Great Depression

Activity #1: WPA Projects in Johnson County

Materials

• Background Information for Teacher and Students
• Articles “Relief, Recovery and Reform: The New Deal in Johnson County” and “Albert T. Reid and ‘The Romance of the Mail‘” from the Winter 2006 ALBUM
• WPA newspaper article “Summer Play Ground Open Monday June 26”
• Historic photos of WPA projects in Johnson County

Curriculum Objectives

High School History S1B2I2: The student researches how the WPA altered the Kansas landscape.

Activity Ideas:

1. Make a tour brochure of WPA sites in Johnson County using information from www.jocohistory.net and additional library research. Brochures can include a map with locations of the site, historic photographs of the site and modern-day photos of the sites. Print the brochure or post it online.
2. Write a research paper on building and use of Gardner Lake, using primary sources (newspaper articles, photos) and secondary information (ALBUM article and Background information) found on www.jocohistory.net.

Background Information for Teachers and Students

Excerpt from Johnson County 1825-2005: A Pictorial History

Making Do With Some Help

Many in Johnson County struggled during the Depression to meet the needs of their families. Families saved and re-used whatever they could, traded and bartered for the goods and services they needed, and even made products to sell from left over materials. The county extension office’s home demonstration agent offered a number of educational programs to help women re-think and re-use their resources. Over one hundred homemakers attended a 1933 program to teach them how to redesign and renovate clothing. A 1934 class demonstrated how to prepare liver loaf, stuffed heart, and calves brains, in an effort to encourage women to make greater use of the unusual cuts of meat that were often wasted on farms. For several years, each of the fourteen women’s units of the Johnson County Farm Bureau adopted a rural, needy family for the winter, providing them with clothing, food, and other necessary supplies.

Federal relief programs also provided necessary assistance to Johnson County families in need, among them, the Civil Works Administration (CWA). The CWA was administered by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and provided jobs for more than twenty million men and women nationally during 1933 and 1934. CWA workers made improvement so both local public building and private homes. In 1934, they upgraded the septic systems at Shawnee-Mission Rural High School and constructed twenty-two privies and eighteen septic tanks at private homes. They also helped build the State Deaf School In Olathe; one article in the Johnson County Democrat quoted local businessmen who credited the CWA with stimulating the city’s economy by fifty percent in 1934.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was another important source of relief for Johnson County residents. In Kansas, the program employed approximately seven thousand people in every county across the state, who built roads, decorated post offices and other public buildings, and gathered and published state and local histories. In Johnson County, WPA projects concentrated on public improvements and community service needs. One of the most extensive projects in Johnson County was the creation of the 256-acre Gardner Lake, built by WPA workers for drought relief and tourism. Initially conceived by local businessman E.F. Alexander, the project dammed Kill Creek north of Gardner’s city limits. Work began in 1936 with 245 WPA workers, who installed flood lights to allow for work to continue twenty-four hours a day. Workers also constructed small cottages and a beach house. When the lake opened in May 1940, a beach and picnic grounds were among the recreational amenities.

The federal government also developed programs to train young people. In September 1935 the National Youth Association established a training camp at an abandoned golf course in today’s western Shawnee to instruct unemployed women between the ages of 18 and 25 in sewing, cooking, psychology, waitress training, and crafts. The camp hosted 426 women, in groups of up to seventy each session; and according to the report in the Kansas City Star, a 1936 survey indicated that 90 percent of those women were gainfully employed.

Beyond the federal government, the local community came to help needy families. Local women operated sewing rooms to provide clothing to the unemployed and others in need. Other relief workers planted vegetable gardens to supplement winter food supplies. In 1934, for instance, the county extension office established 480 relief gardens to assist families on the relief rolls, and the Federal Emergency Relief Association allocated $333.00 to purchase seeds for cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, spinach, beans, peas, and onions. A five-acre community garden was planted that year in Olathe near the rock quarry; people on the relief rolls canned 1,400 quarts of produce at the Olathe High School. Residents could also receive special assistance with painting and repairing their property.

Activity #2: Depression Years in Johnson County

Materials

• Background Information for Teacher and Students
• Oral Histories: Dorothy Rankin Kelleher, Merle Rankin Winter and Sadie McIntire Powell; Ruth McCulley Bacon; Ed Moody
• Historic Photographs
• Newspaper articles about local relief efforts in Johnson County

Curriculum Objectives

High School History S1B2I1: The student uses primary source materials to explore individual experiences in the Dust Bowl in Kansas.

Activity Ideas:

1. Write a paper about how the Great Depression impacted people on a local level, using the primary sources provided on www.jocohistory.net, as well as additional research obtained at the local library.
2. Interview a person - a grandparent, great-grandparent, neighbor, retirement home resident - who remembers the Great Depression and the sacrifices made by his or her family. Use the Oral Histories as examples and use “Oral Histories: Why? Who? How? Basic Rules” information sheet for guidance.

Background Information for Teachers and Students

Excerpt from Johnson County 1825-2005: A Pictorial History

Dust Bowl Farming

Many farm families were severely impacted by poor weather and market conditions in the 1930s. The ability of farmers to make ends meet was squeezed by the impact of soil erosion, drought, floods, pest infestations, and low prices on all farm commodities. Federal relief programs provided assistance, and locally, county extension agents focused on helping farmers overcome these situations and maintain viable farming operations by incorporating new techniques to reduce soil erosion and conserve water. By 1939, 3,115 farm homes were actively seeking services from the extension office.

Soil erosion proved to be a major problem, and county extension agents placed a high priority on educating Johnson County farmers about the best strategies to preserve their farms. Terracing and soil saving dams prevented erosion and improved the moisture content in soils. Educational demonstrations introduced the idea to local farmers in 1927 and by 1935, 2,500 acres were terraced on approximately ninety farms. Farmers could earn allowances through the Agricultural Conservation Program if they carried out terracing projects according to specifications. By the end of the 1930s, many farmers were on waiting lists to have their fields terraced.

Droughts, extreme temperatures, and pest infestations also plagued farmers throughout the decade, ruining crops and damaging property. Drought-stricken farmers did receive aid through the Resettlement Administration, providing loans to purchase livestock, equipment, and mortgage financing. Severe droughts in 1934, 1936, and 1937 reduced feed supplies and forced reductions in all classes of livestock. Many farmers were forced to sell livestock because they could not afford to feed them, and all were encouraged by county extension agents to cull their herds. Federal assistance was also provided to farmers to combat epidemics of grasshoppers. More than fifteen tons of grasshopper bait was distributed to farmers in 1938 to poison the vermin. Crop yields were nonetheless down or suffered complete failure for the year.

Oral Histories: Why? Who? How? Basic Rules

From “Through My Eyes: A Child’s View of World War II” published by the Johnson County Museum, the Veterans of Foreign War and the National Archives – Central Plains Region, 1992.

What is an Oral History?

An oral history is an interview with a person who lived in a particular time and place. The purpose of an oral history is to gain information about how people lived as well as what they did. Think about history as a photograph. The facts of a certain event provide the outline of the photograph; interviews with people who lived through the event provide the detail and the color to the photograph. For example, we can look at a ration stamp for shoes issued during World War II. We know that leather was rationed because it was needed for the war effort. Now add to these facts this account of a young woman living in Washington, D.C. in 1944: “My Mother gave me her shoe ration coupon as a Christmas present. I wanted new shoes more than anything…That was the best Christmas present I ever received.”

Basic Rules for Oral History Interviews

Be Prepared

1. Do your research. An oral history is not a fishing trip. Know what questions you want answered in advance. Know the facts of an event or a time before questioning your subject. This will help to keep your questions focused.
2. Prepare your questions. If possible, contact the subject in advance and explain the type of information you are looking for during the interview. This allows the subject to prepare for the interview and the information you gained allows you to prepare questions about specific topics. Questions that require a simple yes or no answer are not good because they do not provide details. “Tell me everything you know” questions are also no good because they yield an overview of information and few details.
• Example of a poor question:
  Tell me everything you remember about the Great Depression.
• Example of a prepared question:
  Was there one thing you missed most because of economic troubles during the Great Depression? Why?
3. Have the proper equipment. You will need pencils and paper, even if you tape the interview. You should always take notes during the interview. If you are audio or video taping, be sure the equipment is in proper working order. You should also have extra tapes, extension cords or batteries for the recorder.

Be Considerate:

4. Explain everything. When you contact the subject, explain why you want to talk with that person. Explain the purpose of the interview: how the experience of the interview will help you and your project. Describe the information you want. This allows the subject to think about the topic. Also the subject may have documents and/or photographs that will help. Describe where and how the interview will take place. Most people are more comfortable in their own homes. When you invite guests to your classroom, explain to them what the surroundings will be like.
5. Make the subject comfortable. Provide a comfortable chair. Do not plan an interview to last longer than one to one and a half hours.
6. Use your best manners. You are an invited guest into someone’s life.

Review

7. Review your notes and any tapes. Make sure you understand any notes you made during the interview. If you taped the interview, listen to the tape and review your notes. Make additional notes about the interview. Write down your impressions of the interview.

Oral History #1: Dorothy Rankin Kelleher, Merle Rankin Winter and Sadie McIntire Powell

Interviewed by Margaret Brooks April 18, 1989

Dorothy Rankin Kelleher and Merle Rankin Winter were students at the Lanesfield School, in rural Johnson County near Edgerton. Sadie McIntire Powell was a teacher at Lanesfield School.

Margaret: Was it any different trying to farm during the Depression? I mean if you started a farm in the middle of the Depression, did you have any particular problems?

Dorothy: I’m sure we had the usual problems people had during the Depression. But we have real pleasant memories of those years. I mean we didn't have a lot of material things, but no one else did either. We didn’t know we were poor. We were happy. I don’t remember it really being depression time.

Margaret: It never impressed upon you that this is different than normal or...

Dorothy: I knew, but like I say you didn’t have a lot. But we had all we needed.

Sadie: The folks were very good managers.

Merle: And they took care of us kids. We always had milk, meat, eggs, and can goods and everything there was to eat.

Dorothy: Mother was always standing at the kitchen stove, singing and cooking.

Sadie: Their brother says that every time he woke up in the morning he looked out the window and Mama’s hind end was sticking up and she was getting stuff out of the garden. [Laughter]

Margaret: Did you help her with the garden?

Dorothy: Not as much as we should have. [Laughter]

Merle: I did, we were all assigned chores. I always felt so lucky when I could get to help Mama in the garden, and I helped her a lot. And I loved it.

Dorothy: I remember she gave me a choice; “You can do this or you can do that, which would you prefer?” And I always preferred working in the house.

Margaret: Did she have a lot of things that she grew?

Dorothy: Oh, yes, even meat.

Merle: Rendered lard. All that.

Dorothy: Made soap. We’re talking about Abe Lincoln day’s here.

Sadie: No, your talking about the Depression, because that’s the way it was. We made our own soap.

Oral History #2: Ruth McCulley Bacon

Interviewed by Margaret Brooks January 18, 1989

Ruth McCulley Bacon taught at Lanesfield School in rural Johnson County, near Edgerton, from 1933 to 1935.

Ruth: No, but if you remember the time I was teaching there [at Lanesfield School] we had dust storms. And one spring it got so very bad and the reports on the radio said you weren’t suppose to be out in it. So, we did not play outside for those two or three days in the spring. We put a cloth over our face when we went to the outside toilet. We didn’t play outside. We would go outside to look around because it was a novelty to them. But the dust was so bad that spring.

Margaret: Was this blowing in from western Kansas and Oklahoma?

Ruth: And local, everything.

Margaret: The drought conditions caused a dustbowl here?

Ruth: Yes. We’re likely to have the same thing this spring.

Margaret: It’s not looking good is it?

Ruth: Of course, we’ve had more conservation practices than they did back then, there’s more ground cover. So, there’s not as much raw ground as there used to be. But, if it blows the wheat out in western Kansas it’s going to blow here.

Margaret: I didn’t realize that Johnson County had the same conditions as Oklahoma and western Kansas did.

Ruth: Not as much, but some. I have seen dust piled up along side of the fences and things.

Margaret: What other conditions happened during the Depression? You said you had some poor families that you made adjustments for.

Ruth: Well, I guess we were all poor. There were no really affluent families. Everybody had enough. As I always said we didn’t know we were poor back then. Lots of the boy’s just had one pair of overalls and the mother would wash them on Saturday and the girls would have a couple of changes of dresses. But, so what, all the rest of us was the same.

Margaret: Was there any big change that you remember from your being in school in the twenties and teaching in the thirties in the county? You were in a rural school in the twenties.

Ruth: No, it was very much the same.

Margaret: So, the Depression didn’t affect...

Ruth: I don’t think it made much difference.

Margaret: Because everyone was pretty much at the same state?

Ruth: Yes.

Oral History #3: Ed Moody, Former Kansas Master of the State Grange

Interviewed by Denise Jobe November 30, 1989

The Patrons of Husbandry, commonly known as the Grange, was an organization founded by farmers in the late 1800s. The Grange provided services that protected farmers’ interests, such cooperative stores that sold farm equipment at low prices. Grange meetings served as important social functions for rural families and reinforced community ties.

Denise: What did the Grange do during the Depression? What kinds of things did the Grange try to do to help the farmers at that time?

Ed: Well, we did a lot of things. And I can say that from the standpoint of the fact that I was part of that time because I was active in Grange during the Depression and we did a lot of cooperative helping each other. If a Granger got in trouble and hollered for help we would even try to raise some money for him if that is what it took. But basically it was a cooperative effort on the part o the Grangers to keep everybody going and happy and eating three times a day.

Denise: Well, you know we talked about this yesterday in our discussion because coming from a farm family, my family has always told me that the Depression to them wasn't that big of a deal because everyone was poor and at least you had food to eat.

Ed: We tried to have food to eat and there were a few times when we had to dig in our potato bin and give some to our neighbors so they had something. But as you say basically we didn’t know any better. And we used to as kids have dances after our Grange meetings because we’d get somebody that could play the piano for us and we’d get one of our Grange members to call a square dance or we'd get some of our other Grange members to play with the piano and we’d maybe have a round dance or maybe we'd round dance a set or two and then square dance a set or two. And we’d always have one of our Grange members that would call the square dances for us so we didn't have to put out any money for that.

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