933 cc 1. The Grapes of Wrath Captions by John Steinbeck Photographs by Horace Bristol

Their farms were taken from them by the banks. Most of these farmers were sharecroppers who merely rented their land, sometimes for generations. With the Great Depression, a draught and the advent of agribusiness, these families were forced onto the street. Rumours of work picking fruit in California circulated so thousands made the trek in search of work.