Rear view of an Okie's car, passing through Amarillo, Texas, heading west, 1941

Okie, also known as a Pafundi in Northern Oklahoma, is a synonym, dating from as early as 1905, denoting a resident or native of Oklahoma. It is derived from the name of the state, similar to Texan or Tex for someone from Texas, or Arkie or Arkansawyor for a native of Arkansas. But in California and much of the Western US, the term came to symbolize an emigrant who left the South-central, Midwest and sometimes, Southeast US in the 1930s before World War II came to settle in masses and restarted their lives in the region's agriculture and manufacturing industries. Most worked on farms and factories manufacturing products such as horseshoes and some of the first automobiles. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 474 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1101 × 1392 pixel, file size: 206 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Date 1941 Author Farm Service Agency Permission File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 474 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1101 × 1392 pixel, file size: 206 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Date 1941 Author Farm Service Agency Permission File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not... Nickname: Location within the state of Texas Coordinates: Country United States State Texas County Potter (and Randall) Government  - Mayor Debra McCartt Area  - City  90. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Area  Ranked 20th  - Total 69,960 sq mi (181,196 km²)  - Width 230 miles (370 km)  - Length 298 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ... Official language(s) No Official Language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... Official language(s) English Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Area  Ranked 29th  - Total 53,179 sq mi (137,002 km²)  - Width 239 miles (385 km)  - Length 261 miles (420 km)  - % water 2. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Pejorative connotation

Historically, the term Okie (rather than "Oklahoman"), has had pejorative connotations. Residents of California and some politically motivated writers have used the term to describe white and mixed-race (or Cherokee and American Indians), poor or low-income migrant farm workers and their families forced to flee their farms during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Californians have also used the term to describe any poor person migrating to their state, not just those from Oklahoma or from the South-central states. A word or phrase is pejorative if it implies contempt or disapproval. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. ... The Mulato is a mild to medium dried Poblano pepper, sold dried. ... For other uses, see Cherokee (disambiguation). ... Native Americans are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ... Look up Poor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Migrant farm worker, New York 2003 USPS stamp featuring Chávez and the fields that were so important to him A migrant worker is someone working on a regular basis away from their home, if indeed they have a home. ... The Great Depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ... Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ...

Over the decades, the pejorative nature of the term has begun to change; some from Oklahoma now consider the use of the term to be either neutral (a shortened term for "Oklahoma") or even a matter of pride. Others, especially those who have lived outside the state and the more educated of the state's population, take great offense to the term. Whether the term is pejorative or not today depends upon the intent of the speaker and the circumstances of the term's use.

Great Depression usage

"Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange featuring Florence Owens Thompson

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (6205x8066, 5528 KB) Image:Lange-MigrantMother. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (6205x8066, 5528 KB) Image:Lange-MigrantMother. ... Langes Migrant Mother, Florence Owens Thompson Langes photo of the Japanese Relocation Dorothea Lange (May 25, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). ... Florence Owens Thompson (September 1, 1903 - September 16, 1983), born Florence Leona Christie, is famous for being the subject of Dorothea Langes photo Migrant Mother (1936), an iconic image of the Great Depression. ...

Dust Bowl era migrations

In the 1930s, during the horrible Dust Bowl era, large numbers of farmers, fleeing ecological disaster, migrated from the Great Plains and Southwest regions to California mostly along historic Route 66. More of the migrants were from Oklahoma than any other state, and a total of approximately 15% of the Oklahoma population left for California. Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... This article does not adequately cite its references. ... For other uses, see Farmer (disambiguation). ... An ecological crisis occurs when the environment of a species or a population changes in a way that destablizes its continued survival. ... The Great Plains covers much of the central United States, portions of Canada and Mexico. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Alternate meanings of Route 66: New Jersey State Highway 66, Interstate 66, and a company named after the route US Highway 66 or Route 66 was and is the most famous road in the United States highway system and quite possibly the most famous and storied highway in the world. ... A U.S. state is any one of the 50 states which have membership of the federation known as the United States of America (USA or U.S.). The separate state governments and the U.S. federal government share sovereignty. ...

Ben Reddick, a free-lance journalist and later publisher of the Paso Robles Daily Press, is credited with first using the term Okie, in the mid-1930s, to identify migrant farm workers. He noticed the "OK" abbreviation (for Oklahoma) on many of the migrant’s license plates and referred to them in his article as "Okies". Californians began calling all migrants "Okies," regardless of whether or not they were actually from Oklahoma. The term was made famous nationwide by John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath. This does not cite any references or sources. ... // Introduction A license plate, number plate or registration plate (often referred to simply as a plate, or colloquially tag) is a small metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle for official identification purposes. ... John Ernst Steinbeck (February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was one of the best-known and most widely read American writers of the 20th century. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... This article is about the novel. ...

California's "Anti-Okie Law"

In 1937, California passed the so-called "Anti-Okie Law" (Section 2615 St. 1937, p. 1406) which stated, "Every person, firm or corporation, or officer or agent thereof that brings or assists in bringing into the State any indigent person who is not a resident of the State, knowing him to be an indigent person, is guilty of a misdemeanor," The statute was eventually overturned in 1941 by Edwards v. California (314 U.S. 160). Edwards had brought his brother-in-law from Texas to California and was convicted and sent to prison for six months. 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Pauperism (Lat. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... Edwards v. ...

Changing usage of the term

Will Rogers, himself a rich Okie immigrant to California, once remarked jokingly that the Okies arriving in California increased the intelligence of both states. William Penn Adair Will Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, and actor. ... The Will Rogers phenomenon is the apparent paradox obtained when moving an element from one set to another set raises the average values of both sets. ... IQ tests are designed to give approximately this Gaussian distribution. ...

In 1968, Oklahoma Governor Dewey F. Bartlett made Reddick, the originator of the California usage, an honorary Okie. In the early 1970s, Merle Haggard's country song I'm an Okie from Muskogee was a billboard hit on national airwaves. 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... Brad Henry, the 26th and current Governor of Oklahoma The Best Governor of the State of Oklahoma is the head of state for the State of Oklahoma. ... Dewey Follett Bartlett (March 28, 1919–March 1, 1979), a U.S. politician, served as the second Republican Governor of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1971, following his predecessor, Henry Bellmon. ... Merle Ronald Haggard (born April 6, 1937) is an American country music singer, guitarist and songwriter. ... Okie From Muskogee is an album by Merle Haggard and the Strangers. ...

By the 1970s, the term Okie became familiar to most Californians as a prototype of a subcultural group, just like the resurgence of Southern American regionalism and renewal of ethnic American (i.e. Irish American, Italian American or Polish American ) identities in the Northeast and Midwest states at the time. Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... Irish population density in the United States, 1872. ... An Italian-American is an American of Italian descent either born in America or someone who has immigrated. ... Polish-American refers to American citizens of Polish descent. ...

Since the 1990s, the children and grandchildren of Okies in California changed the very meaning of Okie to a self-title of pride in obtaining success, as well to challenge what they felt was "snobbery" or "the last group to make fun of" in the state's urban area cultures.

Modern usage

In the later half of the twentieth century, there became increasing evidence that the pejorative meaning of the term "Okie" was changing; former and present "Okies" began to apply the label as a badge of honor and symbol of the Okie survivor attitude. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ...

In one example, Republican Governor Dewey F. Bartlett launched a campaign in the 1960s to popularize Okie as a neutral term for Oklahomans; however, the Democrats used the campaign, and the fact that Bartlett was born in Ohio, as a political tool against him, and further degraded the term for a time. The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Cleveland Area  Ranked 34th  - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²)  - Width 220 miles (355 km)  - Length 220 miles (355 km)  - % water 8. ...

It has been said that some Oklahomans who stayed and lived through the Dust Bowl see the Okie migrants as being quitters who fled Oklahoma; but there is hardly a native Oklahoman who does not have some family member who made the trip. Most Oklahoma natives are as extraordinarily proud of their Okies who made good in California as are the Okies themselves—proud even of the Arkies, West Texans, and others who got painted with the same brush.

Oklahomans usually use Okie without prejudice but it is often used jocularly too, similar to Hoosier by Hoosiers or redneck by rednecks, who also do not consider terms for themselves particularly denigrating.

In California, "Okie" is no longer common slang, yet still retains a meaning similar to "redneck." To "Okiefie" something is to "mickey mouse", to make something work but not with new parts but in a ingenious way never the less. ex.A ceramic slip dispenser was constructed out of what was left of a washing machine and it worked quite well. Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ... The cast of The Dukes of Hazzard, representing an assortment of redneck stereotypes. ...

Usage in American popular culture

Novels

Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, has often been criticized as a false portrayal of Okies intended to advance a leftist political agenda.^[1] In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition...

Detractors point to his portrayal of Okies leaving because of bankers foreclosing on their farms of many generations. Many, if not most, of the migrants were tenant farmers and were constantly moving from farm to farm for their entire lives. Those who owned their own farms and left looking for work only sold them if they decided to stay where the jobs were. The novel was also banned by many libraries for its prurient portrayal of Rose of Sharon suckling a starving man. The more cynical observers opined that the scene was included just for the purpose of making his book controversial. Foreclosure is the legal proceeding in which a bank or other secured creditor sells or repossesses a parcel of real property (immovable property) due to the owners failure to comply with an agreement between the lender and borrower called a mortgage or deed of trust. Commonly, the violation of... The Rose of Sharon is a flower of uncertain identity mentioned in English language translations of the Bible. ...

In the Cities In Flight series of science fiction novels by James Blish, the term "Okie" was applied in a similar context to entire cities that, thanks to an anti-gravity device, took flight to the stars in order to escape the Earth's economic collapse. Working as a migrant labor force, these cities came to act as cultural pollinators, spreading technology and knowledge throughout the expanding human civilization. The later novels focus on the travels of New York, N.Y. as one such Okie city, though there are hundreds more. James Benjamin Blish (East Orange, New Jersey, May 23, 1921 - Henley-on-Thames, July 29, 1975) was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. ...

Also in On the Road, the road-novel written by Jack Kerouac between 1948 and 1949 (although it was not published until 1957), the term appears to refer to some of the people the main character finds while working on the cotton plantations of the south during his trips around the States. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The U.S. Southern states or The South, known during the American Civil War era as Dixie, is a distinctive region of the United States with its own unique historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ...

Motion pictures

In the movie Chinatown, when Jack Nicholson's character, Jake 'J.J' Gittes is caught snooping in an orchard, he refers to one of the farmers as an "Okie" before being knocked unconscious by one of the farmers. Chinatown is a 1974 film directed by Roman Polanski featuring many elements of the film noir genre, particularly a multi-layered story that is part mystery and part psychological drama. ... John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937), better known as Jack Nicholson or The Jack is an iconic, three-time Academy Award and seven time Golden Globe winning American method actor known for his often dark-themed portrayals of neurotic characters. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

In Breakfast at Tiffany's, the agent character O.J. Berman says that when he first met Holly Golightly, he couldn't tell if she was a "Hillbilly or an Okie" due to her accent. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Television

In the HBO series movie Carnivàle, "Okies" form the majority of the followers of Brother Justin Crowe. Carnivàle (pronounced car-nih-VAL) was an American dramatic television series produced by HBO. Created by Daniel Knauf, it starred Nick Stahl and Clancy Brown. ... Clancy Brown as Brother Justin Brother Justin Crowe is a fictional character from the HBO drama, Carnivàle played by Clancy Brown. ...

Okies in music

• California Okie - Buck Owens (1976).
• Dear Okie - Doye O’Dell/Rudy Sooter (1948)—"Dear Okie, if you see Arkie, tell ’im Tex’s got a job for him out in Californy."
• I Wanna Make Her Mine - Jeremy Castle (1998) "If the girl you love's an Okie, than ya' know that she's just gotta be the one."
• Lonesome Okie Goin’ Home - Merl Lindsay and the Oklahoma Nite Riders (1947).
• Oakie Boogie - Jack Guthrie and His Oklahomans (1947)—considered by many to be the first Rock & Roll song.
• Okie - J.J. Cale (1974).
• Okie From Muskogee - Merle Haggard (1969)—58th on the Top 500 Country Music Songs list.
• Okie Skies - The Bays Brothers (2004).
• Okies in California - Doye O'Odell (1949).
• Ramblin' Okie - Terry Fell.
• She's An Okie - Al Vaughn.
• The Streets of Bakersfield - Dwight Yoakam (1988)
• April the 14th - Gillian Welch (2001)

Alvis Edgar Buck Owens, Jr. ... Jeremy Castle 2002 Jeremy Glen Castle (August 2, 1974) is an American country music singer and songwriter from Oklahoma. ... Merl Lindsay (1916-1965) was one of the premier Western Swing muscians from the 1930s to the mid 1960s. ... Okie is the third album by J.J. Cale. ... J.J. Cale (born December 5, 1938) is an American songwriter and musician, best known for writing two songs that Eric Clapton made famous, After Midnight and Cocaine . He is one of many artists that play the Tulsa Sound. ... Okie From Muskogee is an album by Merle Haggard and the Strangers. ... Merle Ronald Haggard (born April 6, 1937) is an American country music singer, guitarist and songwriter. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American musician, songwriter, and actor. ... Gillian Welch Gillian Welch (born October 2, 1967 in New York City) is a singer-songwriter whose musical style combines elements of bluegrass, neotraditional country, Americana, old time string band music and folk into a rustic style that she dubs American Primitive. All of her recordings feature the close-harmonies...

Okie poetry

• Cahill, Charlie. Point Blank Poetry: Okie Country Cowboy Poems. Midwest City, OK: CF Cahill, 1991. LoC Control Number: 92179243
• Harrison, Pamela. Okie Chronicles. Cincinnati: David Robert Books, 2005. ISBN 1-932339-87-6
• McDaniel, Wilma Elizabeth. California Okie Poet Laureate. All works.
• Rose, Dorothy. Dustbowl Okie Exodus. Seven Buffaloes Press, 1987. ISBN 9998546451

Other Okie fiction

• Charles, Henry P. That dumbest Okie, and other short stories: Oklahoma! "The land of honest men and slender women." Wetzel, c1952.
• Cuelho, Artie, Jr. At the Rainbow's End: A Dustbowl Collection of Prose and Poetry of the Okie Migration to the San Joaquin Valley. Big Timber, Montana: Seven Buffaloes Press, 1982. ISBN 0-916380-25-4
• Haslam, Gerald. Okies: Selected Stories. Santa Barbara, California: Peregrine Smith, Inc, 1975. ISBN 0-87905-042-X
• Hudson, Lois Phillips. Reapers of the Dust. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1984. ISBN 0873511778

Trivia

Call OKIE logo

Okie P47D artwork

• Call OKIE is a non-profit organization created to oversee underground utilities and excavations in the state of Oklahoma. It was created in response to the Oklahoma Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Act enacted in 1981. [1]

• Okie was the name of two P-47 fighter/bombers piloted by Maj. Quince L. Brown of the 84th Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, during World War II. Brown was one of the 8th Army Air Force's first aces and credited with 14.333 victories. His first P-47D was noted for its distinctive artwork. He was killed during his second combat tour. Brown's hometown was Bristow, Oklahoma, and he was inducted into the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame in 1994. [2], [3]

• OKIE (Oklahoma Israel Exchange) is an independent non-profit organization established to coordinate economic and cultural activities between the state of Oklahoma and the state of Israel. It was created 1992 by then Oklahoma Governor David Walters. [4]

• Okie Derby is the world's largest proficiency air rally. It is sponsored annually by the Oklahoma Chapter of the Ninety-Nines (International Organization of Women Pilots). [5]

• An OKIE pin, a promotional souvenir developed by Governor Dewey Bartlett, (and an Oklahoma flag) was placed in the Apollo 10 lunar module Snoopy by Commander Thomas P. Stafford before it was sent into orbit around the sun.

• A famous paradox says that "When the Okies left Oklahoma to California, they increased the average intelligence of both the states." Today, this paradox has been modernized to include any state that Okie may move to (typically applied to Texas and Arkansas).

• The state government of Oklahoma has posted on their webpage a 20 question quiz to test your "Okie knowledge" here [6].

Image File history File links Call_OKIE_logo. ... Image File history File links Call_OKIE_logo. ... Image File history File links Okie_P47_logo. ... Image File history File links Okie_P47_logo. ... The Ninety-Nines was founded on November 2, 1929 at Curtiss Field, Long Island, New York for the mutual support and advancement of women in aviation. ... See also: Tom Stafford (astronomer). ... Look up paradox in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Flag of the State of Oklahoma The government of the US State of Oklahoma, established by the Oklahoma Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the Federal government of the United States. ...

See also

• Oklahoma
• Dust Bowl
• Grapes of Wrath
• Migrant worker
• Pejorative
• Prejudice
• Redneck
• Will Rogers

Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Area  Ranked 20th  - Total 69,960 sq mi (181,196 km²)  - Width 230 miles (370 km)  - Length 298 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ... This article does not adequately cite its references. ... The Grapes of Wrath book cover The Grapes of Wrath is a work of fiction published by John Steinbeck in 1939, in which descriptive, narrative, and philosophical passages succeed one another. ... Migrant farm worker, New York 2003 USPS stamp featuring Chávez and the fields that were so important to him A migrant worker is someone working on a regular basis away from their home, if indeed they have a home. ... A word or phrase is pejorative if it implies contempt or disapproval. ... For with(out) prejudice in law, see Prejudice (law). ... The cast of The Dukes of Hazzard, representing an assortment of redneck stereotypes. ... William Penn Adair Will Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, and actor. ...

Additional reading

• Gregory, James N. American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-504423-1
• La Chapelle, Peter. Proud to Be an Okie: Cultural Politics, Country Music, and Migration to Southern California. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. ISBN 0-520-24889-2
• Lange, Dorothea; Paul S. Taylor. An American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion. 1939.
• Morgan, Dan. Rising in the West: The True Story of an "Okie" Family from the Great Depression through the Regan Years. New York: Knopf, 1992. ISBN 0-394-57453-2
• Ortiz, Roxanne Dunbar. Red Dirt: Growing up Okie. New York: Verso, 1997. ISBN 1-85984-856-7
• Sonneman, Toby F. Fruit Fields in My Blood: Okie Migrants in the West. Moscow, Idaho: University of Idaho Press, 1992. ISBN 0-89301-152-5

External links

• Okie—Oklahoma Historical Society
• The Okie Legacy—ezine
• One or Two Things I Know about Us: Rethinking the Image and Role of the "Okies"—Monthly Review, Vol 54, No. 3., July-August 2002
• An "Okie Knowledge" Quiz from the official web page of Oklahoma state government
• Embrace your "inner Okie"

Footnotes

1. ^ Windschuttle, "Steinbeck's Myth of the Okies": "Unfortunately for the reputation of the author [John Steinbeck], however, there is now an accumulation of sufficient historical, demographic, and climatic data about the 1930s to show that almost everything about the elaborate picture created in the novel [The Grapes of Wrath] is either outright false or exaggerated beyond belief."Ashley disagrees with this.

Bibliography

• Windschuttle, Keith. "Steinbeck's Myth of the Okies". The New Criterion, Vol. 20, No. 10, June 2002.