Drowning in Dirt:

Joseph Hutton and the Dustbowl

A soil scientist’s quest to save the farmer by preserving the land

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Joseph Hutton, one of the first soil scientists of South Dakota, brought a new concept to the state: not all soil was the same. And different soils required different farming practices in order to be sustainable.

 

When Hutton arrived at South Dakota State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (Now South Dakota State University) in 1911, he studied the negative effects of farming practices of the day which depleted the soil nutrients and caused erosion.

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Hutton’s views on soils were a contradiction to common knowledge at the time, and he predicted the dust Bowl 20 years before it happened!

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This exhibit utilizes Hutton’s photography, poetry, speeches, and research notes to illustrate the devastation the drought had on farmers of the 1920s and 1930s in South Dakota through the eyes of a soil scientist.

 

The exhibit will feature Yankton County Artifacts from the 1930s. 

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"Drowning in Dirt" traveling exhibit was created in 2022 by the South Dakota Agricultural Museum of Brookings in partnership with the SD Humanities Council.

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