. The Rotary Club decorated a vintage truck like the fictional Joads' vehicle and drove it in the parade. Corona will hold programs before October because of events it had previously scheduled. "We are doing research with those who settled in the Home Gardens area and trying to gather their personal histories," said Fredericksen. "A lot of people traveled to this area in search of work." The Glen Avon library will receive video copies of the 1940 film "The Grapes of Wrath" directed by John Ford and two other films about migrant families -- "El Norte," a film that follows a migrant family's trek across the American-Mexican border, in English with Spanish subtitles, and "a k a, Don Bonus," a video diary by Sokly Ny and Spencer Nakasako that documents the struggle of a Cambodian refugee family. In addition the California Council for the Humanities has other activities planned including online teaching of the "Grapes of Wrath" with in-depth links where viewers can see photographs of the era, learn from the History Channel about the Great Depression and read nonfiction accounts of life in the dust bowl. Organizers hope that by reading the book and discussing it, residents will share the stories of the migrations of their own families and discuss the parallels of the book and their lives. A release of "Las Uvas de la Ira," the Spanish language version of the book, is hoped by the California Council of Humanities to bring Spanish-speaking Californians into the discussions. The council is a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The council's Web site is www.calhum.org or it can be reached at (415) 391-1474. INLAND "GRAPES OF WRATH" LIBRARIES
Selected text from "The Grapes of Wrath": * "And in Kansas and Arkansas, in Oklahoma and Texas and New Mexico the tractors moved in and pushed the tenants out. Three hundred thousand in California and more coming. And in California the roads full of frantic people running like ants to pull, to push, to lift, to work. For every manload to lift, five pairs of arms extended to lift it; for every stomachful of food available, five mouths open." * "Ma wiped the tin dishes and stacked them. She said, 'We're Joads. We don't look up to nobody. Grampa's grampa, he fight in the Revolution. We was farm people till the debt. And then -- them people. They done somepin to us. Ever' time they come seemed like they was a-whippin' me -- all of us. An' in Needles, that police. He done somepin to me, made me feel mean. Made me feel ashamed. An' now I ain't ashamed. These folks is our folks -- is our folks. An' that manager, he come an' set an' drank coffee, an' he says, "Mrs. Joad" this an' "Mrs. Joad" that -- an' "How you gettin' on, Mrs. Joad?" ' She stopped and sighed. 'Why, I feel like people again.' " * "Then from the tents, from the crowded barns, groups of sodden men went out, their clothes slopping rags, their shoes muddy pulp. They splashed out through the water, to the towns, to the country stores, to the relief offices, to beg for food, to cringe and beg for food, to beg for relief, to try to steal, to lie. And under the begging, and under the cringing, a hopeless anger began to smolder. And in the little towns pity for the sodden men changed to anger, and anger at the hungry people changed to fear of them. Then sheriffs swore in deputies in droves, and orders were rushed for rifles, for tear gas, for ammunition. Then the hungry men crowded the alleys behind the stores to beg for bread, to beg for rotting vegetables, to steal when they could."
Art: ILLUSTRATION; MUG
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| © 2002 The California Council for the Humanities |