CHILLICOTHE, Ill. — The 19th century was an era when U.S. government scientists, railroads and land speculators out West all espoused the same line: “The rain follows the plow.”

They used the phrase to convince farmers and others that plowing and otherwise disturbing the soil released rain-yielding moisture into the atmosphere; the tactic helped facilitate western U.S. expansion that began in earnest with the establishment of railroads in the mid-1800s.

It wasn’t until the 1930s, when an epic drought combined with prolonged dust storms to cloak most of the Plains states in sand and soot – also known as the Dust Bowl Era – that farmers and developers fully grasped the error of their ways. By then, the sun had already grown dim on the Plains, ushering in an extended period of economic and societal hardship that caused fertile farms to fall to dust and generations of families to become unrooted.

The drought and Dust Bowl period led to the creation of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service (SCS) in 1935, later renamed the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which was first led by Hugh Hammond Bennett. Under Bennett, the SCS was directed to “help landowners install and use conservation practices in order to conserve and restore natural resources,” making them more resilient to environmental challenges.

While conditions and programs have certainly improved concerning the management of drought, flooding, air quality, plant life and more since the days of the Dust Bowl, recent extreme weather events and patterns across the United States – from flooding in the South to drought in the West – have people asking: Could the Dust Bowl occur again?

“It is pretty much happening again,” said Genevieve Crotz, circulation manager for the Chillicothe (Ill.) Public Library, where an American Library Assoc. (ALA) traveling exhibit and public education program about the Dust Bowl is visiting through Dec. 18. She was referring largely to the ongoing drought conditions prevalent in parts of California and the West.

She noted many young people have never heard of the Dust Bowl, making the exhibit’s only scheduled Illinois appearance at the library even more significant. Interest in the exhibit has been strong.

“We’ve had a lot of area farmers come through the exhibit, including a few who lived through the Dust Bowl. It’s neat to have the perspective from people who were there. We’ve also had some Bradley University students come out to study and talk about the soil at the time of the Dust Bowl,” said Crotz, standing before a hands-on exhibit of soil samples from various locations on the Plains. “We’ve also had groups from (nursing homes) that were very interested.”

The 3,000 square-foot exhibit was secured by Chillicothe Library Programming Director Catherine Bennett, who convinced the ALA that the library provided the required display area, traffic flow and proximity to schools. Dubbed Dust, Drought and Dreams Gone By, the exhibit is in the midst of a 25-date tour including stops at Purdue University and Urbana (Ohio) University libraries.

The exhibit, which spans several weeks of activities, includes special events such as songs and music of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, lectures, films (including Ken Burns’ epic PBS miniseries “The Dust Bowl”) and oral history segments such as “Women and the Dust Bowl: In Their Own Words” that bring memories of the survivors to life.

Locals are also encouraged to contribute to the traveling exhibit. In that spirit, the Chillicothe Historical Society provided the “Dust Bowl Kitchen” section of the program, complete with period artifacts such as stove, grinders, muffin pans and a cherry stoner.

For more information on this exhibit, visit www.programminglibrarian.org/dustbowl or call the ALA at 312-280-5045.