USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -"Okies, ” as Californians labeled them, were refugee farm families from the Southern Plains who migrated to California in the 1930s to escape the ruin of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

Detailed explanation-2: -The migrant population exploded in California during the Great Depression, when thousands of people moved there to find work and a better life. Regardless of where they came from, their skills or education, they were called, “Okies."

Detailed explanation-3: -But by the end of the decade, they were the objects of scorn and prejudice. These migrants were called “Okies.” “Okie” is slang meaning “a person from Oklahoma.” But during the Depression, the term was used to refer to people from states neighboring Oklahoma as well, and it was often used derisively.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Dust Bowl exodus was the largest migration in American history. By 1940, 2.5 million people had moved out of the Plains states; of those, 200, 000 moved to California.

Detailed explanation-5: -Okie Migration Roughly 2.5 million people left the Dust Bowl states-Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma-during the 1930s. It was one of the largest migrations in American history. Oklahoma alone lost 440, 000 people to migration. Many of them, poverty-stricken, traveled west looking for work.