Recreation in Government Camps

In “Grapes of Wrath” many families who had their homes destroyed during the dust bowl head to California in order to find some kind of work, many of these families didn’t have enough money to spend on food and a roof over their head so for that reason many migrant camps popped up all over California near work sites to help out these families. Migrant Camps all had warm water, flush toilets and were pretty well sanitized but the thing that is so interesting about the Migrant Camps is aside from all that they provided for the people living there they also had a lot of social events like dances and people who lived there formed leadership committees and worked together.

Robin A. Falslow says in “The Migrant Experience” that, “when they were not working or looking for work, or tending to the civil and domestic operations of the camp, the migrants found time to engage in recreational activities. Singing and making music took place both in private living quarters and in public spaces. The music performed by the migrants came from a number of different sources. The majority of pieces belong to the Anglo-Celtic ballad tradition. Songs such as "Barbara Allen", "The Brown Girl", "Nine Little Devils", "Father Rumble", "Lloyd Bateman ", "Pretty Molly ", and "Little Mohee" all reflect this tradition. Gospel and popular music are other sources from which migrants took their inspiration. The minstrel stage, tin pan alley, early country, and cowboy music were all popular music sources that fed the performers' repertoires. The works of the Carter Family, Jimmy Rodgers, and Gene Autry were particular favorites of the migrants. Although all the music in this collection gives us a sense of the informants' cultural milieu, those pieces that document the migrant experience are especially poignant. Songs like Jack Bryant's "Sunny Cal" and Mary Sullivan's ballads "A Traveler's Line" and "Sunny California" all speak of hardship, disappointment, and a deeply cherished wish to return home. In addition to songs and instrumental music, the migrants enjoyed dancing and play-party activities (singing games accompanied by dance-like movements). Included in this online presentation are square dance calls, such as "Soldier's Joy" and "Sally Goodin", and play-party rhymes like "Skip to My Lou" and "Old Joe Clark." Newsletters produced by camp residents provided additional details about camp social life and recreational activities” Dancing wasn’t the only activity that was going on in these migrant camps, they would also have Halloween parties and play games of baseball while the others who lived in the camps would watch. 

Although these government camps did require migrants to volunteer a certain amount of time to work, they also had chances to go out and play and there was a big sense of culture around the camps according to the Library of Congress. A lot of music was created in these migrant camps and there were many artist that came from these camps and sang about life as a migrant. 

In John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” the Joad family comes across a Weedpatch camp around chapter 22 and it was perfect because it was a place where migrants can govern themselves and avoid the corruption and abuse police officers caused.