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Drought adaptation in rural eastern Oklahoma in the 1930s: lessons for climate change adaptation research

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Abstract

In the mid-1930s, eastern Oklahoma, USA, suffered an unusually harsh mixture of droughts and extreme rainfall events that led to widespread crop failure over several years. These climatic conditions coincided with low commodity prices, agricultural restructuring and general economic collapse, creating tremendous hardship in rural and agriculturally dependent areas. Using a previously developed typology of agricultural adaptation, this paper reports empirical research conducted to identify the ways by which the rural population of Sequoyah County adapted to such conditions. Particular attention is given to categorizing the scale at which adaptation occurred, the actors involved and the constraints to implementation. The findings identify successes and opportunities missed by public policy makers, and suggest possible entry points for developing adaptation strategies for current and future, analogous situations that may arise as a result of climate change.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Canada Research Chairs Program. The authors would like to acknowledge and thank residents of Sequoyah County who participated in this research project. This paper benefited from the comments of anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Room 031 Simard Hall, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1N 6N5

    Robert McLeman

  2. Sequoyah County Times, Sallisaw, OK, USA

    Dick Mayo

  3. Sequoyah County Historical Society, Sallisaw, OK, USA

    Earl Strebeck

  4. Department of Geography, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

    Barry Smit

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  1. Robert McLeman
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Correspondence to Robert McLeman.

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McLeman, R., Mayo, D., Strebeck, E. et al. Drought adaptation in rural eastern Oklahoma in the 1930s: lessons for climate change adaptation research. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 13, 379–400 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-007-9118-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-007-9118-1

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