Reading Between the Lines

‘The Harvest Gypsies’ paved the way for Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath’

by Chuck Wisman

In the 1930s, prior to writing “The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck traveled among migrants who had moved from America’s Dust Bowl to California. These were small farmers or farm hands who “…are not migrants by nature. They are gypsies by force of circumstances.” Image credit: amazon.com

The classic novel of literary realism by John Steinbeck, “The Grapes of Wrath,” was published in 1939, later winning a National Book Award and a Pulitzer prize for fiction. In 1940, it was an Academy Award winning movie starring Henry Fonda.

“The Grapes of Wrath” tells the poignant story of the Joad family who were dust-bowl refugees during the depths of the Depression in the 1930s. The Joads and thousands of others lost their farms due to severe drought, dust storms and poor farming methods in the Great Plains. In search of work and a subsistence income, they migrated farther west, seeking work on the seasonal fruit and vegetable farms of California.

So, where did John Steinbeck derive the inspiration and knowledge to write this masterpiece of fiction? Unknown to many readers, the motivation for “The Grapes of Wrath” originated in a somewhat obscure event in John Steinbeck’s literary history. It began in 1936, when Steinbeck was hired by the San Francisco News to investigate and write a series of seven articles describing the migration of the dust-bowl refugees sweeping into the Central Valley of California.

That investigative series of long-form articles subsequently became a pamphlet titled, “Their Blood Is Strong,” and later a book titled “The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath.” Additionally, both publications contained numerous photographs of the migrants, their families, squatter camps, and Hoovervilles by the famous Pulitzer Prize winning photographer, Dorothea Lange.

“The Harvest Gypsies” was selected by New York University in 1999 as one of that century’s best works of American journalism. In his modern introduction to the book, Charles Wollenberg (former chair of social sciences and professor of history at Berkeley City College) provides a historical context and an excellent overview.

In the lead-up to “The Harvest Gypsies,” John Steinbeck teamed with Tom Collins, who managed a federal migrant labor camp in California’s Central Valley. Steinbeck and Collins traveled among the migrants, the farms and the camps in an old bread truck. Together, they interviewed the migrants, their families and farm owners while painting a shameful picture of greed, cruelty, and exploitation.

The book is organized into seven chapters to coincide with the seven articles Steinbeck wrote for the San Francisco News in 1936. Each chapter encompasses a different, but related, aspect of the trials and tribulations of the dust-bowl migrants and their interactions with the local populace, governments, law enforcement and farm owners.

Steinbeck wrote that 150,000 homeless migrants wandered the roads of California looking for work.

He discovered, firsthand, the motivations that led to California’s migrant demand.

“The unique nature of California agriculture requires that these migrants exist, and requires that they move about. Peaches and grapes, hops and cotton cannot be harvested by a resident population of laborers. For example, a large peach orchard which requires the work of 20 men year around will need as many as 2000 for the brief time of picking and packing. And if the migration of the 2000 should not occur, if it should be delayed even a week, the crop will rot and be lost.”

In “The Harvest Gypsies,” the author noted the surprising composition of these dust-bowl migrants:

“They are small farmers who have lost their farms or farm hands who have lived with the family in the old American way. … They are not migrants by nature. They are gypsies by force of circumstances.”

Much as their services were needed, Steinbeck described how these migrants were not welcomed and growers pulled strings to keep migrant pay low:

“The migrants are needed and they are hated. Arriving in a district they find the dislike always meted out by the resident to the foreigner, the outlander. … Wanderers in fact, they are never allowed to feel at home in the communities that demand their services. … It has been the habit of the growers’ associations of the state to provide by importation, twice as much labor as was necessary, so that wages might remain low.”

Throughout the chapters of the book, Steinbeck described in detail the deprivation of the squatters’ camps where malnutrition and disease were rife. The migrants remained ineligible for care from the county-run hospitals or relief agencies since they were not permanent residents. He noted the problem of childbirth was “among the most terrible.” There was no prenatal care and the mothers had to work in the fields until physically unable. According to Steinbeck, “In actual birth, the presence of a doctor is a rare exception.”

Steinbeck didn’t just compose narrative describing migrant conditions. In each chapter, he offered policy recommendations to help ameliorate the exploitation of the migrant and provide a level of dignity to them.

“The Harvest Gypsies” is highly recommended. It’s very readable, a unique piece of history, and is only 88 pages in length, including 16 pages of engrossing photographs by Dorothea Lange and others. It’s also an excellent example of how an author took something with which he was intimately familiar and turned it into a literary masterpiece.

“The Harvest Gypsies” is available on order from the Stockbridge District Library.

Chuck Wisman still resides locally on the family farm and is retired from state government after almost 40 years of service.