Home was a Hole in the Ground
Memories of Oklahoma Dugouts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6062322 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lynne Richards (Oklahoma State University Oklahoma City, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 268-291 |
| Publication date | 1995-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1077-727X • E-ISSN: 1552-3934 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1077727x95233003 |
| OpenAlex | W1976470294 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
In the late nineteenth century, the U.S. government began opening parcels of land in the Oklahoma Territory for homesteading and settlers enthusiastically staked claims and built homes. During the 1930s, under a research program sponsored by the federal Works Progress Administration, 6,300 of those early residents were interviewed concerning their memories of territorial life. An analysis of the responses to those interviews provided descriptive information concerning territorial housing, including dugouts, or dwellings excavated into the earth. The results suggested that dugout construction varied according to characteristics of the landscape, availability of supplementary materials, size and needs of the family, urgency of the desire for shelter, and the skill and creativity of the builder. Oklahoma dugouts were constructed either by digging straight down into the ground or by digging horizontally into the face of a hill. Either type might be completely underground, or it might extend several feet above the ground, the upper portion being built of sod, logs, rock, or lumber. Floods, wild animals, snakes, and insects were a constant menace to Oklahoma dugout dwellers. However, the settlers found that dugouts were lifesaving structures during bitter territorial winters, prairie fires, and cyclones
Archaeology · Digging · Excavation · Geography · Social science · Sociology · American Environmental and Regional History · Archaeology and Natural History · History
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |