Burns requests Dust Bowl memories of Oklahomans for film

PBS filmmaker Ken Burns is asking residents of Oklahoma to share their personal stories of the Dust Bowl for an upcoming documentary The Dust Bowl (w.t.). The Oklahoma Network is helping him gather the recollections. In a personal message to the people of the state, Burns said he thinks the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, when severe drought affected crop production and created huge dust storms, "is an important event in all of American history." He adds that his production company, Florentine Films, is in the early stages of research but that the state "will be a major part of the Dust Bowl story we want to tell." He's making the request through the press as well appearances in TV ads.