Family Farming in the 1930s

This exhibit examines the lives of agricultural familes and farm workers during the 1930s and 1940s. Particular interest and consideration is paid to the specific tasks and responsibilites of people of varying ages living on family owned farms, the daily activites or chores in which they participated, and the roles of specific family members and how these roles contributed to the overall lifestyle of farm families in the early-mid 20th century. Many of the first hand accounts collected through this exhibit are interviews with individuals who were growing up through these time periods, and they recall the experiences they had living on a farm. A few of the speakers even go so far as to compare their childhoods to that of the later generations who would never encounter the challenging and labor intensive work that was required of farming familes of their generations. Many of the instances described through the oral histories can also be correlated with John Steinbeck's novel "Grapes of Wrath" in the ways that we see responsibiltes delegated throughout the Joad family and how each person understands the role they are meant to play. Family dynamics on a farm, as exhibited through the sources in this collection, were fundementally important to the success and well-being of the farm land and subsequent prosperity of individuals within any given family.