February 1949
FRANK D. ALEXANDER LOWRY NILSON LOCATION OF COUNTY IN STATE
DAKHUE SOIL
Vasa
0 0 0 Q.. ~ Belle Creek Belvidere 0 0 ~ '<: SOUTH GOODHUE SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICT
Paved or bituminous road -+--+-+-+- R a i Iroad ~ Soil Conservation District Township line llml Incorporated place CONTENTS
Page
Foreword ...... 4
Introduction 5
I. Six Types of Social Organization
1. The County ...... 6
2. Locality Groups . ··························· 10
3. Institutionalized Organizations 26
4. Formally Organized Groups ...... 34
5. Agencies ...... 54
6. Informal Groups and Other Informal Relations ...... 58
II. Analysis of Social Organization
7. Significant Changes in Social Organization ...... 61
8. Factors Affecting Participation ...... 66
9. Organizational Relationships ································· ·································· 72
10. Conclusions ...... 84
Submitted for publication December 17, 1947
SM-2-49 1oreword I This is one in a series of studies carried out in 24 counties which were selected to represent the major type farming areas in the United States. Goodhue County, Minnesota, was selected as one of the five dairy counties. The other dairy counties were Litchfield, Connecticut; Hampshire, Massa chusetts; Oneida, New York; and Frederick, Maryland. Counties represent ing other types of farming areas were Henry, Indiana; Hamilton, Iowa; and Seward, Nebraska, in the Corn Belt; Ellis, Kansas; Wells, North Dakota; and Franklin, Washington, in the Wheat areas. Val Verde, Texas, and Sweet grass, Montana, in the Range-livestock areas. Bell, Texas; Pottawatomie, Oklahoma; Dallas, Alabama; and Union, South Carolina, in the Cotton Belt; Dent, Missouri; Rabun, Georgia; Magoffin, Kentucky; Bradford, Pennsyl vania, in the General and Self-sufficing areas. Imperial and Butte in Cali fornia in the Western Specialty areas, and LaFource, Louisiana, in a Re sidual area. This study of Goodhue County was initiated by the Division of Farm Population and Rural Life of the United States Department of Agriculture, and has been carried to completion with the cooperation of the Division of Rural Sociology of the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. The purpose of this and the other studies of the series has been (a) to analyze the types of groups in which rural people are organized and the patterns of group relationships through which they participate in local and nonlocal programs and services, (b) to analyze the ways in which agencies relate themselves and their programs to these types of organizations and patterns of group relationships, (c) to provide a comparison by types of farming areas, of trends in different types of organizations-formal and in formal, local and nonlocal, etc., and (d) to interpret the findings for farm people and for action and educational agencies. All of the studies in the series are being made by trained sociologists. In each case the report follows a generally uniform outline. All will present their analyses in keeping with the following major types of organizations: locality groupings, formally organized groups, informal groups and other informal relationships, agencies, institutionalized organizations, and the county as a unit of organization.
Carl C. Taylor I~ Head, Division of Farm Population and Rural Life, U.S.D.A.
H. Macy Associate Director, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station !(ural Social Orpa1tizatio11 J11 {joodltue eoullfV, vlfillltCSOfa *
Frank D. Alexander and Lowry Nelson
GooDHUE COUNTY belongs to the dairy farming region of the nation. Located in southeastern Minnesota, the county is bounded on the northeast by the Mississippi River. The seasons here are well marked, and the range between high and low temperatures is wide. Winters are moderately severe with sub-freezing temperatures as early as September and as late as May.
Wheat early became the county's groups-Norwegian, Swedish, and Ger leading market crop, but production man. reached its peak in 1879 and since that While informal groups and relation date has been declining rapidly. On the ships are numerous, the dominant pat other hand, dairy cows increased from tern for meeting important social needs 17,838 in 1900 to 43,824 in 1945. At this is through the county's many formal date, approximately one-third of the organizations. Among various types of county's 3,008 farmers obtained the ma social organizations in the county, jor source of their income from dairy the churches rank first in the interest ing. Since 1890 the number of farms has and loyalty commanded from the varied little. The family-sized farm of people. The small school district with about 150 acres predominates. Farm in its one-teacher school is characteristic comes are generally high, and levels of the rural-farm areas. Public agencies of living are considerably above the to assist the people in dealing with cer national average for farm people. tain social and economic problems have Since 1900 the total population of the increased considerably in the past 15 county has remained relatively stable. years. Many of the social and economic It was 31,137 in 1900 and 31,564 in 1940. interests of farm people are becoming Internally, however, the population has focused in the villages. Although the changed. Between 1900 and 1940 the county government serves the people open-country population has shown a in many traditional ways and its area marked decline, whereas the popula is the area of operation of a number of tions of the villages and of the town of organizations and agencies, its impor Red Wing have increased rapidly. tance is somewhat minimized because Groups from foreign lands or with dis of the division of local governmental tinctive ethnic backgrounds have al responsibilities with numerous sub ways been prominent. At the present units and because of the growing im time there are three dominant ethnic portance of service-area communities.
• Most of the field investigation for this study was done during the last two months of 1946 and the first half of 1947. I. SIX TYPES OF SOCIAl ORGAN IZA liON
I. Z:lte eount11
OODHUE COUNTY was estab directors of a business corporation, G lished by an act of the state legis however, because many of the other lature in 1853, and the first county county officials are also elected directly board of commissioners was appointed by the people. These officials are inde by the governor in 1854. Legally, Good pendent of the board aside from their hue, like other counties in Minnesota, is partial dependence on it for appropria a creature of the state with dual func tions to operate their offices and the tions: (1) to serve as an agency of the threat of judicial action which the state in· the local administration of cer board may initiate against them. Be tain laws and services, and (2) to act cause of his contacts with the board in a more restricted sense for the satis and his close jurisdiction over the faction of certain local needs. county's finances, the auditor is in a The present boundaries were defined better position than any other county in 1855. Twice in its early history, once official to see all of the county's govern to form a new county and again for an mental operations as a whole. It can nexation to an adjoining county, efforts hardly be claimed, however, that he were made through the state legislature serves as a coordinator. to detach areas from the county, but Although local elections are non neither of these attempts was success partisan, the county has both Demo ful. At first there were serious differ cratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican ences over the location of the county committees. Most of the members of seat. When a decision was made in these committees are village or town 1858 to build a court house in Red people. It is said that contests for state Wing, it met with opposition from offices arouse considerable interest but people in the southern part of the that those for county offices seldom do. county who wanted a more central lo The same individuals are returned to cation. Failure to choose a central site county offices election after election. for the seat of government has had a However, general interest in voting has retarding influence on the attainment been maintained at a fairly high level of a unified county community. for a number of years. In the presiden The principal governing authority in tial election year of 1920 which was the county is its board of commission only a short time after women were ers consisting of five members, each given the ballot, 64.5 per cent of the elected from a specific district. (See fig population 21 years of age and over ure 1 for organizational chart of county voted. Even in the nonpresidential elec government.) The board manages the tion of 1930, the percentage was as high county's property, oversees its finances, as 60.4, and in the presidential election sets the county tax rate, and acts as year of 1940, the voting rose to 78.3 general director of its business. It lacks One of the most important functions the powers ordinarily given a board of of the county government is the collec- RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 7
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS J I ON{ '1!0... (A(I1 Of ToY[ 1.>13TIIOCTS,(L[(ft0 fDA 4 ~(,U~
(;0. COOP( .. AT<~[ (U(H$>01< vtn•.o .. s~~c co"'""'''' OH\(l~ "~ ,...... _....""'' U••~C·Jll !• co"""'""'"""' ht~L.O>tt> In' ••o•st" o• e.o. I. 1.....0 AP/'Q co ..... ~, t.()o.AO AV0•1l) A[IOISl(IIOf JVOC!Or ouo~ ,.•on .... tco..... r (UCl(QTOA •n.u~ tUCltt>rol\ lltC1U>fOJI li.CCtrOrOA (l((_l(VrOA 4Y(.t.AS "H"IU • Y(UI$ "vp.~s ~I l VOTERS I FIG. l. Organization of county government tion of taxes. The county not only col police, road, education, health, welfare, lects funds for its own operations, but and agriculture services. The juridical also acts as a collecting agency for and police services of the county are school districts, townships, municipali performed principally by its probate ties, and the state. The expansion of judge, clerk of court, sheriff, county at this function is reflected in the increase torney, coroner, register of deeds, and over the years of tax levies for county two district judges who also serve Da purposes only. In 1854 the county levy kota county. The county shares re was only $653. 1 By 1909 the amount sponsibility for its roads with township, was $62,000, or $1.98 per inhabitant. state, and federal governments. Following World War I it rose to In relation to public education, the $280,000 in 1921, or about $9.09 per county has only limited authority. It person. The maximum levies came in elects a superintendent of education the late 1920's, when the per capita whose duties are primarily associated amount was $11.62 in 1929. In 1940 the with collecting educational information, levy was $309,836, with a per person supervising the rural schools, and en levy of $9.82. By 1945 the levy had risen forcing attendance laws. The actual to $349,725," but was still below the control of the schools is vested in the high levies of 1928 and 1929. county's 155 school districts. The county In addition to its tax collecting func is responsible for the collection of tion, the county provides or helps to school taxes in each of these districts, provide its citizens with juridical, but the determination of rates and de- 1 No per capita amounts are given for this date because it is too far removed from the census year. 8 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 cisions for expenditure of funds are In the early history of the county, poor prerogatives of the districts. The county relief was a major expenditure. The tax itself spent only slightly more than levy for 1885 was $50,000, of which $5,000 for school purposes in 1945. Most $16,000 were spent on assistance to the of the expenditure was for the salary poor. The depression of the early 1930's of the county superintendent and his forced the county to turn to the federal assistant. Acting as their fiscal agent, government for help in meeting its the county treasurer in 1945 paid to the relief problems, and since that time it school districts $681,580. In the same has continued to share responsibility year the county received $681,435 in for those problems with state and new funds for support of district federal governments. schools. Of this amount 34.3 per cent The 1936 receipts for welfare pur came from state and 0.5 from federal poses contributed by the county itself funds; ten years prior to 1945 state and were more than double the amount for federal contributions were 31.9 and 0.2 the pre-depression year of 1929, when per cent, respectively. the county was bearing all such costs. Although the county has a Board of Over the 10-year period, 1936 through Health, its functions are limited prin 1945, receipts from the county in cipally to legal control in dealing with creased and decreased irregularly, but epidemics. There is no public health de in 1945 they were almost $5,000 above partment, but since 1922 a public health the 1936 level. As the county has ex nurse has been employed. The approxi panded its own efforts in the welfare mate cost of the county's nursing serv field, it has increasingly become the ice in 1945 was $2,447. The County channel through which state and fed Public Health Association also con eral goverpments have extended their tributes a small amount to the support welfare programs. Funds paid the of the service. In cooperation with eight county from state and federal sources other counties and the state, Goodhue increased from 45.1 per cent of all wel County contributes to the support of a fare receipts in 1936 to 66.1 per cent in tuberculosis sanatorium located near 1945. During this 10-year period, total Cannon Falls which was originally es welfare receipts rose from $145,641 to tablished by action of the Goodhue $249,303. 2 board of commissioners. In 1945 Good In 1917 the county made its first ap hue's contribution was $11,282. Red propriation ($1,000) for the service of Wing and the county's major villages an agricultural extension agent. Be employ physicians as part-time health tween 1935-36 and 1945-46, total annual officers. The chairmen of the township expenditures for Extension Service in boards usually serve as health officers creased from $5,317.83 to $11,973.41, a for their townships. Although the 125.2 per cent increase, and the increase county nurse cooperates with these in expenditure per farm operator rose officials, there is no well coordinated from $1.68 to $3.98. 3 During this 11- public health program for the entire year period the percentage of funds county. from county sources declined some Poor relief has been a county respon what. The percentage from federal sibility since 1858 when it was trans sources, although varying throughout ferred from the townships. A poor farm the period, was about the same at the and alms house established in 1863 and end as at the beginning of the eleven 1867, respectively, are still maintained. years, while the state's proportion in- z These receipts consisted principally of funds for old age assistance, aid to dependent children, and general relief. Aid-to-the-blind and federal WPA funds were not included. a Accurate data showing distribution of expenditures before 1935-36 cannot be obtained. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 9 creased to a certain extent. Since ganization whose major concern is 1939-40 the County Farm Bureau legislation relating to township matters. Federation, which is the legal sponsor There are eight incorporated munici of the Extension Service, has made palities in the county. Each of these small contributions toward the Service's governmental units has its own officers expenses. and performs certain services for its In addition to the regular agricultural citizens. In 1945 the county, acting as extension service personnel, the county fiscal agent for its townships and muni employs a part-time weed inspector. cipalities, paid approximately $382,000 Bounties are also paid by the county for to their treasurers. killing foxes and wolves because of the The 23 townships and six of the in protection thus given livestock and corporated places provide 29 of the poultry. county's voting precincts. The two re The county also makes financial con maining incorporated places, Cannon tributions to a miscellaneous group of Falls and Red Wing, have two and 10 organizations or services. Among these precincts, respectively. are a recently appointed county vet Still another unit of local govern erans service officer (entirely supported ment is the school district, of which by county funds), the Goodhue County there are 155 in Goodhue County. These Historical Society, the Cannon Valley units have authority to decide on the Fair Association, and the Goodhue tax levy for school maintenance and to County Fair Association. elect boards which are responsible for The county has 23 townships with the general administration of the which it shares responsibilities for local schools. government (see Frontispiece). At pres Finally, the county is divided into ent the principal functions of townships three legally established soil conserva are road maintenance and weed con tion districts, although part of one of trol. For these and other purposes the the districts is in an adjoining county. voters determine the township tax levy It is difficult to appraise the degree at their annual town meeting. These of community feeling of the people for township meetings are devoted entirely their county. Contributing to this feel to business. They are attended mostly ing are certain factors such as the by men and are not an occasion for the county's governmental functions; the gathering of crowds, for visiting or correspondence of its area to the mem other festivities. bership area of 24 county-wide, formal Each township has an elected board organizations; and the fact that the of supervisors and four or five other county is the administrative area for elected officials. Among the latter is the several public agencies. On the other tax assessor whose choice by ballot hand are factors which work in the op tends to give the voters closer control posite direction, including the location over assessment of property. The mem of the county seat away from the coun bers of the township boards have a ty's geographical center; the absence county-wide organization :J;:nown as the of main highways between the county Goodhue County Township Officers As seat and some of the more distant parts sociation. Its membership consist almost of the county; the division of local gov entirely of farmers. The annual dues, ernmental functions among townships, $10.00 per member, are paid from town school districts, and municipalities; the ship funds. The principal function of division of the county into three soil the organization is to foster and pre conservation districts; and the organi serve township government. The or zation of socio-economic life around ganization is affiliated with a state or- villages whose service areas cut across 10 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 county ·boundaries. Balancing these especially strong as compared with this factors against each other, however, one feeling for a particular community concludes that the sense of group within the county. identification' on a county basis is not 2. J:uealif!l (jruups OCALITY GROUPS are those so objective or readily obtainable. To L which can be identified with speci determine group identification ratings, fic geographical areas and whose mem a list of specific primary relationships" bers have a sense of belonging together. was made for each locality, and this list Usually there is a focal point with one was then used for forming a judgment or more services, but there are some rating of that group in terms of the locality groups without such focal people's sense of belonging together points, although the members have a (group identification). These ratings ap sense of belonging together and live in pear in column III of table 1. an area that may be identified. This The names of the locality groups ap defiinition assigns two characteristics pear in column II, arrayed from highest to locality groups: (1) common services to lowest on the basis of "service at a center, and (2) group identification! rating."" The two factors as rated for An examination of these two factors in each locality are combined in column the locality groups delineated" in Good IV, and in column V descriptive cate hue County was undertaken for the gories are assigned to these combined purpose of classifying the groupings. ratings. A classification of localities Table 1 was developed as an instrument based on the descriptive catagories is of analysis for deriving a meaningful presented in the following summary. locality classification. With the use of (For map of major locality groupings Dun and Bradstreet data for 1945, sup with service centers except open plemented by actual check in the field country church parishes and rural in small places, the number of kinds of school districts, see figure 2. For open services,• the number of doctors and country church parishes and rural dentists, and a weighted figure7 for school districts see figures 4 and 7.) schoo.ls. were combined into a rating score designated on the chart as "serv Classification Summary ice rating." The data for determining ratings on the service factor were ob Low Group Idenl:ificaiion: With High jective and easily obtained, but those Service Rating (A"B)-Red Wing; With for group identification are not nearly Low Service Rating (AB)-Most rural · ' "Group-identification" here means the awareness which people have of their member ship in a group, their feeling of belonging, or what is sometimes referred to as the "we feeling." • Localities were delineated on the basis of the area served by a particular center. For the most part this area was determined by trade relations, although in the case of the larger vil lages, the high school attendance area was also used. For church parish localities the area was based 9n membership; for open-country, nonfocal groupings on social relations, such as visiting and sense of belonging; and for work rings, on the participating farmers. 0 Including motion picture houses and banks. 7 See footnote on service rating, table 1. •Broadly defined primary relationships are those which are intimate, personal, and face to-face, such as occur in the family, among neighbors, or in play groups. On the other hand. secondary relationships are impersonal, not necessarily face-to-face, and lacking in intimacy. Such relationships occur in large organizations and institutions. Groups characterized by primary relationships are sometimes referred to in this study as primary groups and those characterized by secondary relationships as secondary. n Places in the same general service rating classification, as A or A2, etc., which have different scores are arranged from highest to lowest within their general class; places in the same class having the same score are arranged alphabetically. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 11 Table 1. Locality Group Scale Group Service Localityt Identification Combined Descriptive Categories,-:{ Rating"' Rating:j: Rating§ N• Red Wing B A'B High service--low group identification A' Zumbrota BZ A'B2 Relatively high service-medium group identification A' Cannon Falls B" A'B" Relatively high service-medium group identification A·' Kenyon B' A'B' Relatively high service-medium group identification A' Pine Island B' AIB2 Relatively high service-medium group identification A" Goodhue B' AaBz Medium service-medium group identification A• Wanamingo BZ A"B 2 Medium service-medium group identification service .. medium A' Dennison B' A'B' Relatively low group identification A' Bellechester B' A 2B2 Relatively low service-medium group identification A' Welch B' A 2B2 Relatively low service-medium group identification A' White Rock-Belle Creek B' A 2B2 Relatively low service-medium group identification A' Frontenac B' A 2B2 Relatively low service-medium group identification • Service rating. The letter A has been used to designate this factor. The rating is based upon a total score which was obtained by adding the number of different kinds of services reported for each service center by Dun and Bradstreet (supplemented in the case of small places by field observation), the number of motion picture the<;Iters, the number of banks, the number of doctors and dentists, and the number of schools weighted as follows: one-teacher school-!. consolidated elementary school-3, consolidated high schoo!-2, and consolidated elementary and high school-S. No school was in cluded which did not have farm children enrolled. Graduations for the A factor were determined by examining Dun and Bradstreet data on number of different kinds of service for sample service centers in the 24 counties in which rural organization studies were being made by the Division of Farm Population and Rural Life. This examination provided the range of gradations as well as class breaks in the range. It resulted in the following gradations or classes: A"-100 or more, A 1-50-99, A'-16-49, A'-5-15, A-1-4 different kinds of service. t Locality. This column carries the designation of the localities delineated. The proper names are the names of service~centers around which areas served by them have been delineated. In some instances groups of areas rather than individual areas have been listed, for example-most rural school districts, open~country non£ocal localities, etc. :j: Group identification. The Jetter B has been used to designate this factor. In order to arrive at ratings on this item, group identification was considered as the residue of what has been com· monly referred to in sociological literature as primary~group activities. Accordingly, an ideal type of primary neighborhood group was posited with the following behavior characteristics assigned to it: (I) Visiting by families and by individuals, (2) Mutual aid-(a) in emergencies, i.e., sickness, death; (b) in production, i.e., exchange of work and tools; (c) in borrowing and lending, i.e .. food, money, (3) Spontaneous play and recreation-children's games, picnics, hunting, fishing, (4) Exchange of personal confidences, relating intimate personal feelings and experiences, and (5) Repetition of group and personal experiences-stories about the group and its personalities. Each locality was examined to ascertain activities and experiences that might have any aspects of the above kinds of behavior. A list of these was made and studied to judge the primary group attitudes and under standings that might be expected to result from these activities and experiences, and which could then be rated as giving a sense of belonging together or of group identification. This meant further positing of what the ideal primary group would have in the way of attitudes and common under standing. The basic ones considered were: (1) total personality of each individual fully known, {2) feelings of intimacy and sentimental attachments. Of course, this qualitative analysis was com bined with a general judgment of the sense of belonging which the researcher had noted in his role of observer while in the county. Index values were then assigned to the B factor which had the following meaning: B'-High group identification; B'-Medium group identification; B-Low group identification. §Combined rating. In this column the symbols for service rating and group identification have simply been combined into a formula in which each symbol carries an index value of the rating assigned to it. ~ Descriptive categories. In this column appear the qualitative descriptions of the combined ratings found in column IV. The actual words used here were assigned as follows: For A: A"-High service, A 4-Relatively high service, A3-Medium service, A::!_Relatively low service, A-Low service. For B: B'-High group identification, B2-Medium group identification, B-Low group identification. 12 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Table I. Locality Group Scale-Continued Group Service Localityt Identification Combined Descriptive Categoriesl[ Rating• Rating:j: Rating§ A' Sky berg B' A"B' Relatively low service-medium group identification A' Sogn B' A 2B2 Relatively low service-medium group identification A' Vasa B' A'B" Relatively low service~medium group identification A Bombay B AB Low service-low group identification A Hader B' AB 2 Low service-medium group identification A Hay Creek B' AB 2 Low service-medium group identification A Roscoe B' AB" Low service-medium group identification A Stanton B' AB' Low service-medium group identification A Burnside B' AB' Low service-medium group identification A Waste do B AB Low service--low group identification A Aspelund B' AB' Low service-medium group identification A Clay bank B AB Low service-low group identification A Roscoe Center B' AB' Low service-medium group identification A Church Hill School District (No. lOS) B3 AB" Low service-high group identification A Fair Point B' AB 2 Low service-medium group identification A Nansen B' AB' Low service-medium group identification A Most rural school districts B AB Low service-low group identification Most open-country church parishes B" B" No service-high group identification Open-country nonfocal localities B-' B·' No service-high group identification Work rings B" B' No service-high group ide.ntification school districts, Bombay, Wastedo, School District (No. 105); With No Serv Claybank. ice (B')-Open-country nonfocal group Medium Group Identification: With ings, Most open-country church par Relatively High Service Rating (A'B2) ishes, Work rings. -Zumbrota, Cannon Falls, Kenyon, The classes appearing in the forego Pine Island; With Medium Service ing summary provide the basic outline Rating (A'B2)-Goodhue, Wanamingo; for the following description. With Relatively Low Service Rating (A2B 2)-Dennison, Bellechester, Welch, Low Group Identification White Rock-Belle Creek, Frontenac, Skyberg, Sogn, Vasa; With Low Service With High Service Rating Rating (AB2)-Hader, Hay Creek, Ros Red Wing is the only locality group coe, Stanton, Burnside, Aspelund, Ros included in this class. The area of coe Center, Fair Point, Nansen. which it is the center overlaps prac High Group Identification: With Low tically all of the area of Goodhue and Service Rating (AB')-Church Hill Vasa; part of that of Cannon Falls, RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 13 BOUNDARIES OF LOCALITY GROUPS High service-low group identification Relatively high service-medium group identification Medium service-medium group idenfilico/ion ~.:.:.-..::....~}Relatively low service-medium group identification Low service-low group identi!Jcalion Low service-medium group identification Low service -high group identification- SERVICE CENTERS OF LOCALITY GROUPS ~ High service rating E2Zl Relatively high service rating 0 Medium service rating • Relatively low service rating • Low service rating FIG. 2. Major locality groups with service centers In general, service centers, as used in this title, includes all centers other than open-country schools and churches. There is, however, one locality shown on the map which has only a rural school as its center. 14 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Wanamingo, Zumbrota, White Rock ers frequent the streets of Red Wing Belle Creek, Bellechester, and Hader; less than in some of the villages, such and all of Welch, Frontenac, Burnside, as Cannon Falls and Goodhue. When Hay Creek, Claybank, and the Church farmers do come to Red Wing, they Hill School District.10 In 1940, the popu often dress in their "Sunday" clothes. lation of Red Wing was 9,962 which by Red Wing also fails to provide the mar census definition places it in the urban keting attractions in terms of both category; however, this arbitrary statis facilities and understanding personal tical classification is fully supported by relations which are offered the farm the socio-economic characteristics of people by some of the county's village the town. Red Wing has a wide variety centers as well as its hamlets. of service establishments (112 different There are, however, some activities kinds), 16 doctors, 13 dentists, two between Red Wing and the people in hospitals, and a high school to which the area served by it which are per farm youth are admitted. It is also an sonal in character and result in a sense industrial center with 39 industries and of group identification. Slightly more 29 labor organizations. In 1940 the than one-third of the town's formally value of its manufactured products was organized groups have both farm and approximately $12,600,000. town members, and the activities of In explaining the town's role in the these organizations provide opportuni county, people almost always refer to ties for contacts that are sufficiently its industrial character. These char personal to give the town people and acteristics inevitably give to the town farmers a sense of belonging together. an impersonal character not only in Proportionally, however, the number terms of its internal social relationships, of organizations with both farm and but especially in terms of the relation town members is much lower in Red ships of farm people to it as a center. Wing than it is in any of the county's On the other hand, its numerous serv six villages. ices give it considerable importance as The Red Wing businessmen, through a place where farmers may find satis their Kiwanis Club, have undertaken faction for many of their basic needs. the sponsorship of 4-H clubs through The large number of services provided out the county. This personal interest by the town means that it has a high in rural children and the fact that rating as a service center, but the very the sponsoring members occasionally nature of the relationships involved in attend meetings of the clubs tend to utilizing these services, as well as their create a personal bond between town highly specialized character, means and farm people. The Red Wing mem that they result in impersonal, highly bers of the Izaak Walton League also secularized contacts. In these relation sponsor socials for the town and farm ships people tend to. interact without men which result in personal contacts sentimental feelings or intimate knowl that contribute to group identification. edge of each other as persons, with the In some of the places of business and result that they fail to develop strong around the marketing establishments, group cohesion. farm and town people visit and come There are some rather obvious indi to know each other in a personal sense. cations of the impersonal character of These relationships result in a limited the relationships between farm people sense of identification of the farm peo and those who live in Red Wing. Farm- ple with Red Wing. 10 In general, church parishes, school districts, work rings, and open-country nonfocal localities are not listed in this and other references to overlapping areas. For certain specialized services Red Wing draws people from all parts of the county as well as from a section across the Mississippi River in Wisconsin. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 15 Red Wing is the county seat, and trict participate in an annual meeting because of the governmental service to elect their school board, but at and activities located there, it draws tendance at these meetings is some people from the entire county. Thus times very poor. Most of the districts for some people, the area served by have one or more activities, such as the town includes the whole county. Thanksgiving and Christmas programs, Nevertheless, although the town has an a picnic at the close of school, or visita attractive and modern courthouse about tion days for mothers. And, of course, which people throughout the county the children who attend the schools boast, farmers make no great use of have a number of intimate contacts. this building as a center for visiting All of these experiences provide the with each other or with town people. peope of the school district with op Of course, the governmental agencies portunities for face-to-face, personal located at Red Wing provide some per contacts that tend to result in some de sonal contacts between agency person gree of group-consciousness, but in nel and farmers, and among farmers as most instances this consciousness does they work with these agencies. These not attain any very high degree. contacts give the farmers some sense of Localities which belong to the same belonging to Red Wing. class as most of the county's rural In describing Red Wing as a locality school districts were delineated about group, it should be noted, however, three centers: Bombay, Wastedo, and that there is an inner zone around the Claybank. These centers have low serv town, varying in width from 5 to 8 ice ratings with scores of 4, 3, and 2 miles. Inhabitants of this zone make respectively. The people's sense of be Red Wing their regular trading center longing together in these areas is based and have a higher sense of identifica principally on the visiting which occurs tion with the town than most of those at the stores or other service establish who live at a greater distance. Some ments. of the people from this inner zone attend Red Wing churches and belong Medium Group Identification1:l to the town's formal organizations. With Relatively High With Low Service Rating and Medium Service Rating It may appear unusual to pass from Six of the county's villages, Zum Red Wing to a discussion of school brota, Cannon Falls, Kenyon, Pine districts as locality groups, but the Island, Goodhue, and Wanamingo, are facts of table 1 lead us to follow this the service centers for these combined sequence. Of course, the rural school classes of localities. The last two cen districts are legal entities, but they are ters have a medium service rating, more than that; they are areas which whereas the first four have a relatively have service centers, namely their high rating in this respect. All six were schools. Since they have only one serv rated medium on group identification. ice, their rating in this respect is low. Because all of the localities in these In most instances school districts two groups have villages as their have a low degree of group identifica centers, and have several other similar tion, but they are not entirely devoid characteristics as well, they have been of it." The people in the school dis- combined for descriptive purposes. 11 It should be pointed out that two or three rural school districts were discovered where the feeling of group identification seemed to be of medium, or high degree. 12 A fairly wide range of localities is included in this class. The scope of the study was of such a character that it was impossible to apply the necessary techniques for a more re fined classification. 16 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 The village-centers with relatively specialties, farm operations, housing high service ratings range in popula (construction), news, banking, com tion from Pine Island with 1,040 to mercial recreation, elementary and high Cannon Falls with 1,544 (1940 census). school education, and professional In general the areas of this group of medical service (exclusive of hospi localities are larger than those with tals). The two medium service village medium service ratings. Goodhue, centers-Goodhue and Wanamingo which is in the latter category, has the have 32 and 30 different kinds of serv smallest area. On the other hand, Zum ice, respectively, but these places are inadequate for satisfying several needs, brota, which belongs to the relatively especially those relating to clothing high service rating group, has a small and commercial recreation. Among the er area than Wanamingo, which belongs services in these six village-centers are to the same group as Goodhue. In 1940, various farmers' cooperative establish Wanamingo and Goodhue had popula ments, including creameries, cheese tions of 480 and 449; respectively. factories, grain elevators, and oil sta Because the boundaries of these areas tions. Two of the villages have one co were determined more concisely than operative establishment each, two have those of other locality groups, the map two each, and two have three each. (figure 2) shows no overlapping among Competition among the six village them. Actually, they do overlap to some centers as well as between them and extent hecause there are farm people the town of Red Wing is relatively along their boundaries whose interests keen. In county-wide drives or cam identify them with more than one vil paigns, these seven service-centers take lage center. As has already been noted, special pride in their achievements; no the Goodhue locality area lies almost leader or committee directing a drive entirely within the Red Wing area, and can afford to ignore the potentialities a part of the Cannon Falls area, of of their rivalry. Sometimes a public Wanamingo and of Zumbrota is in that agency is able to utilize this competitive of Red Wing. All of these six localities spirit in obtaining sponsorship of its contain some parts of one or more activities. Goodhue and Wanamingo oc localities whose service centers have cupy a less secure economic position low or relatively low service ratings. than do the other villages. Goodhue is Pine Island,13 embraces a portion of especially threatened because of its only one locality, while at the other nearness to Red Wing where a wider extreme is Wanamingo, with parts of range of services is available. Although nine localities overlapping it. Kenyon Wanamingo is almost completely sur has two small localities that lie com rounded by larger centers, it has an un pletely within its area. usually strong hold on the farmers who The relatively high service localities live in its hinterland. offer from 50 to 71 different kinds of There is considerable organizational services in their village-centers. The integration between the farm hinter range of these services is sufficiently lands and the village-centers of both broad to satisfy approximately those the relatively high and medium service needs which relate to food, clothing, localities. On the basis of percentage of household supplies, servicing transpor village-centered organizations having tation equipment (automobiles), mar farm members, the six centers rank as keting and processing farm products, follows: '"There are probably more than two localities which lie partly (or wholly) within the Pine Island area. Much of the area of this locality is outside Goodhue County and was not surveyed. The same is also true of the Cannon Falls area. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 17 Rank Per cent mercia! Club and held in its meeting Pine Island 95.5 hall. Wanamingo 84.6 County fair is held at Zumbrota and Cannon Falls 78.1 actively sponsored by it business men. Zumbrota 77.8 Attendance of farm youth at village Goodhue 72.7 high school brings farm and village Kenyon 65.2 youth together, and extra-curricular activities of the school attract parents In only 21 of the village-centered or and others from farm areas of locality ganizations are half or more of the to village. members from the farm population, Village churches have a number of but a much larger number have "some" farm members. farmer members. These data serve only A considerable amount of informal as an index of group identification. As visiting among farmers and some be such, they show that in these localities tween farmers and villagers takes place there has emerged an organizational at service and marketing establishments structure which provides an opportuni and on the streets. ty for the expression of modified pri mary (personalized) relations between Cannon Falls farmers and villagers that may result in group identification. More significant, Commercial Club sponsors Conserva however, are certain activities, most of tion Day at village for farmers. which are associated either with formal Village men sponsor "Overall Week" organizations or with experiences con during which business men in town nected with the utilization by farm wear overalls; the week is climaxed by people of village services. These activi a social attended by village and farm ties and experiences are sufficiently men. primary to have created a sense of farm Village business men sponsor annual and village people belonging together. community fair. The following summary shows some of Village volunteer fire department the more important of these activities has definite arrangements for serving and experiences for each village. farmers. Attendance of farm youth at village Zumbrota high school brings farm and village youth together, and extra-curricular Village leaders in commercial club activities, parents' and parent-teachers' actively seek to enlist farmers as mem organizations connected with the school bers with result that a large number of attract parents and others from farm farm leaders are now members of this areas to village. group which is concerned with the Village churches have a number of business interests of both village and farm members. farm people. A considerable amount of informal Farm organizations and farm groups visiting among farmers and some be associated with agricultural agencies tween farmers and villagers takes place frequently meet in Commercial Club at service and marketing establishments Hall to which they are cordially invited and on streets. by the club. Village volunteer fire department has definite arrangements for serving Kenyon farmers. Commercial club formerly sponsored Whist tournaments between village Corn Show for farmers (discontinued and farm men are sponsored by Com- during and since end of war). 18 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Village volunteer fire department some between farmers and villagers serves farmers, but arrangements for takes place at service and marketing service not well planned. establishments and on streets. Attendance of farm youth at village high school brings farm and village Wanamingo youth together, and extra-curricular Village volunteer fire department activities and parent-teachers' organiza has definite arrangements for serving tion of the school attract parents and farm people. others from farm areas to village. Attendance of farm youth at village Village churches have some farm high school brings farm and village members. youth together, and extra-curricular A considerable amount of informal activities and a parents' organization visiting among farmers and some be connected with the school attract tween farmers and villagers takes place parents and others from farm areas to at service and marketing establishments village. and on streets. Village churches have a number of Pine Island farm members. Commercial Club formerly sponsored A considerable amount of intimate, Cheese Festival to which farmers came informal visiting among farmers and in large numbers (discontinued during some between farmers and villagers and since end of war). takes place at service and marketing Village volunteer fire department has establishments and on streets. arrangements for serving farmers. On the basis of actual number of ac Attendance of farm youth at village tivities and experiences which provide high school brings farm and village opportunities for primary relationships, youth together, and extra-curricular Zumbrota, Cannon Falls, Kenyon, and activities connected with this school Pine Island rank ahead of Goodhue and attract parents and others from farm Wanamingo as locality centers. But areas to village. because of the intimacy of relationships Village churches have a number of which occur at the places of service, on farm members. the street, in the churches, and at high A considerable amount of informal school sports events, farm people in the visiting among farmers and some be hinterland of the latter two villages tween farmers and villagers takes place seem to have a deeper sense of belong at service and marketing establish ing to the locality groups of which ments and on streets. these places are the centers than do members of the locality groups whose Goodhue focii are the first four villages. Village volunteer fire department has The various activities and experiences definite arrangements for serving (listed above) which focus around the farmers. village-centers, along with those con Attendance of farm youth at village nected with formal organizations, pro high school brings farm and village vide the communal bonds that have youth together, and extra-curricular made and are continuing to weld the activities connected with the school villages and their farm hinterlands into attract parents and others from farm locality groupings whose members areas to village. have developed and are developing a Village churches have a number of sense of identification. farm members. Of the items listed as providing op A considerable amount of intimate, portunities for certain moctified primary informal visiting among farmers and experiences, at least three deserve fur- RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 19 ther attention. They are (1) the village Of the six villages which constitute high schools; (2) the volunteer fire de the centers of the localities under dis partments; and (3) the village churches. cussion, only Kenyon and Cannon Falls Each of the six villages has a high have not worked out joint arrangements school to which children from farm with surrounding townships for fire homes are admitted. In these schools fighting. The Cannon Falls department farm boys and girls are brought to has arrangements with farmers' mutual gether from all parts of the area served insurance companies whereby the com by the village. Here these youth panies pay a small proportion of the through personal contacts and group ac total value of their policies to meet the tivities acquire a sense of identification costs of policy holders living within an with the village-centered locality. approximate radius of 10 miles. The Around the high schools, organizational Kenyon department has no formal structure has developed whereby farm agreements for serving farmers, but and village people are brought into will go to a fire within a 10-mile radius. associative relationships through par ent-teachers' associations and parents' In such a case, if the farmer has insur band clubs. Athletic events such as ance, he sometimes pays half and his basketball and football are also im insurance company the other half of portant for bringing farm and village the $25.00 charged for services. Other people together. Township Farm Bu wise the farmer pays the entire cost. reau organizations sometimes by-pass The integrative function of the volun the town hall and go to the village high teer fire departments is unquestionable, school for their meetings. Leaders in that the service they render repre among the business and profesional sents a form of mutual aid which men in the villages consider the high village people extend to farm people. A schools important factors in bringing sense of identification between farm farm people to the villages for trade. and village people inevitably results Consequently, in practically all of the from the functions of these groups. villages, this group of men is actively The churches in all of the villages promoting the expansion of school bus bring farm and village people into per service, or any other activity that will sonalized relationships. Already a ma bring farm boys and girls to their high jority of the members in some of these schools. churches are from farm homes. The Membership in the volunteer fire de primary character of the village church partments of the villages is restricted groups is intensified because the to village men. The organizations are churches are centers of social life as relatively small, usually about 20 mem bers, many of whom are leading busi well as of worship and religious in ness men. Through the efforts of these struction. departments, financial arrangements There can be no doubt that these or have been made with surrounding ganized channels are providing import townships and mutual fire insurance ant social contacts between farm and companies whereby funds are provided, village people. Although development together with those raised by the village of such channels is proceeding fairly governments, for maintenance of equip rapidly, leadership in this respect rests ment. The organizations have unusually with village people. The character of high morale and often mix social in the resulting relationships will be much terests such as dances, picnics, etc., more binding when farm people show with their community service of fight the same interest and assume their ing fires. share of the leadership. 20 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 With Relatively Low Service Ratings project groups, Red Cross branches, a Eight locality groups with medium women's study club, a basketball team, group identification fall in the relatively a bowling team, and a volunteer fire low service class; they are Dennison, department. Farm people constitute the Bellechester, Welch, White Rock-Belle major part of the membership of most Creek, Frontenac, Skyberg, Sogn, and of the organizations associated with Vasa. The service scores of these locali these centers. Along with the churches, ties range from 5 to 14; consequently, these organizations provide the formal their hamlet or crossroad centers are structure through which the people find able to meet only a limited number of opportunities for personal contacts that the basic needs of the people who live lead to a sense of identification. Visiting within them. The entire area of all but at the service and marketing establish two of these localities lies within one or ments is another means by which the the parts of two or three localities people have acquired their sense of be whose centers have higher service longing together. Formerly, social con ratings, and several of them overlap in tacts at these places were much more varying degrees with one or more of important than they are now. In the their own class. The fact that these lo past the farmers made daily trips to calities are parts of larger locality the creameries and cheese factories for groups whose centers provide more ade the purpose of delivering their milk; quate services naturally means that but since the plants have begun to there are strong forces attracting in operate trucks which come to the farm habitants from their own centers. for the milk, many farmers no longer The hamlet-centers of the eight lo make the daily visit to the hamlet. calities range in population from about Moreover, in three of the hamlets, co 7 to approximately 280.14 Three of them operative plants have been closed in have banks, but none has either a recent years. doctor or dentist. Rural one-teacher elementary schools are near the centers With Low Service Rating in seven instances, but the district lines Nine localities in the medium group of these schools do not correspond to identification class have low service the areas served by business establish ratings; they are Hader, Hay Creek, ments in the centers. Churches are lo Roscoe, Stanton, Burnside, Aspelund, cated in or near five of the hamlet Roscoe Center, Fair Point, and Nansen. centers. The number of formally or It was difficult to classify several of ganized groups which meet in or can these localities with reference to group otherwise be associated with these identification. At least one of them hamlet-centers varies from 1 to 7; all might have been placed in the low have at least one such organization. group-identification class and for nearly Township Farm Bureau units meet in all of the others there is some question or near three of them. Farmers' co as to whether or not they should have operative establishments (either a been assigned to the high group-identi creamery, cheese factory, oil station, fication class. All but two of these lo or grain elevator) are located in five calities lie entirely within the bound (one in each of four, and two in the aries of the county's village- or town fifth). Other organized groups associ centered localities. Three of them are ated with one or more of these places entirely within the area of some one of are 4-H clubs, Home Demonstration the village- or town-centered localities ,. Strictly defined, the center with approximately 280 people would be classified as a village. Two of the centers have populations below 50, and would not be classed as hamlets under a strict population definition, namely, places of 50 to 250 inhabitants. These population data are Dun and Bradstreet estimates for 1945. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 21 and two others are almost so, while a community club which is essentially three have their areas divided between social in function.'" In addition to these different combinations of two or three organized channels through which the of these localities. Two of the. group people establish social contacts, there overlap considerably with other small are numerous informal activities in all localities. The services at the centers of of these localities-visiting from house these nine localities meet only a very to house, birthday clubs, etc., which few of the needs of those who live give the people a sense of group within their areas. The population of consciousness. each of the centers is small. In most of them, it is hardly any more concen trated around the center than in the High Group Identification open country. Localities The centers of four of the localities, Hader, Roscoe, Roscoe Center, and With Low Service Rating and No Nansen, have small cooperative cheese Services factories to which the farmers bring The high group identification locali their milk daiiy. These milk deliveries ties include two subgroups according provide many opportunities for visiting to service ratings-low service rating at the plants. Moreover, the cooperative and no services. Only one locality was organization constitutes a group bond identified in the low-service subgroup, of considerable significance. Two of the the Church Hill School District (No. centers have churches which are im 105), which lies in the northwestern portant focii of group life. One-teacher corner of the Goodhue village service rural schools can be identified with five area." The people have a strong attach of the centers. A consolidated elemen ment for their school and make it the tary school is the principal focus of the center of their social life. Near the Burnside locality group. It is the meet school house is a small church whose ing place of the township Farm Bureau parish corresponds somewhat closely unit and a 4-H club. This particular to the school district, but a number of locality group has a long history of people living in the district attend self-conscious group life. Over 30 years church elsewhere. ago a Farmers' Club was organized, The localities with no services in which subsequently became the nucleus clude three types: most open-country of the present township Farm Bureau church parishes, open-country nonfocal unit. Throughout this same period the groupings, and work rings. None of consolidated school has been the center these types has a service as its focus, of group-life in the area. A Home although in the open-country parishes Demonstration project group and a 4-H the church might well have been con club may be identified with Hay Creek, sidered such a focus. 17 a 4-H club with Roscoe, a township The open-country nonfocal groupings Farm Bureau unit and a Home Demon are usually small in area and often stration project group with Stanton, a without names. (See figure 3) Occa Red Cross branch with Roscoe Center, sionally, however, they have names and a Home Demonstration project such as Flower Valley, West Florence, group with Aspelund. Fair Point has Belvidere Mills, etc. The actual num- 15 One 4-H Club alternates between Hader and Wastedo (not in class of locality under discussion) for its meeting place . . 10 It is possible that there are a few other school districts out of the 155 in the county Wlllch belong m this subgroup. However, after considerable investigation district 105 was the only one identified. ' 17 Througout this treatment of locality groupings, churches have not been considered as service institutions becauoe of their voluntary character and the high degree of primary group characteristics which they possess. 22 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 grouping of families. Perhaps an in ,----1 tensive survey of visiting relationships would reveal more of these nonfocal open-country localities. Many persons interviewed, however, stated that visit ing among neighbors, even those in the '--_ tnt~r-.t•t•"t or~~ __/------.. same birthday group, was not as fre ~ i------"'"-- -; quent as it has been in the past. ' The open-country church parishes in many parts of the county were de scribed by the local people as import ant locality groupings. (See figure 4) Often their areas are fairly large and, ______r___ ... of course, overlap considerably with ------, the areas of other types of locality ,. ___ .. ' groups. Although they are in a sense Belvldcte Moll~ / special interest groups, they were often ( .. ' '------; found to be fairly compact groupings ' whose boundaries could be delineated ~------~' with an approximate degree of ac FIG. 3. Three open-country nonfocal locality curacy. Twenty of these parishes gr?ups. ~nd. one l~cality of medium group were identified. A majority of them are tdent1hcahon With low service rating distinctly primary groups because their churches are centers not only for re ber of these groupings was not deter ligious interests but also for many social mined. Some areas of the county have events at which relationships are highly none, while in other sections, from two personalized. The primary character of to three could be delineated in each these church parish groupings is often township. Groups of this type can be further enhanced by kinship and ethnic best delineated by identifying the fami ties among their members.'• lies in which wives belong to the same There are numerous work rings in all birthday or sewing club. Sometimes, parts of the county. They are composed Home Demonstration project groups of farmers who help each other with have been organized on the basis of operations requiring more labor or these birthday or sewing clubs. These farm machinery than can be provided locality groups have a high degree of by one family. Among these coopera identification. People who constitute tive activities are threshing, silo-filling, them are known to each other in terms haying, manure-spreading, and corn of their entire personalities. picking. It is somewhat infrequent that In mapping some of the open-country one group of farmers performs all of nonfocal localities, there appeared in these operations. Threshing and silo terstitial areas in which a number of rings are the most numerous. In at families lived without any identifiable least a majority of cases the rings are locality group relationship of this type. composed of farmers who live in close In one township it was emphasized that proximity so that, in a manner, they the families living in these areas were may be considered locality groups individualistic and had with their characterized by a high degree of group neighbors little or no social life which identification arising from the intimate would include them in a recognizable relationships involved in their mutual 1• An Episcopal parish in the extreme northern part of the county embraces a small group of Indians who live on a reservation. These Indians constitute the major portion of the church's membership. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 23 • CHURCH BUILDING CHURCH PARISH BOUNDARY FIG. 4. Open-country church parishes. This map presents the parishes of strictly open-country churches which did not seem to be identified with some hamlet, village, town, or other locality center. The boundaries of some of the parishes extend outside the county. These boundaries, however, are not shown on the map. The parishes of two important open-country churches, St. John's Lutheran and Grace Lutheran, both lo cated in Goodhue township and served by the same pastor, are not shown on this map because their memberships were too intermixed to permit the delineation of separate parishes. Another open country church with a very small membership has been omitted. Furthermore, because of small membership there was some q)lestion concerning the inclusion of three or four others. aid functions. Some work rings are whose spatial identification is somewhat essentially kinship groups which only indefinite. adds to their primary character. How ever, there are rings whose members Locality Groups Outside the are sufficiently scattered to preclude their classification as locality groups. County Furthermore, examination shows a con Just as the areas served by centers siderable interchange of membership located within Goodhue County extend from one ring to another. (See figure beyond the county's boundaries, so 5) In such cases, it is difficult to de there are outside service centers whose lineate a locality group even though areas extend into the county. People the sense of identification of farmers from Goodhue County go to both St. with their various work rings may be Paul and Minneapolis (approximately fairly high. In these instances the work 50 miles away) for the satisfaction of a rings seem to be special interest groups number of specialized needs. The areas which are primary in character but served by Rochester, a city of 26,000, 16 24 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 namely, neighborhood. community, and service area.'• This course was followed because it was felt that these terms have come to be used so loosely that they lead to confusion. However, be cause the terms provide the necessary semantics required for reference in dis cussing locality group phenomena, the following tabulation has been devised. Here the basic classification of locality groups, as derived from an examination of their services (secondary character istics) and their degree of group identi fication (primary characteristics), have been further classified under conven tional terminology defined on the basis of criteria used in the service rating group identification analysis. The defi nitions thus formulated are: MU>!9(RS ()( l\01/K ~INGS Qf Service area is that territory whose 0 FarmNNo.l C>Com H•H~ying Q farmetNo2 M•Manure $:Silo filling inhabitants find the satisfaction of one ~ ~JrmN No 3 T• Threshing -Farm /:,;,undory - Sc'cllon lint!! or more of their needs at an identifiable point within it. The services at this FIG. 5. An example of work ring relationships center may vary from a large number The data for this map were obtained from three farmers who listed other farmers with whom they of types providing almost complete exchanged work. satisfaction of needs (high service rating) to only one type satisfying only miles to the south, and by Faribault, a one need (loW service rating). The de city of 14,500, 15 miles to the southwest, gree of group identification with this extend into the southern and south center by the people who live in the western parts of the county. Lake City, area served by it is low or may be a town of 3,000 across the boundary in practically nonexistant. A community Wabasha County, is the service center is a group of people, several of whose for a small section in the eastern part needs are commonly satisfied at an of Goodhue County. A suburb of this identifiable point in space. The services town, known as Central Point, lies at this center vary from a relatively within Goodhue County. Since all of large number of types providing a con these centers are outside the county, siderable degree of satisfaction of needs no attempt has been made to describe (relatively high service rating) to only and classify them and their hinterlands a few types (low service rating). There as locality groupings. is a medium degree of group identifi cation with the center by the people Classification of Locality who live in the area served by it. A neighborhood is a group of people liv Groups ing in a definable area which may or The foregoing description of lo may not have a center If it has a cen cality groupings has not utilized the ter, its number of types of services is common classification of locality groups, few, meeting only a small number of 10 Service area has been used in the place of trade area because it is a more inclusive and .meaningful term. However, as a term, its usage is probably less common than trade area. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 25 Table 2. Classification of Locality Groups According to Conventional Terminology Descriptive Categories Conventional with symbolic ratings Localities terms I. Low group identification A. With high service rating (A6B} Red Wing B. With low service rating (AB} Most rural school districts l Bombay JService Area Wastedo Claybank II. Medium group identification A. With relatively high service rating (A4B2} Zumbrota Cannon Falls Kenyon Pine Island B. With medium service rating (A•B•) Goodhue Wanamingo C. With relatively low service rating (A2B2} Dennison Bellechester Welch White Rock-Belle Creek Frontenac Community Skyberg Sogn Vasa D. With low service rating (AB•} Hader Hay Creek Roscoe Stanton Burnside Aspelund Roscoe Center Fair Point Nan sen Ill. High group identification A. With low service rating (AB'} Church Hill School District (No. 105) B. With no services (B 3) Open-country nonfocal groupings Neighborhood Most open-country church parishes Work rings needs (low service rating). It is char community, and neighborhood is ad acterized by a high degree of group mittedly arbitrary, but the dividing identification among its inhabitants. lines are clearly indicated so that one Table 2 presents a classification of may quickly see the kinds of localities the county's locality groups based on included in each class. In other parts the foregoing definitions. of the study these terms as defined The classification of locality groups here are generally used in referring to in table 2 according to service area, broad classes of locality groups. 26 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 3. 1nstitutionalized Organizations NSTITUTIONS are forms of organi Evangelical and Reform 1 I zation which have a greater degree Jehovah's Witnesses 1 of permanence and wider recognition Presbyterian 1 than do other forms. Among the major Salvation Army 1 institutions are government, the church, the school, and the family. The first Total 83 was considered in the beginning of this study; the other three will be described Several of the rural churches have a in the following pages. special historical interest. The oldest Norwegian Lutheran Church in the county was the "mother" of St. Olaf The Church College (now located at Northfield, Approximately two-thirds of the Minnesota). The same church has been county's population is affiliated with the mother-church of nine other the church. There are 83 active churches, eight of which are in Good churches, 24 of which are in the open hue County. The most famous Swedish country, and six in very small hamlets Lutheran Church in the county also or crossroad places (figure 6). Both maintained an academy in early times minister:s and laymen say there are and established an orphanage which too many churches (one church per is still in existence, but now under de 380 persons in the 1940 population), nominational supervision. but at the same time they acknowledge The discussion of locality groups that strong attachment for individual pointed out that the open-country churches makes it difficult to unite even churches are important centers of life those churches of the same denomina for farm people. This is less true of tion. The following tabulation gives village churches, although many of the number of active churches in 1946, them play almost as significant a role. according to broad denominational af Practically all of the churches have filiation: basements where church socials, wed ding anniversaries, and pre- and post Number of wedding showers are held. Kinship Religious Body"" Churches groups play an important part in many Lutheran (all bodies) 44 of these socials. Churches are the Catholic 9 customary place for both weddings and Methodist 7 funerals. Almost every open-country Episcopal 6 church has its grave-yard. Indeed, the Assembly of God 2 county's many beautiful, well-cared-for Christian Science 2 churches with their graceful spires and Congregational 2 surrounding grave-yards appear to be Mission Covenant 2 symbolic of the importance which the Adventist 1 people attach to organized religion. Apostolic Gospel 1 The churches, whether open-country, Bapti~ 1 village, or town, are highly organized. Church of Christ 1 With reference to them one hears the Evangelical 1 same remark that is made about 20 The town of Red Wing has a Young Men's Christian Association which is not included in this tabulation. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 27 rrn Goodhue 0 • Wanamingo • Hamlet, vi/lage, or town church o Country church Kenyon FIG. 6. Distribution of active churches, 1946 Hamlet is used somewhat loosely in the classification of churches presented on this map. In several instances, churches were located in centers which were considred hamlets but would not qualify as such on the basis of a rigid population definition. One church located near a rural school (No. 105) which was the social center of a small, well-knit locality group could in no sense be con sidered as located in a hamlet and was, therefore, classified as a country church. secular life-"we are over-organized." attend religious instruction at their The auxiliary organizations usually as churches. Many of the organizations sociated with each church are Sunday which have been formed within the School, ladies' aid, missionary society, chuches serve a dual purpose-re one or more youth organizations, and a ligious education and recreation. Simi men's organization. lar to secular organizations, churches In 1870, Goodhue County had 20 often have annual meetings at which parochial schools, but by 1946 there the past year's records are reviewed. were only 5 churches (three German Some of the church organizations place Lutheran and two Catholic) with paro the same emphasis on organizational chial schools attached!1 As they have forms as do secular organizations. done for a number of years, many of Despite the development within the the churches operate summer church church of considerable organizational schools which run from a month to six structure directed toward specialized weeks. In one village the schools re interests, the preaching service con lease pupils one afternoon each week to tinues to be the main emphasis, for the 21 The county also has a Catholic academy which is conducted as a boarding school for girls. 28 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Protestant group, at least. A large ma tribution among the major religious jority of the churches have a liturgical bodies of all church members in 1936." form of worship, and preaching is dis According to this presentation, the tinctly theological in content. With a membership of all Lutheran bodies few exceptions, a majority of the minis constituted 72.8 per cent of the county's ters undoubtedly follow the principle as total church members. When individual stated by one of their number, "I preach bodies are considered, the Norwegian theology, telling people of the way of Lutheran Church of America (changed salvation. I preach no politics or re to Evangelical Lutheran Church in form." 1946) had by far the largest percentage Among the open-country and hamlet of the total. Although the county's churches, the same minister often church membership was predominantly serves two congregations. Sometimes Protestant, the Roman Catholic Church the parishes of the two will adjoin each ranked third among the different bodies other or even overlap, with members in number of adherents. from one church by-passing the other. The Lutheran people are extremely Generally, both the village and the loyal to their denominational bodies. open-country ministers have fairly good This loyalty is fostered not only by the formal training, and a few of the ministers but also by church papers and younger ones have had courses in the conferences. In those areas where social sciences. In some instances the people of Norwegian, Swedish, and minister's tenure has been exceptionally German backgrounds are rather com long. pactly settled, denominational solidarity The tabulation below shows the dis- is supported by ethnic solidarity. No. of Per cent of Religious Body Members Total Baptist (Northern) ...... 104 0.5 Congregational and Christian .. 291 1.4 Evangelical 190 0.9 Evangelical and Reform ... 34 0.2 Lutheran (all bodies) (14,969) (72.8) American Lutheran Church .... 340 1.7 Augustana Synod of North America ... 3,569 17.3 Joint Synod of Wisconsin and other states 1,845 9.0 Lutheran Free Church .. 456 2.2 Norwegian Lutheran Church of America 6,158. 29.9 Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other states 940 4.6 United Lutheran Church of America . 1,661 8.1 Methodist Episcopal 1,136 5.5 Presbyterian in U.S.A. 232 1.1 Protestant Episcopal 1,175 5.7 Roman Catholic 2,240 10.9 Scandinavian Evangelical bodies . 80 0.4 All other bodies 146 0.7 Total ...... 20,597 100.1 22 Religious Bodies, Vol I, 1936. Table 32, pp. 772-773. U. S. Department o£ Commerce, Bureau of Census. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 29 The School maintaining schools in 1946-47 (figure 7). Enrollment had dropped from the In 1854, four public school districts all-time high of 8,127 in 1888 to 5,560 in were organized in Goodhue County. 1947. Ten years later (1864) there were 100 Of the 134 schools which were in districts, although only 87 were or operation in 1946-47, 121 had one teach ganized. These 87 districts had 2,450 er, one had two teachers, and one had pupils enrolled and owned 56 school four. These 123 schools were ungraded houses, of which 34 were frame and 22 rural elementary institutions, all lo log buildings. The year 1864 was the cated in districts which maintained only first time the county had a superin one school each. Seventy of the 123 tendent for its public schools. In 1940 schools had fewer than 15 pupils. In there were 155 school districts, but addition there were 11 schools operated schools were not operated in four of by special or independent districts. them. Although the number of districts Five of these schools were in the remained the same, only 130 were special district of Red Wing, and four FIG. 7. School districts of Goodhue County, 1946-47 30 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 of the five had six elementary grades forced to close their schools and send each, while one had two elementary their children to other districts. grades and four years of high school. Members of the rural district school The county's six independent (village) boards have a county-wide organiza districts had one each of the remaining tion called the Goodhue County School six schools, all of which had both ele Board Association. It is a rather loosely mentary and high school grades. The knit organization which met annually number of teachers and principals in before the war, but in recent years has these 11 schools ranged from 6 to 42. not held regular meetings. Almost all The county superintendent is elected of its members are farmers. The organi zation is affiliated with the State School by popular vote. The county commis Board Association. sioners fix the salaries of the county In 1940-41 the rural ungraded ele superintendent and his assistant and mentary schools of the county had 147 make decisions concerning changes in teachers, five of whom were men. The the boundaries of school districts. The average annual salary of these teachers superintendent's office is a report was $609, for an average of 8.3 months gathering center for school census, of teaching. By 1946-47 the number of finances, attendance, etc., for the entire teachers in the rural elementary county and is responsible for transmit schools had declined to 127, all of whom ting these data to the State Department were women. Their average annual of Education. The superintendent sees salary had then risen to $1,377, for an that the State course of study is fol average of 8.4 months of teaching. lowed in the rural schools, checks them In 1940-41 the average annual salary as to qualifications for state aid, makes for elementary teachers in the special recommendations to district boards con and independent districts was $1,021, cerning the employment of teachers, but by 1946 this had been raised to recommends textbooks to rural teach $1,796. At both dates the school term ers, supervises instruction by visiting was nine months. Thus both in 1940 and each school not less than once a term, 1946 there was considerable difference and is responsible for enforcement of in the pay of rural and village or town the compulsory attendance law. Al teachers. though the superintendent exerts some Of the 127 teachers employed in the influence over district boards in their rural ungraded elementary schools selection of teachers, he has no authori during 1946-47, nine had a 2-year ty to hire or fire them nor to fix their teacher college course, two a 1-year pay. teacher college course, 110 a 1-year The chief authority over the public high school training department course, schools resides in the local school dis and six were teaching on the basis of a trict. This authority is vested in an teacher's examination or its equivalent. elected board which employs the dis Thus most of those who teach the farm trict's teachers, fixes their salaries, children of the county are prepared and has general charge of school prop for teaching by a 1-year course in the erty and finances. In spite of forces teacher training department of a high working towards its dissolution, the school. Formerly there were three high school district continues to show con schools in the county which offered siderable ability for survival as a unit such a course, but in 1946-47 there was of governmental administration. How only one. ever, because of inability to obtain The rural people make no very rigid teachers during and since the end of demands that teachers participate in the war, a number of districts have been local activities; nor do they interfere RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 31 with the teaching process. Many of the one consolidated rural school provides a rural teachers live in the vicinities in hot lunch for its pupils. A majority of which their schools are located. the rural schools have terms of only None of the rural schools has a for eight months, although some have mally organized Parent Teachers' As either eight and a half or nine months. sociation; although teachers usually in The county has seven high schools; vite mothers to visit their schools at six are located in villages and the least once a year. An annual picnic at seventh in Red Wing. Two of the vil the close of school, and a Christmas or lage schools and the one in Red Wing Thanksgiving program generally consti are four-year institutions!l:l; of the re tute the principal school events to maining four, two are junior-senior, which the public is invited. In section two undivided, each having six grades. 2, Locality Groups, most of the rural If farm boys and girls wish to attend a school districts were rated low on group public high school, these are the schools identification. to which they must go. In 1946-47 the There is no county-wide organization county's village and town (Red Wing) of public school teachers. Some of public high schools had 638 students them, however, belong to the Minnesota who were residents of the county but Education Association. An institute for not residents of the high school dis rural teachers is held in the fall under tricts. In addition there were 54 boys the leadership of a representative from and girls from Goodhue County en the State Department of Education. rolled in high schools in adjoining The same representative returns to the counties. These non-resident high county in the spring and spends four school students are from rural school or five days visiting the rural schools. districts, and although some of them The village high schools are inspected come from nonfarm families living in from time to time by a representative hamlets and the open country, a large from the State Department of Educa majority are from farm families. tion. The people in the villages appear Although the small one-room, one anxious to have the farm boys and girls teacher schools vary somewhat, fea attend their schools because it means tures common to most of them are a more money for operating, provides a small number of pupils (the modal sufficient number of students to have a group of schools has from 10 to 14 good school, and leads parents to trade students); a teacher who bears a per in the village. Only Red Wing seems to sonal relationship to her pupils; many be indifferent in this regard, primarily class periods ranging from 3 to 15 because its high school does not need minutes each; a wide range in the age additional enrollment for efficient and grades of pupils; often a very neat operation. Legally the farm people and orderly room with numerous have no voice in the control of these decorations and exhibits; and few independent or special districts which extra-curricular activities. Problems of provide high school facilities for their discipline are at a minimum. Play life children. The independent or special at the schools is sometimes a problem districts are paid from state funds for because of the wide range in ages. None the educational service rendered the of the one-teacher schools has a hot nonresident pupils. lunch program, although some of them While these seven village and town have facilities for heating the lunches high schools undertook to serve farm which the children bring. The county's children in 1946-47, only two had "'Although the Red Wing High School had the seventh and eighth grades in 1946-47. it was classified by the State Department of Education as a four-year high school. 32 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 courses in vocational agriculture, al vided by the government, the courses though five offered courses in home are under the administrative control of economics. Four of the schools offered the schools in which they are taught. general industrial and four, commer Only veterans who are farm operators cial classes. In view of the large migra are eligible. Regular classes are held tion of the county's farm girls to vil twice a week; in addition the teacher lages, towns, and cities, the commercial visits the men on their farms, to dis courses should help at least this group cuss their operations with them. Of of students meet the occupational re the high schools at which the courses quirements of their new environment. are offered, one already has a vocational On the whole the village and farm agricultural department. Those inter high school students mix fairly well; ested in the veterans' classes consider however, cliques composed largely them an initial step in the establish either of farm or of village pupils may ment of similar departments in the sometimes be found. In some of the other two schools. high schools the teachers make a defi nite effort to maintain good relations between village and farm children. Ex The Family cept for inter-school athletics, the Because no attempt will be made extra-curricular programs of the high here to describe family life in detail, schools are usually planned so that only a few general facts about Good farm children may participate during hue fami1ies are presented. The prin school hours. Even in the case of inter cipal interest of the study in respect school athletics, farm boys and girls to the family was to discover its rela frequently manage to participate. tionships to other groups. These rela In two of the high schools a special tionships are discussed in some detail effort is made to provide farm boys in section 9 of this bulletin. with organized group experiences di In 1940 the county had approximately rected toward what is assumed to be 8,363 families.2 ' Of this number, 33.3 their special vocational interests. The per cent were urban, 26.7 per cent rural vocational agricultural departments in nonfarm, and 40.0 per cent rural-farm. these schools sponsor Future Farmers The average family is not especially of America organizations. Since one of large. In 1940 the size of the median the departments was established in family for the total population was 3.38 1946, its FFA group is relatively new. persons, for the urban 3.07, for the The organization sponsored by the rural-nonfarm 2.95, and for the rural older department was not very active farm 3.99. The average size of Goodhue in the winter of 1947. The member families decreased very little in the ship of both groups is small. Each decade 1930-40. There were slight de organization undertakes to provide clines in the median size of all fam extra-curricular educational and rec ilies and of urban and rural-nonfarm reational activities for its members. families, but the median size of rural As a part of the educational pro farm families remained the same. The gram offered by the federal govern county's rural-farm replacement ratio ment to veterans of World War II, between 1940 and 1950 is estimated at courses in agriculture are being given 146.2' This ratio is the number of young at three of the county's high schools. men who would reach their 25th birth Although financial support is pro- day between 1940 and 1950 per 100 2·' Based on number of occupied dwellings. 20 Taeuber, Conrad, Replacement Rates for Rural-Farm Males Aged 25-69 Years, by Coun ties, 1940-1950, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, USDA, Washington, D.C. December 1944. p. 16. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 33 men age 25-69 who would be expected farms are often handed down from to die or retire within the same 10 father to son. They have usually pro years. vided fairly good incomes with the re On the basis of these data, Goodhue's sult that families have acquired a sense farm families appear to have reached of independence and dignity. These a sort of equilibrium in which family psychological characteristics are fre size has become more nearly adusted quently encountered in the farm fam to the ability to attain an adequate liv ilies of the county. While the influence ing standard. Although replacement of high war and post-war farm in rates indicate a possible excess of 46 comes may help to account for the young men (number attaining their 25th presence of these attitudes, they seem birthday) for each 100 men (age 25-69 to have a long history. The fact that who would be expected to die or retire) for the period 1940-1950, this is some tenant families usually operate a fam what below the national figure of 67. ily-sized farm without close supervi Farm families in Goodhue are not sion from landlords, and that a num very mobile, which should mean that ber of them are sons or other relatives county and community organizations of owners makes it easy for them to have a somewhat stable source of mem possess a sense of equality and inde bership. Fifteen was the average num pendence."" ber of years of operation on the same Although the family-sized farm pre farm by all operators in 1940. For full dominates, there is a sharp division owners it was 20 years and for tenants of labor in the family. The wives and eight years. daughters of a large majority of the Goodhue farm families operate fam farmers tend to restrict their work al ily-sized farms. The average-sized farm most exclusively to the household and in 1945 was 154.2 acres, with only 11 care of poultry and garden. In the 1940 per cent of the farms having 260 or census, only 54 rural-farm females 14 more acres and only 17 per cent less years old and over were reported as than 70 acres. These family-operated unpaid family laborers. "' In 1945, 39.6 per cent of all farmers were tenants. 34 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 4. lormallv Organized t;roups ORMALLY organized groups are Farmers of Goodhue County, as well Fthose which have fairly distinct ob as the village and town people, have jectives, elect or appoint officers and numerous formal organizations. More have more or less clearly defined mem over, a number of the village- and berships, hold meetings, plan programs town-centered organizations have mem of activities, and function according to bers who are from the farm areas. The certain prescribed rules which are us tabulation below gives a simple classi ually consciously imposed by the adop fication of the county's formally organ tion of a constitution and by-laws. Such ized groups. groups may, and many of them do, have a limited existence. Although church and school groups also possess Rural Farm Organizations many of the characteristics of formal organizations, they represent more uni General Organizations versal human interests and are recog Farm Bureau Federation-In recent nized as permanent segments of the years the Farm Bureau Federation has social structure. For these reasons they grown rapidly, attaining in 1946 a were described in the preceding sec membership of 1,396. If the relatively tion on institutionalized organizations. small number of nonfarm members is Types and Sub:types Number 1. Rural-farm organizations 159 A. General 112* B. Specialized 47t 2. Village- or Town-centered organizations 269t A. Village- or Town-centered with both Farm and Village or Town members 147 B. Village- or Town-centered with Village or Town members only 110 C. County-wide: Primarily Village- or Town-centered with both Farm and Village or Town members 8§ D. County-wide: Village- or Town-centered with only Village or Town members 4 428*'' • Includes County Farm Bureau Federation, 21 Township Farm Bureau units, Home and Community Committee, 50 Home Demonstration Project groups, County 4-H Council, four district units composing the County 4-H Federation, 31 4-H Clubs, Rural Youth, United Farm ers of America, and the Fair Point Community Club. Five Home Demonstration Project groups and four 4-H Clubs are included among the village- or town-centered organizations. t The Goodhue County Township Officers Association and the Goodhue County School Board Association are included in this figure, but are discussed in other sections of the study. :j: Because of the nature of the data for bowling teams, Boy Scout troops, and Girl Scout troops, it was necessary to disregard individual teams and troops and in each village or town count each of these kinds of organizations as one organization. The County Red Cross Chapter has 10 hamlet- or village-centered branches but these were not counted as separate organiza tions because their membership was too loosely defined to permit adequate classification. §The Goodhue County Republican Committee and the Goodhue Democratic-Farmer-Labor Committee are included in this figure, but are discussed briefly in another section of the study. •• Formally organized groups within the schools, such as the Future Farmers of America, etc., are excluded from this total as are similar groups within the churches. Groups of this kind are described in their proper setting in section 3 of this study. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 35 excluded, about 44 per cent of the were used principally for transmitting county's fann operators were members information about fanning or house at that time. The organization consists hold management. These figures give of 21 township units27 whose member some indication of the extent to which ships vary from 30 to 94. A county the Extension Service utilizes the or wide meeting is held annually, but the ganization as an educational channel. county organization functions princi A majority of the township unit pally through its officers and a board meetings are held in town halls, but of directors composed of one represen some units meet at rural schoolhouses, tative from each township unit. Among others at village high schools, one at the county's farm organizations the im a commercial club room, one at the portance of the Farm Bureau arises in office of the Rural Electrification Asso part from the fact that under Minne ciation, and one in a church. A typical sota law it is designated as the spon meeting of a township organization be sor for county extension work. Figure gins late-probably around 8:30 p.m., 8 shows the organizational structure because dairy fanners have numerous of the Bureau and its relationship to chores to do before they can leave the county Extension Service as well home. The meeting opens with a busi as to Home Demonstration organiza ness session generally conducted with tions. strict observance of rules of order. The Farm Bureau is not only the Minutes of the last meeting are read, sponsoring group for the Extension reports of delegates and committees Service but in turn is an important or heard, old and new business taken up ganizational' channel for the education in order, and finally a motion to ad program of that agency. The regular journ is made. Then follows the pro monthly programs of the township units gram which may include local musical are planned in close cooperation with talent, a speaker, a reel or two of a the Extension Service. Through the motion picture dealing with some as Bureau, farmers express their views pect of farming, or perhaps a travel and arrive at group consensus relative ogue, if the County Farm Bureau's to local, state, and national problems. projector is available. The meeting The Bureau also s'erves as a channel always ends with a lunch of coffee, through which fanners may participate cookies, and other foods. Usually it is in community welfare projects. In 1940 11: 30 p.m. or later before people begin the township units began to serve as to go home. the bases for organizing Blue Cross Each year the County Farm Bureau Prepayment Hospitalization groups, and approves a set of resolutions relating by 1946, there were 519 Blue Cross to local, state, and national issues subscribers, or 37.2 per cent of the which is sent to the state office for con Bureau's membership. The meetings sideration in framing resolutions at the of the local units are important social annual state convention. Copies of the occasions. resolutions are also sent to local papers, The educational functions of the state legislators, and congressmen. Bureau are largely concentrated in the These statements are the product of monthly meetings >Of the township an elaborate process of committee work, units. An examination of the 1946 pro of discussion and action by local units, grams of 10 township groups showed and finally of action at the annual that of 80 meetings held, 11 were de county-wide meeting. The following voted primarily to recreation and 43 recommendations, summarized from the Bure~u~ownship unit is the customary local designation for township organizations of the 36 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 1946 resolutions, afford some insight Demonstration organization in the into the thinking of the Bureau's mem county. The Home Demonstration prqJ bers relative to certain local, state, and gram of the Extension Service is spon national issues: sored by a county-wide group, the 1. Recommend the adoption by the Home and Community Committee, com federal government of a national posed of women elected as township fertilizer program to demon home chairmen by township units of strate the manufacture and use the Bureau. Moreover, the chairman of of high analysis mineral fertili the County Home and Community zers. Committee is elected to her office by 2. Recommend the continuation of the County Farm Bureau Board of Di soil conservation districts and rectors, and she in turn serves as a their personnel as now estab member of the Board. Many of the lished, without consolidation Bureau's community activities, espe with other agricultural agencies. cially those connected with the rural 3. Recommend legislation requir health clinics, fall on the home demon ing responsibilty to the public stration women. and to their organizations of Local units of the Bureau invite 4-H labor union leaders, and grant clubs to give programs at meetings and ing to employers freedom of generally seek to encourage club work. speech with respect to labor Recently the Farm Bureau Board of union activities. Directors invited a representative of 4. Recommend enactment of sec the Rural Youth group to become an ex officio member. ondary anti-boycott law. The Farm Bureau has attracted some 5. Recommend an educational cam of the most capable people in the paign concerning desirability of county to positions of leadership. Lead high school education. ers in the county-wide organization are 6. Recommend rural school dis kept in office for long periods; a re tricts take advantage of state cent president served for 18 years. The transportation aid. farmers say they think it is better to 7. Recommend adjustments in high keep the same person in office for a school curricula to meet more number of years because an experi adequately the needs of rural enced person does a better job. In the youth. township units, offices are rotated more The principal community projects in frequently than at the county level. which the Bureau participates are Red On the basis of its present member Cross and Sister Kenney28 Drives, rural ship the Goodhue Farm Bureau is per health clinics for immunization, and mitted three delegates at state conven farm safety programs. For several years tions. Township units often send one or the Bureau has sponsored a county more nonvoting representatives to the rural chorus which has presented con conventions. These state meetings pro certs in towns throughout the county, vide leaders with significant outside has appeared at annual meetings of contacts which broaden their horizons farmers' organizations and at the 1946 and enhance their self-esteem. Each State Farm Bureau convention, and has member of the Bureau receives the broadcast from the University of Min monthly publications of both the state nesota radio station. and national offices; the local units also Both structurally and functionally receive periodic communications from the Bureau is closely related to Home these offices. 28 The Australian nurse who developed a new method of treating poliomyelitis. EDUCATlOMAL CHANNEL J. I r!FTY-FIVE HOME CONTROLS COUNTY & HELPS) DEMONSTRATION I EXTENSION COUNTY COOPERATIVE PLAN 1--- PROJECT GROUPS PRO~AW SERVICE EXTENSION C01.41.41TTEE INCLUDES THREE f"ARW BUREAU OfTICEAS, CHAJRWAN .AND ONE WEW!ER or CO. BOARD or COMNI!.SIOHEAS, CO. AUDITOR, ~ AND CHAIRWAH Of" HOME ~"' AND COWNUNITY COWWITTEE ~ ~ 0 il ... a: ,_W L .. j §! .... ~~ :i~ ·"' ~ .. Ei :a~ 0 8~ Cou-ITY FARM BUREAU BOARD CHA!RWAN ELECT£0 BY &. HOME AND XAVE:S OH ecwtD OF DIRECTORS COMMUNITY ELECTED I!5Y 21 dz ,.... COMMITTEE (WOMEN) TOWNSHIP UNITS ..z v% ELECT£0 !JY F"ARM ~EA\J UNITS ~ r n~~~~ ~.. ~ ANNUAL COUNTY-WIDE v~ ~ FARM BUREAU MEETING ...z 0 ~ ::' COWPOS£0 OF ALL ::' a: f"ARW &UREA\J WEW8£AS ::: :!1 ~ ;;l ~ .. ~ z ~ "~ '! % % 0 v :1 ~ ::' ~ t: ... "z ~ ~ ..:a ... ,_ ...2 "... z ~ ..j ...~ 5 0 ~ TWENTY-ONE TOWNSHIP UNITS FIG. 8. Organizational structure of Farm Bureau, showing its relationships to Home Demonstration organizations and County Extension Service 38 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Home and Communfy Committee and In the fall of 1946, there were ii5 Home Demonstration Project Groups local project groups with a total enro-ll The close structural and functional re ment of 926 (figure 9). Four of the clubs lationship of the Farm Bureau and the were composed entirely of village or Home and Community Committee has town women, and approximately one already been noted (see figure 8). Each half of another club was made up of woman elected to the Home and Com village women. If these village and munity Committee serves as home town women are excluded and only chairman in her township where she is one member from each household responsible for organizing and promot counted, about one-fourth of the ing Home Demonstration clubs. The county's farm households would prob chairman of the Home and Community ably be represented in these project Committee has county-wide responsi groups. bility for the promotion of home dem The Home Demonstration organiza onstration activities, serves as a mem tions are more specialized than the ber of the County Farm Bureau Board Farm Bureau because their member of Directors, is on the executive com ship is restricted to adult women. How mittee of the Board, and also serves ever, in view of the broad character of on the County Cooperative Extension their functions they were grouped with Committee. general rural-farm organizations for 0 Local groups (55) e Training centers (8) FIG. 9. Home Demonstration project groups and training centers, 1946 RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 39 purposes of description. They serve pri side the county. Each year two non marily as educational channels through voting delegates attend the State Farm which the home demonstration agent Bureau Federation convention. A few teaches various household skills to rural leaders attend annual short courses women. In addition, these organizations at the University of Minnesota. In June provide opportunities for farm women, of each year a number of women from especially their leaders, to acqu~int Goodhue and an adjoining county at themselves with important community, tend a Home Demonstration camp national, and international issues; they which is held in Goodhue County. afford satisfying social contacts; and Four-H Clubs, Federation, and Coun serve as instruments for performing cil-The Goodhue County 4-H organ various community services. ization was created by the Extension The County Home and Community Committee meets bi-monthly at the Service as an instrument for carrying homes of members to plan and organize out its program of education and rec the county's home demonstration pro reation for rural children. Although es gram. Often a guest speaker discusses sentially an organization of farm boys some topic of general interest. The and girls, its functions were considered home demonstration agent works ac sufficiently broad to permit its classi tively with this committee, but has fication as a general rural-farm organ relatively limited contacts with the ization. In 1946, the county had 35 4-H project groups since she trains leaders clubs with 805 members, 418 of whom from these groups who in turn carry were boys and 387 girls (figure 10). their knowledge to the local clubs. Four of these clubs were village organi These local organizations usually have zations. Half of the membership of one about six meetings a year which are were farm children. Two had no farm centered around educational projects, members, and one a few. The 35 clubs such as sewing, cooking, home manage were guided in their activities by 81 ment, care of poultry, and home beau adult leaders, 55 of whom were women tification. Meetings are held in the and 26 men. In addition there are sev homes of members, and the social con eral older youth in each organization tacts thus afforded are one of the more who assume junior leadership positions important functions of the groups. as their projects. Club members in 1946 Members of the Home and Community ranged in age from 10 to 20 years, with Committee who are really county-wide the largest numbers in the 10 and 14 leaders in home demonstration work age-groups. often remain in office for a number of Leadership training is an important years; but leadership in the local clubs phase of the 4-H program. For this tends to rotate more frequently. purpose the adult and junior leaders Assisting with the promotion of rural are organized into four districts, each health clinics is the major community having its own set of officers; together service preformed by the home demon these districts form what is known as stration organizations. Some of the local the County 4-H Federation (figure 10). clubs sew for the Red Cross. The Home Each district has training meetings and, and Community Committee has actively in addition, there are county-wide train assisted the Farm Bureau in its spon ing institutes. sorship of a county-wide rural mixed The county 4-H Council plans and chorus. supervises 4-H work in the county. It For a few women, their connections is composed of the president and an with the home demonstration organ adult representative from each of the izations afford occasional contacts out- four districts composing the county fed- 40 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 0 Organized clubs (35) with number of members e District federation centers FIG. 10. 4-H Clubs and Federation centers, 1946 eration. The Council in turn elects its demonstrations constitute the more own officers. strictly educational features of club The local clubs have regular monthly programs. Most of the talks are given meetings-sometimes held in homes, by junior and adult leaders or mem sometimes at the town hall, and some bers of the Extension Service staff, times at school houses. The programs although club members give some of of the clubs reveal an interesting pro them. Maintaining organizational cess of passing on the occcupational morale is the burden of many of these techniques of the farm to the younger speeches, and reports and explanations generation. A study of the content of a of club activities also receive consider sample of 4-H club meetings also shows able attention. As one of its com a distinct emphasis on the proper con munity services, the Red Wing Kiwanis duct of the formal business of the clubs. Club has divided the 4-H clubs among Social and entertainment features are its members who act as sponsors. These common to most meetings. Readings, men attend at least one meeting dur music with emphasis on community ing the year and make talks encourag singing, and social games are the more ing club work. Now and then a minister common types of entertainment, and is asked to speak. Demonstrations are practically every club has a lunch at usually given by members and cover the close of its meetings. Talks and a wide range of farm and farm house- RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 41 hold practices-from baking cakes to ceive special recognition for achieve shining shoes. ments; exhibits at the Goodhue County Each member of a 4-H club is ex fair, climaxing 4-H club activities by pected to undertake a project of some the selection of exhibits to represent kind. This is another of the educational the county at the state fair; a county features of the organization and, like wide jubilee held in Red Wing for 4-H the talks and demonstrations at the club members and their parents, at meetings, places emphasis on passing which Goodhue County bankers present on the techniques of making a living in awards (pins) to members completing the farm family. In 1946, the projects their project reports; county-wide chosen most frequently were: clothing safety program sponsored by the Ex (152), gardening (137), junior leader tension Service, Farm Bureau, Red ship (126), food preparation (126), Wing Safety council, and public schools; home assistance (122), poultry (113), and a softball tournament which is a and dairying (108). summer-long activity of softball games The training meetings of the junior among individual clubs ending with a and adult leaders, whether district or final play-off of four teams from four county-wide, give considerable atten districts. tion to goals in planning the individu In addition to county activities, 4-H al club's annual program. The leaders club members have opportunities to also discuss such topics as club work in participate in state and national events. operation, purposes of club work, how Representatives are sent to 4-H Club to maintain membership interest, prac Week at the University of Minnesota tical training versus all-round de and to the state conservation camp at velopment, leadership techniques and Itasca Park. There are also opportuni responsibilities, and demonstrations. ties to attend the national4-H Congress, State Extension Service specialists the state junior livestock show, the state frequently attend the leadership meet potato show, and to participate in the ings to serve as instructors and demon state radio contest and state fair ex strators. hibits. Participation in some of these The county 4-H Council assists the events comes as a reward for achieve Extension Service in planning the train ment in local club activities. ing program for leaders. Another of its Rural Youfh-The Goodhue Rural functions is setting up county 4-H Youth group was organized in 1936 by goals. In 1946 these goals included: (1) the Extension Service for the purpose an enrollment of 815 members, (2) 90 of maintaining contacts with boys and per cent completion of projects, (3) at girls above 4-H club age but not yet least one demonstration at every 4-H mature enough to become active in Club meeting, (4) a tour for every club, adult groups. The present county agent and (5) emphasis on safety activities in particularly emphasises the role of the all clubs. organization in the development of County-wide actiyities in which the future rural leaders. 4-H clubs participate are: inter-club In the spring of 1947 there were ap contests, such as better grooming and proximately 92 members. Although the radio speaking; 4-ii camp at Frontenac Rural Youth group is considered a including boys and girls from three county-wide organization, only 12 of other counties; exhibits at the Cannon the county's 23 townships are repre Valley fair; banquets given by sponsor sented in its membership. The area im ing organizations, such as the County mediately south and west of Red Wing Farm Bureau or the Kiwanis Club of furnishes most of the members, and Red Wing, at which 4-H m-embers re- meetings are sometimes held in Red 42 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Wing. However, a majority of the or prospective homemakers, serving as ganization's meetings are held in the ushers at public gatherings, and con Featherstone town hall, and almost one tributing to funds for wrrmg the fourth of the membership is drawn Featherstone town hall where the or from the same township. Among the ganization holds many of its meetings. active members are several farm girls The group is affiliated with a district who have gone to Red Wing to work. organization and, through the latter, There are only a few members in the with a state council. Delegates, as well southern and southwestern parts of the as others who may wish to go, attend county. a four-day state camp each year. Edu Since membership is restricted to the cational and recreational leaders of the young adult group, the organization organization attend training conferences has something of a specialized charac which are conducted by state Extension ter. Nevertheless, because of the broad Service personnel from time to time. nature of its functions-education, re These trained leaders return to the creation, and community service, it can local group to pass on the information well be grouped with the general rural they have received or to act as recrea farm organizations of the county. A tional leaders."' considerable portion of the regular Uni±ed Farmers of America-This is meetings is devoted to recreation a new organization in Goodhue County, games, singing, and square dancing. and a relatively new one on the Ameri Other recreational activities of the can scene. The national organization group include roller-skating parties, had its origin in Nebraska and at card parties, weiner roasts, and joint present represents\ a combination of recreational affairs with similar youth five groups-The United Farmers of groups in adjoining counties. Com America, the National Farmers' Guild, menting on the organization's functions, The Associated Farmers of California, a former president of the group said, The Ohio Farm Marketing Group, and "I say, get them together with recrea The American Farmers' Vigilante Com tion and then give them a shot of edu mittee. The major objectives of the cation." national group are: (1) securing agri Topics discussed at meetings indicate cultural prices based on cost of pro a distinct emphasis on family-farm liv duction and (2) opposition to labor ing. There is some, but by no means a unions as they are now conducted.30 dominant, interest in broader areas of The Goodhue organization was life, such as industrial developments, formed under the leadership of a local personality, leadership, and the culture farmer and a representative of the of other countries. Recently, these American Farmers' Vigilante Commit topics of a more general character ap tee. Approximately 100 members were pear to be receiving greater attention. reported early in 1947. The organiza Each regular meeting has its formal tion is county-wide, having no bcal business session conducted with careful units nor, as yet, a fixed meeting place. attention to parliamentary rules. Since the group is relatively new, meet Community service activities have in ings have been devoted principally to cluded providing leadership and spon organizational matters, and no action soring activities for 4-H clubs, assisting program has been adopted. Because the the Extension Service in rat extermina Goodhue County organization was the tion, sponsoring a short course for only local branch in Minnesota in the "' Other organizations of farm youth are Future Farmers of America groups connected with the vocational agricultural departments of two of the village high schools. These organ izations are described briefly in Section 3. w The RuraL Vigilante, Vol. I, No. 8, Edgar, Nebraska, January 23, 1947. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 43 early part of 1947, the national body Cooperative grain elevators. 5 had designated some of its members to Consumer Cooperatives 15 serve as a state organizing committee. Cooperative oil associations... 3 Fair Point Community Club-This Cooperative telephone com- organization is the last of the inde P~~s 3 pendent farmers' clubs. All of the Mutual Fire Insurance com- others have either disbanded or been panies 8 absorbed by the Farm Bureau. The or Rural electrification cooperative 1 ganization has always confined its (R.E.A. cooperative) membership to the Fair Point school Miscellaneous organizations 4 district, and owns a hall near the dis trict school. The membership at one Total 47 time included about 20 families, but has now declined to eight. Formerly the Producer Service Cooperatives club had fairly broad interests; it These organizations perform intermedi served as a contact for the Extension ary functions for dairy farmers. They Service, and speakers and other educa include three dairy herd improvement tional features were a part of its meet associations and the Goodhue Coopera ings. Now it is primarily a social club. tive (artificial) Breeding Association. The organization still attempts to hold The Extension Service was largely monthly evening meetings which are responsible for the formation of the attended by both men and women. In county's dairy herd improvement as addition, the women members follow a sociations and continues to maintain a custom of holding afternoon meetings close relationship with them. In recent about once a month in various homes years there has been a fairly strong de in the community. mand for admission to membership, but inability to obtain qualified per Specialized Organizations sonnel for the technical work (testing for butterfat content of milk, etc.) of Organizations in this category usually the organizations has limited their ex have one primary function, although in pansion. The primary function of the some instances incidental or secondary associations is, as their name indicates, functions have been acquired. Most of improvement of the members' dairy the specialized farmer organizations herds. Herds are tested for butterfat are either cooperatives or quasi-co content of milk either monthly or bi operatives. The following tabulation monthly, and records of individual cows gives the number of specialized or are kept. In this way the operator can ganizations classified by types: cull his poorer stock, check on his feeding practices, ~d have a rational Cooperative Organizations31 43 basis for generally improving his herd. Producer Service Cooperatives... 4 Two of the associations have testers Credit Cooperatives ...... 1 who visit each member, usually staying Producer Cooperatives 23 overnight. Recently, one of the associa Cooperative creamery (or milk) tions has expanded its membership, organizations 10 employed additional testers, and set up Cooperative cheese organiza- a central laboratory. Under this ar tions ...... 6 rangement, the testers collect samples Cooperative livestock shipping from the herds and take them to the associations 2 central laboratory for testing. 31 These data for cooperatives are based in part on a 1947 list prepared by Daniel c Dvoracek of the Minnesota Agricultural Extension Service. 44 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Two of the associations had 26 mem attend an annual district conference bers each in 1947. The association under the auspices of the state ex which had reorganized its plan of tension dairyman. operation had 81 members. There is a The Goodhue County Cooperative fixed fee for membership, while the fee Breeding Association was organized for testing is based on size of herd. late in 1946. Interest in an organization Each association holds an annual of this sort had first been manifested meeting at which the business of the some five years before, but wartime organization is transacted, the tester conditions had prevented any attempt makes his report, and usually the ex to organize. However, once a start was tension dairyman from the University made, the accumulated demand resulted talks to the group on some topic related in immediate and energetic efforts to to dairying. At these meetings, recogni form an association. Under the leader tion is given for exceptionally good ship of the county agricultural agent, herd records or for individual cows. In farmers acquainted themselves with the the past the National Dairy Association activities of a nearby Federation with has presented honor certificates to own which their association expected to ers of herds with outstanding butterfat affiliate, held meetings, appointed com records and The Farmer, a Minnesota mittees, and began to solicit members. farm paper, has given certificates of Within approximately three months merit to owners of individual high the association was established, and by record cows. February, 1947, there were 300 mem The testers play a significant role in bers.'• The association charges a mem the dairy improvement associations, bership fee of $1.00 for each cow in performing the important functions of the operator's herd, and an additional communicating information about herds $5.00 is charged for each insemination from one farmer to another•• and of service. The membership is composed developing group loyalty around their largely of owners of small- and aver personalities. The recent shift to labora age-sized herds. Almost two-thirds of tory operations in one of the associa the herds have from 6 to 15 cows, and tions has meant a decline in this social only 4 per cent have from 21 to 25 function of the tester, because he will cows. None has more than 25. no longer remain overnight with the The association has employed trained farmer and develop the close personal inseminators to whom members report ties that automatically resulted from their daily breeding requirements. his longer visit. Semen is supplied by bulls owned by The testers are men with farm ex the Federation with which the organi perience who have received special zation is affiliated. The details of serv training for their work, usually in short icing herds have been carefully planned courses offered by the Extension Serv so that every possible degree of speed ice at the University of Minnesota. may be attained. These men confer periodically with the Credit Cooperatives- Three farm county agricultural agent and thus give credit organizations operate in Goodhue the agent an opportunity to advise and County- The Faribault Production to keep up with the activities of the Credit Association, The Rochester Pro associations. Through the county agent, duction Credit Association, and The a copy of each tester's annual and Wanamingo National Farm Loan Asso monthly reports is submitted to the ciation. However, only the latter should state extension dairyman. The testers be considered a Goodhue organization. •• Testers, however, are strictly forbidden to participate in the neighborhood gossip. •• Six of the 300 live in adjoining counties. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 45 The other two draw their membership ance and three cooperative telephone from several counties, and Goodhue companies. The total amount of insur County is divided between them."' In ance carried by some of the mutual fire 1947 the Wanamingo National Farm associations is reported to be fairly Loan Association had 231 members. It large. Some of these organizations is affiliated, with two similar groups cooperate with the villages and their Rice County and Dakota-Scott County volunteer fire departments in providing associations. The three associations fire protection for their policy holders. employ a secretary-treasurer and main The cooperative oil associations and tain an office at Northfield, Minnesota. the Goodhue County Cooperative Elec Like other farm loan associations, the tric Association are the more recently Wanamingo Association has its charter established consumer organizations. The from the Farm Credit Administration oil associations have developed along and is affiliated with the Federal Land with the motorizing of farm equipment Bank. and they handle, in addition to motor Producer and Consumer Coopera fuels and oil, such items as fertilizer, tives-Of the organizations classified insecticides, tires, tubes, small farm as producer and consumer cooperatives tools, groceries, and some farm ma in the foregoing tabulation, not all are chinery. bona fide cooperatives, although most The Goodhue County Cooperative of them have some of the characteris Electric Association was established tics of cooperatives. Their importance under regulations of the Rural Electri lies in the fact that they are socio fication Administration. In November, economic organizations which are pri 1946, the Association had 1,820 con marily controlled by farmers. sumers which included 50 village The largest class is the producer co people, 150 schools, churches and town operatives, including creamery (or halls, and 1,620 farmers.35 No other co milk), cheese, elevator, and livestock operative in the county is so highly re shipping organizations. These groups, garded as this one. One farmer very along with the rural electrification co cogently expressed the general feeling operative (a consumer organization), when he said, "It has added to the are considered by the farmers of the pleasure of living." In addition, for county as their more important co many farmers the association has be operatives. Creamery and cheese or come literally their "hired man." ganizations constitute by far the largest The Goodhue Electric Cooperative il proportion of the producer associations. lustrates the importance of membership There are only a few cooperative ele responsibility in maintaining a success vators, but their trade areas are rather ful cooperative. The manager of the or large. There are only two cooperative ganization has a fine appreciation of livestock associations, whereas in 1919 the techniques for sustaining group there were 15. The decline in these as consciousness and morale. Annual sociations came with the construction meetings are well-planned around good of good roads and widespread use of speakers. Attendance at these meetings motor trucks. is recognized by a small souvenir Among the Goodhue consumer co awarded to those who register before operatives are eight mutual fire insur- the meeting begins, and attendance is •• Since these two organizations are not strictly Goodhue County groups, they have not been included in the tabulations on pages 34 and 43. Production Credit Associations are affiliated with the Farm Credit Administration and its related agencies, the Production Credit Corpora tion and the Federal Intermediate Credit Bank. 36 The Association serves all of Goodhue County (except two townships) and small parts of five adjoining counties. 46 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 unusually good. But unlike many an Officials in the cooperatives generally nual meetings of cooperatives, no lunch take their positions seriously. Members is served. of boards of directors attend rather The Association issues a monthly faithfully the meetings of these govern four-page printed bulletin which is ing bodies. The farmer secretaries do an edited by the manager. Each issue enormous amount of work, for which carries regularly a letter from the they receive very little remuneration. manager, an account of the meeting of Goodhue Holstein Breeders Associa the board of directors, list of new mem tion"-The Goodhue Holstein Breeders bers, honor roll of consumers (members Association, a relatively new organiza using a certain number of KWH during tion, was started in 1946 to promote in last month of record), and special fea terest in purebred Holstein cattle. The tures such as items relating to mainten organization has about 35 members, 60 ance problems and letters from mem per cent of whom have purebred herds. bers. These bulletins carry a constant The group is affiliated with the Minne reiteration of membership responsi sota Holstein Breeders Association; in bility relating to specific assistance fact officers from the state organization members can give, such as: (1) turn assisted in organizing the Goodhue off yard lights to avoid a peak load unit. Activities of the Goodhue group that will increase wholesale costs, have included a twilight meeting at (2) report promptly on meter readings, which a judging demonstration was (3) attend board meetings, (4) disci given, the awarding of a purebred heifer pline children who shoot at insulators, calf to the champion 4-H Holstein ex and (5) report trouble promptly. The hibitor at the county fair, and the list bulletins also contain instructions about ing and supplying of surplus breeding checking wiring in barns to prevent stock for member herds in the county. short circuits, and letters from mem Goodhue County Crop Improvement bers dealing with meter reporting and Association-Under the leadership of appreciation of services. the county extension service, the Good Common to all of the cooperatives hue Crop Improvement Association was are their annual meetings, usually held organized in March, 1947. It is a branch between January 15 and February 15.'"' of the Minnesota Crop Improvement The meetings vary somewhat, but most Association, an organization of farmers combine their formal business with interested in producing quality (certi educational and social features. The fied) seed. The State Association is business session is strictly formal, con promoted by the Agricultural Experi ducted according to parliamentary pro ment Station and Extension Service of cedures. An important part of the busi the University of Minnesota. The ness meeting is the financial report Goodhue branch has 40 members who which is read item by item in the come principally from three townships smaller organizations. There is usually -Featherstone, Goodhue, and Vasa. a speaker-the county agent, a buyer, While the Association should make it or someone from the University, and easier for farmers to become certified the program may include musical num seed producers, the group is also ex bers and readings. A lunch is generally pected to serve as a means whereby the served at the end of the meeting. farmers, rather than the county agent, ""Grain elevator associations usually hold their annual meeting in June. a1 This and the organization discussed in the next paragraph are classified as miscel laneous in the tabulation on page 43. The Goodhue Township Officers Association and the Goodhue County Board Association discussed In sections 1 and 3, respectively, are also in cluded among the miscellaneous organizations In the same tabulation. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 47 will designate which of their certified bers from the farm population. This growers shall produce newly certified presentation shows a wide difference seed allotted to the county by the State in number of organized groups in Red Association. For this purpose the or Wing as contrasted with the villages, ganization has chosen one of its own and this difference tends to lessen the members, a representative from the significance of the percentages in the County Cooperative Extension Commit second column. Nevertheless, the fig tee, and a representative from the ures do show that a higher degree of grain elevators to serve as a committee integration exists between village and on seed distribution. The county agri farm people than between town (Red cultural agent hopes the organization Wing) and farm people. Moreover, a will assume a secondary function, the large majority of the Red Wing (town) promotion of better crop exhibits at organizations with both village and county fairs. farm members have only a few farm members. No village, with the possible exception of Zumbrota, in any way ap Village- and Town-centered proaches Red Wing in this respect. Organizations Somewhat more than one-half of Zum brota's organizations with both village Village and Town-centered Organi and farm members have only a few zations with both Farm and Village or farm members. Town Members-Goodhue County has Superficially, the hamlet of Dennison eight incorporated places including a appears to resemble Red Wing in the hamlet,38 six villages, and a town;• all relative proportion of its organizations of which have one or more formally or with both village and farm members ganized groups. Organizations whose which have only a few farmers. Denni memberships include both farm and vil son, however, has only five organiza lage or town people are to be found in tions. Moreover, in general character each of these places. (See table 3) istics this hamlet differs greatly from The tabulation below gives the num the town of Red Wing. ber of organizations in each place and A number of organizations in the the proportion of organizations which villages and in Red Wing are shown in have from a few to most of their mem- table 3 as having "some" farm mem- Per cent of Organizations Number of with members from the Village or Town Organizations farm population Cannon Falls 32 78.1 Dennison 5 60.0 Goodhue 11 72.7 Kenyon ...... 23 65.2 Pine Island ...... 22 95.5 Red Wing ...... 124 34.7 Wanamingo. 13 84.6 Zumbrota ...... 27 77.8 •• The hamlet is Dennison, an incorporated place with a population of 216 (1940). In order to simplify the presentation, the organizations in this hamlet have been classified under village and town-centered organizations. •• The town is Red Wing which is so designated throughout the study because it belongs in the class of places with populations from 2,500 to 10,000 (1940 census). 48 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Table 3. Organizations in Villages and Towns Which Have Both Village or Town and Farm Members Cannon Denni- Good- Kenyon Pine Red Wana- Zum- Organizationsl Falls son hue Island Wing mingo brota BUSINESS Commercial Club ...... Few* Few Some (Chamber of Commerce) Junior Assoc. of Commerce Few CIVIC Community Club for Women... Few Community Foundation __ , . Few League of Women Voters. Few LODGE, FRATERNAL, AND BENEFIT Ancient Order of United Workmen Some Some Cemetery Association ...... Some Some Half Some Degree of Honor ...... Some Some Some DeMolay ...... Half Some Eastern Star ...... Half Some Some Few Eastern Star-Past Matrons Club Some Few Elks Club .. Few Job's Daughters . Few Job's Daughters' Mothers... Few Masons-AF & AM ...... Half Some Some Some Few Masons-Chapter...... Half Few Masons-Commandry ... Few Masons-Tyrian Council, R & GM. Half Few Odd Fellows ...... Few Some Half Few P.E.O ..... Half Few Pythian Sisters .. Few Rebekah Lodge ...... Few Some Half Few Few Red Men...... Few Theta Rho Girls Club Few SCHOOL PATRONS Band Parents Club...... Few Some Forty-eighters ...... Some Parent-Teachers' Association ...... Some Half Few0 SPORTS AND HOBBIES Baseball Team... .Few Half Few Few Few Few Few Basketball Team . Some Half Some Some { Some10 Bowling Teams2 ...... Few Some Some Few --······-·····--·--···Half F ew Some College Womens Club (AAUW) Few Field Archery Club...... Few Golf Club Few Gun Club"-.. Some Isaak Walton League ...... Half Half Some Some Some Junior Figure Skating Club ... Some Junior Rifle Club Half Model Airplane Club ...... Some Senior Rifle and Pistol Club... Some Sportsmens Club Half Most Wild Life Protective League .. Few Women's Golf Club ..... Few STUDY Fortnightly Club (women) ... Few Home Demonstration Project Club (women)•.... Half RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 49 Table 3. Orqcmizations in Villaqes and Towns Which Have Both VUlaqe or Town and Farm Members-Continued Cannon Denni- Good Kenyon Pine Red Wana Zum Organizationst Falls son hue Island Wing mingo brota Progress Club (women) ...... Some Stoddard Club (women)...... Few Study Club (women) ...... Few Few Tourist Club (women) ...... Few Tuesday Club (women)...... Few VETERANS American Legion...... Some Some Some Some Some Some American Legion Auxiliary...... Some Some Some Some Few Some American Legion Auxiliary- Past Presidents Parley...... Few Disabled American Veterans ...... Few Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary...... Few United Spanish War Veterans...... Few Veterans Advisory Council ...... Few Veterans of Foreiqn Wars ...... Some Some Some Few Some Some Veterans of Foreiqn Wars Aux.... Some Some Few Some Few WELFARE Boy Scouts ...... Few Few7 Few• Some Few Fewu Four-H Club6 ...... Few Half Girl Scouts...... Few6 Few Few Fewu Townsend Club...... Some Woman's Relief Corps...... Few Half W.C.T.U ...... Some Few Few Half • Few, some, halt, and most represent estimates of farmer membership in organizations. 1 Red Cross branches are excluded from the table because their membership is too poorly de- fined for purposes of this presentation. • Bowling teams have been counted as one organization. • Includes three groups--rifle, pistol, shot-qun. • Local unit of a general rural-farm organization. ' Local units of a general rural-farm organization. • Includes 3 troops. • Includes 2 troops. s Includes 2 troops. • Parent-Teachers' Association of Red Wing High School. 10 Includes two associations, one for women and one for men, the former has a few farm members, the latter some. u Includes 2 troops. 12 Includes 2 troops. Note: In general the data in this table are for either the latter part of 1946 or the first half of 1947 and are an approximate indication of the nature of the membership of the organizations listed. The information was obtained in many instances from leading citizens who were acquainted with the organizations. In other cases, especially for many of the Red Wing organizations, some officer or member of the organization gave the information. bers. However, in all of the centers Talks on wild life and conservation are there are only 20 organizations which important features of their meetings have "half" of their membership from and some attention is also given to the farm population. Only one organi legislation relating to the preservation zation has "most" of its members from of fish and game. The men who belong the farm segment of the population. are usually sportsmen interested in The Izaak Walton leagues deserve hunting and fishing. One of the leagues special mention because of their in has sought to cultivate friendly rela terest in activities which are closely tions with the farmers in the county by identified with rural life. Conservation having them as its guests at social of natural resources, especially wild events. The leagues have also spon life, is a major concern of these groups. sored 4-H club activities and conserva- 50 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 tion days for farmers. The local organi county health nurse. The County As zations are affiliated with state and sociation is affiliated with the Minne national bodies. sota Public Health Association, an Village- and Town-centered Organi organization primarily concerned with zations with Village or Town Members problems related to tuberculosis. The Only-Red Wing, with a population of Association obtains its funds through almost 10,000 (1940) and a large num the sale of Christmas seals. These funds ber of manufacturing and service estab furnish part of the salary of a clerk in lishments, has developed the kind of the county nurse's office. The organiza organizational structure that might be tion cooperates with other organizations expected to be associated with its size and with several public agencies in and functions. It has not only a consid conducting county-wide health clinics erable number but also a wide variety which included innoculations for diph of organizations whose memberships theria, tests for tuberculosis, and vac are drawn exclusively from the town cinations for smallpox. itself (table 4). Its business and profes The County Historical Society is sional as well as its civic groups appear small. Its membership is drawn largely to be either self-sufficient or else too from Red Wing, and meetings are held urban to attract farmers. There are irregularly. A room in the county court also a number of labor unions in Red house has been assigned to the organi Wing which are, of course, exclusively zation for its records, books, and nonfarm in membership. In contrast museum pieces, and the county com the villages have few organizations missioners vote the Association a small whose memberships are drawn ex sum each year; The organization is clusively from the villages, and only affiliated with the State Historical one village has a labor union. Society. County-wide: Primarily Village- or Similarly, the Goodhue Horticultural Town-centered Organizations with both Society is affiliated with the State Village or Town and Farm Members- Horticultural Society. The Goodhue Included in this category are the Good group is primarily a Red Wing organi hue County Health Association, the zation and functions very much as a Goodhue County Historical Society, the garden club. Some 10 to 12 per cent of Goodhue County Horticultural Society, its members are farmers drawn largely the Goodhue County Red Cross Chapter, from townships around Red Wing. The the Goodhue County Veterans Service society sponsors an annual flower show Committee, the Goodhue County Fed in Red Wing. eration of Women's Clubs, the Goodhue The Goodhue County Red Cross County Democratic-Farmer-Labor Com Chapter is essentially an organization mittee, and the Goodhue County Re of leaders who assume responsibility publican Committee. (See section 1 for for financial drives and other activities discussion of last two.) With the excep customarily associated with the Red tion of the Red Cross, there is only a Cross. While activities of the chapter small number of farm people in any of center in Red Wing, the ·organization these organizations. has ten branches, all of which are The County Health Association is es village- or hamlet-centered!" However, sentially a board of directors. These the farm people associated with two of directors elect executive officers who the village branches carry on their ac serve as an advisory committee to the tivities somewhat independently. In 41 Now Minnesota Employment Service. <2 There are four organizations which are only village- or town-centered with village or town (in one case hamlet) members, but whose membership area includes at least one other county. These are Bankers Association, Bar Association, the Wabasha Boy Scout Committee, and a local of the National Federation of Federal Employees. 52 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Table 4. Village- and Town-centered Organizations with Village and Town Members Only Cannon Denni- Good- Kenyon Pine Red Wana- Zum- Organizations Falls son hue Island Wing mingo brota BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL Business and Professional Women's Club ...... X Commercial Club (Chamber of Commerce) ...... X X X X Manufacturers Association X Technical Society ...... X United Commercial Travellers of America ...... X Visiting Nurses Association ...... X Life Underwriters Association ...... X CIVIC City Beautification Committee...... X Community Chest, Inc...... X Kiwanis Club ...... X Lions Club ...... X Memorial Association ...... X X X Planning Committee ...... X Women's Civic Council ...... X LABOR American Rock-wool Union (CIO) X Automobile Mechanics (AFL) X Boot & Shoe Workers (AFL) X Boot & Shoe Workers Auxiliary (AFL) X Brewers & Maltsters (CIO) ... X Bricklayers (AFL) ...... X Brick & Clay Workers (AFL) X Carpenters (AFL) ...... X CIO Council ...... X City Employees (AFL) ...... X Electrical Workers (AFL) ...... X Engineers, Operating (AFL) ...... X Fire Fighters (AFL) ...... X Flour Mill Workers (AFL)...... X X General Drivers (AFL) ...... X International Fur & Leather Workers (CIO) .... X International Fur & Leather Workers Aux. (CIO) ...... X Laundry Workers (AFL) ...... X Letter Carriers (AFL) .. X Mill Workers Union (CIO) ...... X National Brotherhood of Operative Potters (AFL) ...... X Painters (AFL) ...... X Post Office Clerks (AFL) ...... X Stage Employees (AFL) ...... X State Employees (AFL) ...... X Trades & Labor Assembly (AFL) X United Auto Workers (CIO) ...... X United Rubber Workers (CIO) ...... X United Rubber Workers Auxiliary (CIO) ...... X LODGES, FRATERNAL, AND BENEFIT DeMolay Mothers Club ...... X Eastern Star ...... X Hiawatha Club ...... X RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 53 Table 4. Vlllaqe- and Town-centered Orqanizalions with Villaqe and Town Members Only--Continued Cannon Denni- Good Kenyon Pine Red Wana Zum Organizations Falls son hue Island Wing mingo brota Moose Lodge ...... X Pocahontas Lodge (Auxiliary of Red Men) ...... X Royal Neighbors (Auxiliary of AOUW) ...... X Women's Benefit Association ...... X Woodmen of World (Patriarch Militant) ...... X Woodmen of World Auxiliary (Patriarch Militant) ...... X SCHOOL PATRONS Parent-Teachers' Association Xt SPORTS Aurora Ski Club...... X Basketball Team ...... X X Country Club ...... X Figure Skating Club ...... X Golf Club...... X X X Hockey Club ...... X Recreational Advisory Committee X Red Wing Associates, Inc...... X Yatch Club ...... X STUDY Art History Club ...... X Delphian Study Club...... X Home Demonstration Project Club• ...... X§ X§ Literary Guild ...... X Parliamentary Law Club ...... X Round Table Club ...... X Study Club ...... X Women's Study Club...... X VETERANS AND MILITARY All Veterans Council...... X American Veterans Committee X Coast Guard Reserve ...... X Coast Guard Reserve Auxiliary . X Mexican Border Veterans ...... X Navy Club ...... X WELFARE Boy Scouts ...... X:j: Four-H Club• ...... X X Girl Scouts ...... X X .. Girl Scouts Council Association.. .. X Ministerial Association ...... X X Safety Council ...... X Volunteer Fire Department ...... X X X X X X X X Women's Relief Corps ...... X Women's Relief Corps Sewing Society ...... X * Local units of a general rural~farm organization. t Includes four elementary school PTA's. § Includes two different groups. :j: Includes 8 troops. • • Includes 16 troops. Note: In general the data in this table are for either the latter part of 1946 or the first half of 1947 and are an approximate indication of the nature of the membership of the organizations listed. The mformalion was obtained in many instances from leading citizens who were acquainted with the organizations. In other cases, especially for many of the Red Wing organizations, some officer or member of the organization gave the information. 54 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 with state and national organizations. tion has members in villages and in The Beverage Dispensers' Association Red Wing, but some members come is an organization of tavern keepers from hamlets, and a few from the who have banded together to protect open-country. The Association is affili their business interests. The organiza- ated with a state-wide organization. 5. Agencies N AGENCY is a formally consti The agency is a part of the state and A tituted group consisting of one or federal Extension Service and is sup more individuals, usually designated as ported by county, state, federal, and "officials," and an advisory or con Farm Bureau funds. Its office is located trolling board or committee of citizens. in the Courthouse at Red Wing, and its The purpose of an agency is to perform personnel consists of the agricultural certain specific services for people agent, a home demonstration agent, a living in a particular locality. Usually, 4-H club worker, and a secretary. The but not always, agencies have local ad agency operates under the general di visory committees or boards. The rection of the County Cooperative Ex "officials" are usually paid, and some tension Committee which is responsible times the members of the committees for employing personnel and approv or boards receive compensation for ing programs and budgets. The Com time actually spent on agency activities. mittee is composed of the chairman and All of the agencies in Goodhue one member of the County Board of County are public. That is, they are Commissioners, the County Auditor, the creatures of government and are largely officers of the County Farm Bureau supported by funds derived from taxa Federation, and the chairman of the tion. Most of them were authorized by Home and Community Committee. state or national laws; and, with one The Extension Service is essentially exception, in instances where they were an educational agency which serves originally created by the county govern farm people. In performing this func ment, they have now established some tion, the immediate obectives of the type of relationship with overhead service vary from time to time, de agencies at the state or national level. termined in part by federal, state, and On the basis of the character of services local agency policies, and in part by rendered, the county's agencies fall into the farm people who cooperate with the two general classes: (1) agricultural agency. and (2) nonagricultural. The agency operates principally through the Farm Bureau, Home Agricultural Agencies43 Demonstration groups, 4-H clubs, and Rural Youth. In addition, the county Cooperative Extension Service agent promotes various demonstrations The oldest agricultural agency in relating to better farming techniques Goodhue County iS' the Cooperative and informally advises numerous farm Extension Service, established in 1918. ers concerning their farm problems. •a The Farm Credit Administration through its affiliated agencies-The Federal Land Bank, The Production Credit Corporation, and the Federal Intermediate Credit Bank-op<;rates m the county in connection with farm credit and loan associ~tions _(see page 44); but smce neither the Farm Credit Administration nor its affiliated agencies n:amtam offices m. the county they are not included in this discussion. The Bank for Cooperatives, also an affiliate of the Farm Credit Administration, has no office in the county, but in 1948 two Goodhue cooperatives had loans with the Bank. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 55 Casual contact is also maintained with never been very much complaint about a fairly large group of neighborhood the paper-work involved in the various leaders who assist in transmitting in PMA (or AAA) programs. It seems to formation and in planning programs. be generally understood that at times it may be necessary to have crop con Production and Marketing trol in order to have price supports. Administration Possibly because of prosperity, interest in elections of committeemen is re The programs of the Production and ported to have declined in recent years. Marketing Administration are under The local PMA office and its County the direction of a County Agricultural Agricultural Conservation Committee Conservation Committee of three mem have charge of sales and other details bers elected annually by farmers. of the crop insurance program of the Records and office details are handled Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. In by a head clerk and one or two assist 1947, 595 wheat and 321 flax contracts ants. In addition to the county com were made. Of the farmers who signed mittee, each township chooses a com contracts, however, not all grew the mittee" of three farmers whose duties specific crop insured. Wheat was grown include explaining the agricultural in 294 cases and flax in 265. 45 conservation program to farmers, con ferring with farmers to work out con servation programs for their farms, Soil Conservation Service enrolling them in the program, and There are three soil conservation dis checking on their compliance with con tricts in Goodhue County, one of which servation practice specifications and includes four townships in Dakota provisions. Most of the enrollment in County. These districts are served by the program is accomplished at one or the personnel of a Soil Conservation two general meetings. Community com Service work-group which operates mitteemen are expected to contact principally in Dakota, Wabasha, and farmers who do not attend these Goodhue counties, although some of the meetings. staff also serve two other counties. The The principal programs handled by work-group office in Red Wing exer the county PMA office in 1947 were cises general supervisiOn over the agricultural conservation and crop in county's three district offices, provides surance. The more important practices them with technical assistance, and approved by the farmers for their does promotional work. Each district 1947 agricultural conservation program has an SCS technician, usually an as were: (1) superphosphate or potash ap sistant technician, and a board of five plications to pastures and legumes, supervisors, two appointed by the State (2) liming, (3) green pasture crops, Conservation Committee and three (4) perennial weed eradication and elected by participating farmers. The control, (5) contour stripcropping, (6) district boards, which are both plan drainage, and (7) rebuilding pastures. ning and promotional bodies, work Under the 1947 program, 1,735 farmers, closely with their SCS technicians in or 57.7 per cent of the total number in formulating programs relating to con the county (1945), completed one or servation education and to conserva more conservation practices. There has tion measures involving the partici- "'Although these committees represent townships, they are referred to locally as "com munity committees." "Before July, 1947, the Production Marketing Administration and Federal Crop Insurance Corporation had a contract on a national basis whereby the former handled the business details of crop insurance at the local level. After July, 1947, contracts for handling these details were made with County Agricultural Conservation committees. 56 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 pation of groups of farmers, as for ex county. The staff consists of a super ample, all of those living in one drain visor, a clerk, and a home visitor who age basin. It is also the responsibility serves several counties in addition to of the boards to interest farmers in Goodhue. In general, their responsibili signing to become cooperators. ties involve: (1) the execution of loans, The actual work of the SCS is pri (2) supervising farm and home activi marily with individual farmers, work ties of borrowers to assure the kind of ing out farm conservation plans, and management that will enable the bor advising from time to time concerning rower to meet payments on their loans, the execution of the plans. The agency and (3) the collection of installments on does some general educational work in loans. conservation by sponsoring special con Local control is vested in a county servation days, holding demonstrations, committee of three members who are and presenting programs at meetings of nominated by the county supervisor various farm organizations. and appointed by the state director of The SCS program in Goodhue dates FHA. With the advice of the agency's back to the CCC camps, two of which staff, this committee decides on appli were located in the county. Some SCS cations for loans, reviews cases to de workers believe its humble origin has termine whether they should be recom handicapped the program, because there mended for refinancing by the banks, are people who continue to identify it decides on the liquidation of delinquent with relief. Nevertheless, at the end of borrowers, and interprets the agency's 1946, the agency had on its lists ap activities to the public. For the most proximately 593 cooperators,'" which part, the committee has been conserva was 19.5 per cent of all farmers in the tive in approving applicants for loans. county.'7 Not all of these cooperators The agency has sought to maintain good were active. The agency's most critical relationships with the banks, insisting problem is follow-up work with those that borrowers refinance their obliga who have agreed to participate. With tions through private institutions as the present staff, the caseload is en soon as they are in a position to do so. tirely too large for effective operation. Since its establishment in 1934, the FHA has made loans to 327 families, 293 Farmers Home Administration of which had chattel and 34 real estate This agency serves both Goodhue loans. A total of $348,130 has been bor and an adjoining county to the east. rowed by these farmers. One hundred It is essentially a lending agency, mak forty-eight of the chattel loans and ing loans to farmers who are unable to eight of the real estate loans have been meet the requirements of private loan paid in full. In January, 1947, there ing agencies. Two groups of borrowers were 26 active real estate and 80 active are served: those who are purchasing chattel borrowers. farmsteads, and those who borrow money to provide themselves with farm County Weed Inspector chattel. The County Weed Inspector is em Although the FHA office is in Good ployed by the County Board of Com hue County, it is not located at the missioners for approximately six county seat, but at Pine Island which months of each year to promote weed is in the southeastern part of the control among farmers. Although he re- '"One SCS district extends beyond the boundaries of the county, but only those co operators in the Goodhue part of the district are included in this total. <7 A relatively small number of cooperators were not bona fide farmers, but the number of such cooperators was not large enough to influence greatly the calculation of the percentage of farmers who were cooperators. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 57 ceives no pay from the state, he is re funds for this purpose are provided by quired by law to report his activities to the county. The personnel of the Wel the State Commissioner of Agriculture. fare Department, however, performs In his work, he relies primarily on plan the technical service required for ad ning and advice, although he is vested ministering this type of relief. The with legal power by which he can county also maintains a poor farm force recalcitrant farmers to give at which admits unfortunates who do not tention to their weed problems. Town fit into any of the assistance categories ship boards have for years had or who have no place to live. The authority to deal with weed control, county is assisted by state and federal but because of the personal relation funds in caring for cases of old age ship which exists between voters and assistance and aid to dependent child board members, the boards have not made effective use of their authority. ren. Funds for the blind are handled The County Weed Inspector bears a less directly by the state and come entirely personal relationship to the farmers from state and federal sources. and is, therefore, able to function more Near the end of 1946, the Welfare effectively than the township boards. Department's case load included ap The Inspector is advised in his work by proximately 60 cases of direct relief,'" the County Weed Council, appointed 500 of old age assistance, 42 of aid to at an annual weed meeting of township dependent children, and 10 of aid to· board officers and village weed men. the blind. The poor home had 22 in mates. A large proportion of the direct relief cases involves primarily medical Nonagricultural Agencies48 care. According to a 1944 spot map pre Welfare Department pared by the agency, most of the cases of old age assistance, of aid to depen The County Welfare Department dent children, and of aid to the blind with its head supervisor, three case were in Red Wing and the principal workers, a stenographer, and an ac villages of the county. countant, has its office at the county seat. Although the agency is under the supervision of the State Welfare De County Public Health Nurse partment, it is also subject to control The office of the public health nurse by a local board of seven members: five is in the courthouse at Red Wing. The county commissioners, and two local nurse and her clerk-assistant are em citizens appointed by the State Wel ployed by the county board of com fare Department. In addition to ad missioners and are paid from county visory and policy-making functions, funds and contributions of the County the County Welfare Board reviews Health Association. The executive cases presented to it by the agency's committee of the Health Association technical workers, and approves new acts as an advisory board to the nurse. applicants. Although the county has a Board of The principal function of the Welfare Health, it maintains no active relation Department is supervision of general ship with the county nurse. The nurse relief, old age assistance, and aid to de is advised from time to time by repre pendent children and to the blind. The senatives from the State Health De County Welfare Board has complete partment, and she in turn makes: control over general relief since all periodic reports to the Department. •• Since the Selective Service Office was closed before the field work on the study was completed, it was decided to omit it from this discussion of nonagricultural agencies. '" Excluding poor farm inmates. 58 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 The principal activities of the public agency once more. The agency is an health nurse are the promotion of (1) employment bureau and an office for eye and ear inspections in the public administering unemployment compen schools every two or three years and sation. Its office is located in Red Wing, (2) health clinics for smallpox vaccina and it serves ten townships in Wabasha tions, diphtheria inoculations, and County and all of Goodhue County ex mantoux tests for tuberculosis. These cept the four townships along its health clinics are held every year in southern boundary. With a staff of five the villages and every other year for full-time employees, this is the only rural people. agency in the county which is not in some way under the control or super Veterans Service Office vision of a local board or committee. In addition to its routine work with This is a newly created agency employment matters and unemploy which is financed by the county. The ment compensation, the agency has one personnel consists of a service officer staff member who devotes his entire and a secretary. The officer is appointed time to veterans. He assists with set by the County Board of Commissioners, ting up veterans' training programs, and has an office in the courthouse at advises veterans about jobs, and certi Red Wing where he works five days a fies them for on-the-job training. Asso week. He spends the sixth day in the ciated with the agency are two repre county's villages, serving half of them sentatives of the U. S. Veterans one week and the other half the next. Administration who are responsible for The service officer advises veterans supervision of on-the-job industrial concerning their rights and helps them training of veterans in Goodhue and with various technical papers. Although Wabasha counties. the agency has been established for In late 1946, some 300 veterans from only a few months, it has served a the agency's official territory were fairly large number of veterans. taking on-the-job training; of these, ap proximately 52 were Goodhue County Minnesota Employment Service veterans who were receiving on-the This agency is supported by state job training in vocational agriculture. and federal governments, and during Only about 20 farmers in the agency's the war operated as a federal agency. territory were receiving self-employ Now, however, it has become a state ment compensation. 6. Jnformal (/roups and Other Informal Relations NFORMAL GROUPS and informal vals. The relationship may be a tem I relations refer to those interpersonal porary conversational contact between activities which are either customary two individuals, or it may be a work or temporary. These activities do not ring which functions according to involve consciously formulated pro custom. cedures for regulating group behavior; Informal groups and relationships no leaders are elected, but natural are numerous in Goodhue County. Even leaders may emerge; and formal meet so, there is a dominant tendency toward ings are not held, although the group formal, rather than informal, ways of TIJ.ay get together at fairly regular inter- attaining social objectives. Even the RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 59 basically informal relationships have record is kept in terms of labor and the formal characteristics. Thus, groups of use of teams and machinery, and cash neighboring women who celebrate payments are made to equalize the in birthdays in a most informal manner put of each man. This accounting was are referred to as "birthday clubs." not common some years ago when labor Family visiting is not as frequent as and other costs were not so important. it was formerly. However, in areas Some work rings are so well stabilized where one nationality continues to be that machinery is owned in common. dominant and where membership is Wedding anniversary parties are held in an open-country church, related common, and are often held in the families are said to visit extensively. parlors or basements of churches. Neighboring families comprising work There are a number of birthday clubs, rings were often reported visiting very which are one of the principal activi little. ties found in the open-country neigh The county's many work rings were borhoods described in section 2 of this referred to in the discussion of locality groups, where they were classified with bulletin. However, to designate these the high group identification localities. groups as clubs is slightly misleading, Most work rings are not large, varying because they are not formally or from three to six or seven farmers, al ganized. The usual club is simply a though sometimes a ring may have as group of neighboring women who have many as a dozen members. The bases a custom of giving a party for each whereby membership in rings is de member on her birthday every year. termined are not easily ascertained. For example, the practice of one club Examination of a number of rings is for the group to gather at the home showed the following factors to be in of a member on her birthday. The volved: compatability; convenience in member knows to expect the celebra terms of propinquity; marriage or blood tion because all the others know the relationship; proximity of smaller date of her birthday. The party is operators to a large one who owns sometimes in the afternoon, at other machinery; and ownership by each times in the evening. The men fre member of the group of a different quently attend the evening parties, and machine which all need at some time. the guests usually bring food for a Perhaps the most important of these lunch. factors is convenience, based on near In the county's larger villages, farm ness. 'This factor is often reduced in importance, however, because at times people visit on the streets, gather at kinship brings together operators who places of business to gossip or play are some distance apart, or because whist, and attend open-air band con incompatability excludes a farmer who certs during the summer months. is near at hand. Other important gathering places for Although the work ring is much many of the farmers are the one or more of an informal group than a for two open-country stores, as well as the mal one, it possesses certain formal taverns and cafes in hamlets, villages, characteristics. Its very name and the and open-country. At a number of the working agreement among its members creameries and cheese plants the farm seem to make it more formal than the ers still deliver their products. As they simple swapping of labor found among wait at these places, considerable visit farmers in other sections of the county ing takes place. Informal recreational where no reference is made to rings. groups interested in dancing sometimes In most work rings a fairly strict meet at a township hall or a village or 60 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 hamlet hall. In addition there are many church provides is another important small fishing and hunting parties. informal leisure-time activity. There are numerous recreational On one hand informal relationships crowds and groups which are rather are sponsored by formal organizations, informal in character, even though and on the other hand the activities of they are sponsored either by commer these organizations are fostered by in cial establishments or formal organiza formal relations. The purposes, pro tions and institutions having semi-com grams, officials, and membership of or mercial interests. These crowds include ganized groups are frequent subjects of those at swimming pools, boating conversation in many of the informal places, skating rinks, pool rooms, dance relationships referred to previously. halls, bowling alleys, motion picture Indeed, the process of forming organi theaters, the Pine Island cheese festi zations significantly involves informal val, the Kenyon corn show, the Cannon relationships. For example, the Good Falls overall party, the county fair, hue Cooperative Breeders Association the Cannon Valley fair, high school had its origin as a result of informal basketball and football games, and the discussion between farmers and the free outdoor motion pictures provided county agricultural agent. Once the ini during the summer by the business men tial steps in organizing were taken, the in some of the smaller service centers. association was promoted principally Some of the more common noncom through "talking it over" with neigh mercial informal recreational crowds bors and friends as they were en and groups are sponsored by formal countered in informal situations. organizations and institutions. These in The testers employed by the dairy clude joint village-farm whist games improvement association have helped under the auspices of one of the village to promote these organizations through commercial clubs; card parties among their overnight visits in the homes of groups of neighbors belonging to some members. Farmers visit with other particular church; card parties at Farm farmers to persuade them to join the Bureau and lodge meetings; 4-H club Farm Bureau. The Home Demonstra picnics and wiener roasts; Halloween tion clubs and 4-H clubs are usually and Christmas parties given for village organized by lay workers who accept children by commercial clubs; junior responsibility for interesting their league baseball games sponsored by the friends or neighbors. The farm leaders American Legion; musical festivals at who supported the AAA (now PMA) in village high schools; mothers' meetings its early days did much to propagate and annual picnics for parents and the idea through personal contacts and children sponsored by the rural schools; small, informal group meetings. Much dances for young people at one of the of the SCS work is done on an inter village high schools; midsummer (June personal basis involving only the farm 24) picnics held by some of the rural er and an agency representative. The churches; dances at Knights of Colum county agricultural agent states that bus hall; lunches at Farm Bureau unit when he speaks at a Farm Bureau meetings and annual meetings of co meeting, few questions are raised dur operatives; parties for both young ing or immediately following his talk. people and adults given by churches or After the meeting adjourns, however, church organizations; and social activi the men come to him with numerous ties of the Rural Youth group. Although questions. Farmers frequently stop in it can hardly be considered as active!y the agent's office to seek advice about sponsored by the church, the before farm problems or to discuss organiza and after-service socializing which the tional activities. II. ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 7. Significant eltanges in Social Organization NCREASE IN NUMBER of Farm Or joined marketing associations princi I ganizations-Although over the years pally because buyers were constantly the number of farmers' cooperatives in beating prices down. This was a first Goodhue County has declined some step toward federated organization. what, the total number of organized During World War II a crisis for the groups among farm people has in small plants was precipitated by a de creased considerably in recent years. velopment which had undoubtedly At one time there were several farmers' been under way for some time. Larger clubs (sometimes called community plants, often cooperatives, invaded the clubs). Now, however, all but one of producers' market in the area. Some of these have been supplanted by town the older plants required new and im ship Farm Bureau units. Changes in the proved equipment, and demand for Extension Service's methods of operat quality products was increasing. Cost ing involving greater emphasis on the of labor, as well as its scarcity, became group rather than the individual ap especially acute as the war continued. proach and an energetic organizational Higher prices for whole milk forced program initiated by the local Exten many creameries to abandon butter sion office have been important factors making and become mere milk-receiv in the increase in farm organizations. ing stations. For small plants, these conditions created serious problems as Cooperatives in Transition from Pri to future operations. Consolidation be mary to Secondary Groups-For many gan to be considered, and a group of years cooperatives have had an im cheese factories in the southeastern portant place in the organized life of part of Goodhue and adjoining counties the county. One would hesitate to say did merge with a purchasing associa they will be less important in the tion which thereby entered the pro future, but they will be different, ducers' field. especially the creamery and cheese co At present, farmers in Goodhue operatives. These organizations are in a County belong to creamery (or milk) state of transition from primary to and cheese cooperatives in varying secondary groups. Many of them were stages of development, from the dis first organized around 1908. They tinctly primary-group type to those were formed by groups of neighbors more nearly of the secondary type. The who believed that they could make primary-group type usually serves a more money by processing and market small number of patrons who live ing products as a group. Moreover, the within a few miles of each other. The local manufacture of butter and cheese board employs no manager, but its was about the only way to utilize a president serves in that capacity, for surplus of milk above that needed for which he receives a small salary. A the family. The small creamery and farmer secretary-treasurer keeps the cheese cooperatives developed consider cooperative accounts, and the equip able group cohesion and loyalty. Fol ment is sometimes old and in need of lowing World War I some of them modernization. The board of directors 62 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 functions on a personal rather than im present Welfare Department was pre personal and rational basis. While the ceded by general relief and a poor farm organization is often controlleq by under the immediate direction of the older members, all members show County Board of Commissioners, and marked attachment and pride in their a child welfare program directed by organization, and producers deliver a Child Welfare Board. The poor farm their own milk to the plant. is still maintained, but the functions of At the other extreme is the coopera the Child Welfare Board were assumed tive which represents a merger or ab by the County Welfare Board in 1937. sorption of smaller concerns. This type All technical matters relating to wel of organization is made up of patrons fare are now handled by the staff of the over a wide area (including more than Welfare Department. Although this one county), and it employs a manager agency operates according to approved and bookkeepers to handle all accounts welfare standards, persons receiving and records. Modernized equipment general relief continue to have their has been or is being acquired. Head names printed in the County Auditor's quarters of the organization may or annual report. may not be in the county. The board of Informal Groups and Relationships directors manages the business on a Less Important-Informal groups are more rationalized basis than do the numerous, and many activities pro smaller cooperatives, and the control moted by formal organizations and of older members is probably less ef agencies are carried forward in the in fective. The cooperative itself main formal relationships of tavern, coffee tains truck routes, although in at least shop, store, courthouse, village street, one instance some of the producers or county roadside conversation. In continue to bring their products to the formal relationships, however, are not plant. Between these extremes are co as important as they once were, be operatives which retain some of the cause the informal method of attaining characteristics of the small locality or social objectives is no longer dominant. ganization, but have also acquired the Social processes are more rationalized, characteristics of secondary organiza so that socially desirable goals are now tions-they may serve a larger area, attained through formally organized usually have employed a bookkeeper groups. or clerk to replace the farmer secre tary, or there is some other develop Neighborhoods Less but Village ment toward a more secondary group. centered Communities More Import ant- Neighborhood groupings were Development of Public Agencies formerly much more numerous and Recent years have witnessed an in clearly defined. Neighboring now tends crease in public agencies operating in to center around special interests-a the county. Of the present nine agen birthday club, a Home Demonstration cies, seven have been established since club, or a church. The locality factor the early 1930's. Only the Extension is secondary. Modern transportation fa Service and the County Public Health cilities and the improved trade and Nurse antedate 1930. Although the service facilities of villages have led county established a sanitarium for to the development of village-centered tubercular patients in 1913 and em communities so that the farm people ployed a county nurse in 1916, it has in the service area around the villages never created a Department of Public are much more concerned with "going Health or otherwise attempted to co to town" than with life in their immedi ordinate its public health services. The ate neighborhood. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZ{l-TION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 63 Schools and School Dis:tric:ts Un county's first and only consolidation of changed bu:t Reqrganiza:tion a Growing rural school districts occurred in 1917. Issue-The rural-school district with its This consolidation combined four dis one-teacher school still dominates the tricts largely in the Burnside township. county's educational system, and con At first the new district attempted to trol of schools is vested primarily in maintain both an elementary and high the districts rather than in the county. school, but after a time the high school A number of factors have operated to was discontinued. The Burnside ele keep the school districts alive. Many of mentary school, however, is now con the district schools in Goodhue have sidered one of the county's best rural family names and are undoubtedly institutions. symbols of prestige for some of the In recent years the rural schools older and more influential families. Un have assumed few new functions. The til recently road conditions precluded only one of any importance has been any serious consideration of consolida that of serving as a channel by which tion. Many of the people like the con the public health nurse contacts farm venience which the small school affords, people. On the other hand, village high and they also want to keep control of schools are becoming more and more the school in their own hands. Others important as centers or recreation and fear that consolidation might prove un meeting places for organized groups. satisfactory and yet, once undertaken, would prevent a return to the small Churches Are Undergoing Change district. Still others believe the small Open-country churches supported by one-teacher school provides the best nationality and family ties are still education, and there are some who be fairly numerous and well supported, al lieve that consolidation with village though some have closed their doors in schools will take their children away recent years and others are likely to do from the farm. It is noteworthy that so in the near future. Moreover, the among the factors which have operated increasing importance of village social to maintain the school district, one usu contacts appears to be attracting more ally fails to find a locality group whose and more farmers to village churches. social life centers in the school. Nationality influence in the churches However, decline in the enrollment is beginning to decline, but is likely to of the district schools, inability to find remain strong for some time. Churches qualified teachers, and the problem of have been gradually discontinuing their providing high schools for farm child foreign language services. The Swedish ren are factors which are forcing the and Norwegian congregations appear people to consider school consolidation. to have gone farther than the German The issue has not yet been faced di in this regard. A deciding factor lead rectly, but there are indications that ing to this change was the necessity it cannot be postponed much longer. of holding the younger generation who Already a number of leading farmers are educated for the most part in the say that the small district school must public schools where only English is go, but there are others who disagree."0 taught, and so can no longer under The lag which exists in this matter is stand the language of their parents. In well emphasized by the fact that the the past, one of the main reasons for r.o Since the above was written, the boards of all school districts in the county, acting under permissive legislation passed by the State Legislature in 1947, decided by a vote of 142 to 112 to undertake a survey of the schools for the purpose of making recommendations rela tive to school consolidation. A county survey committee has been appointed and, along with the county superintendent of education, is studying the situation and developing a plan of reorganization which will later be submitted to a vote of the citizens. 64 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 maintaining parochial schools has been population change between 1900 and to enable the oncoming generation to 1940: understand the foreign-language serv Percentage Number of ice of the church. With the change to Change an English-language service, the decline Townships of the parochial schools was inevitable. Gaining 0.0- 9.9 1 Role of Family Group in Organiza 10.0-19.9 1 tions Significant but Declining-Even Losing though the family group has an im portant role in its relationship to or 0.0- 9.9 3 ganized groups and institutions, there 10.0-19.9 4 can be no doubt that family solidarity 20.0-29.9 12 is being somewhat affected by speciali 30.0 and over 2 zation of interests according to age According to these figures, the popu groups and that family members parti lation of more than half of the town cipate in organized life more and more ships is from 20.0 to 29.9 per cent less on an individualistic basis. The Sunday than it was 40 years ago. Three of the schools, young people's societies, men's townships have shown population de clubs, and women's organizations in the creases at every census date (figure 11). churches, the age group activities of The decreases in a number of the town the Extension Service, some of the high ships were particularly marked in the school extracurricular activities, the period from 1900 to 1930. many adult special-interest groups While township populations have among farmers-all are factors which been declining, those of the villages tend to divide family interests. and Red Wing have increased rapidly. The following tabulation gives the rates Differential Growth of Village and of change for the county's villages and Open-Country Population Rel m By the use of Dun and Bradstreet data, places incorporated since 1900 were followed back to that date. •• A township population exclusive of incorporated places is not entirely run•) farm but a large percentage of it is. In 1940 only 12.1 per cent of the rural nonfarm populatiOn of Good hue County was outside of incorporated villages. ""Red Wing in Goodhue County and Lake City in Wabasha County. ,. Includes part in Rice County. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 65 TOWNSHIPS AND NUMBER VILLAGES 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1 200 1 400 1600 + BELLE CREEK· ... ·I I I I I BELVIDERE ...... ( I I I BURNSIDE ...... ( ' I I I I CANNON FALLS ... ( I I I CANNON FALLS ... ( I VILLAGE CENTRAL POINT .. ·( I I ~I I I I POPULATION IN: CHERRY GROVE··· [ .-1900 I I I I ~.<-1910 FEATHERSTONE .. · [ ::· .. 1920 I I I I FLORENCE· .. · .... · ( ··.:·1930 '·1940 I I I I GOODHUE· ...... · ( I I GV~~~AHGUEE ...... ( I I I I HAY CREEK ...... [ I I I I HOLDEN ...... · .. · [ I I I I KEiJYON ...... ( I I I I I I I I I LEON· ...... · .. · .. ( I I I I MINNEOLA· ..... ··· I I I I PINE ISLAND ..... · [ I I I PINE ISLAND I VILLAGE I I I I I I ROSCOE··· [ I I STANTON· [ I I I I I VASA ... [ Wt,COUTA · ...... · [§== I I I I I WANAMINGO· [ I WANAMINGO .... ( I VILLAGE . I I I I WARSAW ...... [ DENNISON I VILLAGE ...... [ I I I I WELCH· ...... 1 I I I I ZUMBROTA ...... ( ZUMBROTA I I I I VILLAGE ...... "I FIG. 11. Population of townships and villages, 1900-1940 According to a strict population definition, Dennison would be classified as a hamlet, but for the purpose of simplifying the presentation, it has been classified as a village in this chart. 66 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 comparing the population graphs of the terests. Better equipped institutions, villages with the townships in which i.e., schools and churches, are in the they are located (figure 11). Four of the process of being developed in the vil village graphs are characterized by lages. Such institutions are drawing long-time continuous rises. While two people from the rural areas where the of the villages lost population between low density of the population is often 1930 and 1940 and one showed only a a handicap to the maintenance of ade small increase, at least three villages quate schools and churches. This is fa had marked increases. Red Wing has cilitating the integration of village and also shown a marked growth, losing farm people into one community. Al population in only one decade. ready each village has a number of The steady decline of the open organizations, besides schools and country population is probably reflected churches, in which both the farm and in the decline of some of the open village people are participating. As a country churches. Also a direct result result of village growth and the fact of population decline are the many that the villages are becoming the nu rural schools with small enrollments. cleii of village-farm communities, lead On the other hand, the marked growth ers in some of the villages show con of the county's villages has made and siderable enthusiasm about the role is continuing to make these villages the which their villages are playing in the nucleii of communities in which village county. Furthermore, the villages con and farm people are coming to realize stitute the major source of membership a more complete integration of their in- for several county-wide organizations. s. '!actors Affecting Participation ARTICIPATION in group life is Agricultural activity articulates with P conditioned by such factors as the climatic cycles. Dairying, which is climate, work cycles, ethnic composi the dominant type in Goodhue County, tion of the population, income, farming makes somewhat continuous and uni ability, tenure, attitudes, values, and form labor demands on the farmer. institutions. This section of the study Even so, seasonal variations in labor examines the relationships of these requirements result if farmers attempt factors to participation in various types to produce their own feed, as is the of organization found in Goodhue case in the county (figure 12). During County. the winter and far into the spring, when cows must be kept in the barn, Climatic and Work Cycles as Factors feeding and cleaning require on the in Participation-The location of Good average about six hours per day. The hue County near the 45° north latitude farmer's dairy activities decrease dur means that the seasons are well marked ing the late spring, summer, and early and the range between high and low fall, but crops require large out-lays of temperatures is great. The winters are time. During these seasons, farm moderately severe, with subfreezing women are especially busy with young temperatures common as early as Sep chickens, gardening, and canning. tember and as late as May. December, Just as the work cycle of the people January, February, and March are articulates with the seasons, so their characterized by frequent sub-zero social and organizational activities re temperatures with heavy snows. spond to both. Except for the churches, RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 67 CROPS held in June, are scheduled for the less active months of winter. However, not SAI'IL('I'··."' • all organizational activities are discon COFIN fOR tinued during the summer. The GRAIN .• ' churches consider this season an im COI\N FOR SILAGE • '' portant period of activity; many of the churches hold summer schools for their children. The county fair is held in August, the 4-H club camp in June, the GAl POTATOES ditions are unfavorable for meetings. There can be little doubt that the severe SOl'8EANS • • winters affect the smooth running of organizations and participation in them. Many of the open-country churches discontinue their Sunday schools from 4 Christmas until around the first of MILK.,,,. cows April. With the advent of improved roads and the use of snowplows, the (iJ PREPARATION Of SOIL ~ PL.ANTINC R CULTIVAT!ON - HARVESTING closing of the Sunday school is begin FIG. 12. Work cycle of Goodhue County ning to be less of a necessity and more farmers often a matter of custom. Despite the This figure was prepared with the assistance weather, many of the people are very of one of the county Soil Conservation Service technicians. The data which were used for loyal to their organizations, and only guidance in making the chart, were obtained from a small sample of farmers who were en impassable roads prevent their attend rolled in an evening class at the Red Wing ance at meetings. As one of their High School. The same group of farmers also gave general information concerning their year ministers described them, "Cold weath round work with beef cattle, hogs, sheep, horses, and chickens. Of those reporting work with these er doesn't stop them, it's only the snow classes of livestock, most reported labor in-put that does." for hogs and chickens throughout the year, with peak loads in the spring. Beef cattle and sheep also required year-round work in some instances. The Ethnic Factor in Participation Although not as much attention was required by Nationality groups have always been the beef cattle and sheep in the summer, con siderable work had to be done for them in the prominent in Goodhue County and spring, especially for the sheep. Horses required year-round care, according to most of the farm these groups might be expected to show ers who reported on them. some variation in their participation in formal organizations. At the first U. S. social and organized activities tend to census (1860) after the county was or decline during the heavy working pe ganized, 36.4 per cent of the population riod of spring, summer, and early fall. was foreign-born; and at each of the Home Demonstration project groups two succeeding census dates, over 40 are discontinued during the summer. per cent of the population was of Very few of the township Farm Bureau foreign birth. A state census taken in organizations meet in August, and 1905 is the earliest record listing the several have no meeting in July. An foreign-born population of the county nual meetings of cooperatives, except by country of birth.55 The percentage those of the grain elevators which are distribution of the total foreign-born 55 Fifth Decennial Census of Minnesota, McGill-Warner Co., St. Paul, 1905. 68 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 {88g German [22d Swedish ~Norwegian D Mixed FIG. 13. Dominant nationality according to townships, 1947 according to country of birth for this These data, however, are for foreign 1905 census was as follows:50 bam persons and can only be con sidered as indicative of the relative Per number of these stocks in the popula Cent tion. The figures agree with the Sweden 36.2 commonly recognized situation today; Norway 34.8 namely, that the Swedish, Norwegians, Germany. 21.1 and Germans constitute the dominant Ireland 2.0 nationality groups. Figure 13 shows the Canada 1.8 townships of the county according to Denmark 1.4 dominant nationality background in England 1.1 1947.'7 The figure emphasizes the large Scotland 0.3 contiguous areas in which Swedes, or Bohemia ... 0.1 Norwegians, or Germans are the pre Poland 0.1 dominant group. Finland ...... 0.1 On the whole, the formal organiza All other countries 1.2 tions of the county show no marked so In 1905, 26.7 per cent of the county's total population was foreign-born. 57 With 1905 data as a guide, the county agent and several other leaders in the county helped prepare this map. When there was some doubt regarding the ethnic classification of a township, family names appearing on the personal property tax list were classified according to nationality, and a count was made of the families in each nationality group. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 69 differentials with respect to their ethnic ships which have the highest propor composition. Since the membership of tions of farmers in the Bureau. the Farm Bureau is fairly large and is The geographic distribution of the organized by townships, it provides a membership of the newly organized good opportunity for relating extent of Goodhue Cooperative Breeding Asso membership to ethnic composition of ciation shows that the two townships the population. The map (figure 14) pre which rank first and third in the per sents by townships the percentage of centage of their farmers who are mem farm operators who are members of bers of the Association have popula the Farm Bureau. Comparison of this tions predominantly Swedish in an map with figure 13 reveals no very sig cestry; a German township ranked nificant relationship between extent of second in this respect. People of Nor membership and dominant ethnic wegian background are the dominant group. When considered as a whole, group in the seven townships which however, the townships in which Nor have the lowest proportions of their wegians predominate show a slight farmers with memberships in the Asso tendency to have lower percentages of ciation; five of these townships also farmers who are Farm Bureau mem constitute the group having the smallest bers. There is no dominant ethnic group number of members. However, the in the populations of the two town- .townships with large Norwegian popu- PERCENT D 2o.o-34.9 [223 35.0. 49.9 ~ 50.0-64.9 m 65.0 and over D No local unit FIG. 14. Percentage of farm operators who are members of Farm Bureau, 1946 70 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 lations are the ones in which dairying ing classifications: English Lutheran, is the most extensive. Thus, three of German Lutheran, Norwegian Luther the predominantly Norwegian town an, Swedish Lutheran, and Swedish ships rank first, second, and third in Mission. The rest of his classification the percentage of the county's total consists of denominational titles with number of milk cows. The Norwegian out any nationality reference; i.e, townships are somewhat distant from Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc. the county seat which, primarily be cause the Extension Service Office is Relationship of Income, Tenure, and located there, served as the center of Status as a Farmer to Participation organizing activities for the Breeding A relatively large proportion of the Association. This distance was undoubt farmers in Goodhue County have good edly a limiting factor in their interest incomes and enjoy fairly high levels of in the new organization, although living. Consequently, most of them factors associated with nationality have a sense of equality that tends to characteristics may also have kept prevent marked differentials in group them from becoming members. participation. In none of the farm or There is some slight indication that ganizations does any one income group the dominantly Norwegian townships seem to dominate, unless it is the large do not, as a whole, rank as high in the middle income group. proportion of their farmers who are The county agent states that the bet SCS cooperators as do townships that ter farmers are the ones who are most are predominantly German or Swedish. interested in Extension activities. It is However, the differences do not appear the opinion of SCS personnel that a to be significant. Furthermore, the Nor large percentage of their cooperators wegian townships make up a large por are farmers who make average incomes tion of a soil conservation district that and have moderate problems of conser was organized two years after the vation. Farmers on extremely poor county's other two districts were land or on the best land tend to be formed. Of course, the delay in organiz somewhat indifferent. ing the district may have been related Most farm organizations have both to the more deliberate Norwegian atti owners and renters in their member tudes toward innovations; on the other ships. Although an organization such hand, the lag was more probably the as the County Home and Community result of less critical problems of soil Committee, which is the county-wide erosion in their section of the country. leadership group for Home Demonstra Ethnic influences are more deeply tion activities, draws a majority of its rooted in the churches than in other members from owner families, gener organized groups. (See section 7 of this ally tenure appears to exert no great bulletin for discussion of decline in influence on participation. this influence.) Church memberships follow closely nationalistic lines. In Attitudes, Values, and Institutions as deed, so prominent have been the na Factors in Participation-The organiza tionalistic backgrounds of the Lutheran tions of Goodhue County provide churches that they are customarily re several examples of the importance of ferred to by local people as Norwegian attitudes, values, and institutions as Lutheran, Swedish Lutheran, or Ger factors affecting participation. Under man Lutheran. In his "History of lying the extensive organization of Goodhue County" (published in 1935) cooperatives, one might expect to find C. A. Rasmussen gives a list of "Present certain fundamental beliefs. It is not Day Churches," including the follow- easy, however, to discover just what RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 71 these beliefs are. There is very little The differential that exists between philosophy of cooperation in the sense the county's urban and farm youth in of clearly defined theories. The farmers high school attendance seems to be will say that they formed their coopera associated with both attitudinal and tives in self-defense, to eliminate the institutional factors. The high school middle man, or to defend themselves attendance of farm youth is low. Of against sharp-dealing buyers. Perhaps rural-farm boys 16 to 17 years old, the best way to summarize their atti which is the age group from which tudes toward cooperatives is to say that high schools should be expected to draw they believe in getting together to pro a large number of students, only 42.4 tect and promote their own interests. per cent of the farm youth were in Underlying this belief is the conviction school in 1940. In the urban population that one's destiny is in his own hands of the county, 59.4 per cent of this age if he wishes to do something about it. group were attending school. The The cooperative is an organizational record for rural-farm girls 16 to 17 technique that fits their needs; they years of age showed 62.8 per cent en have learned how to manipulate it; and rolled, which was better than that of they are not doctrinaire about it. either farm or urban boys. Even so, the The people show greater devotion to percentage (80.3) of urban girls 16 to the church than to any other or 17 years old in school was considerably ganization. This is especialy true of above that of farm girls of these ages. farm people who are members of open The attitude of self-sufficiency which country churches. It is impossible to characterizes some of the farmers has unravel and evaluate the strands of the undoubtedly kept many boys out of cord of devotion which binds the people high school. Farming in Goodhue to this institution. The most we can do County has evolved into a highly tech is to enumerate a few of these strands, nical occupation. In 1945, three-fourths which include family ties, ethnic tradi of the farms had tractors on them; in tions, satisfactory social experiences addition many of them have other that for many years could nowhere else modern machinery: corn pickers, hay be met, and deeply rooted religious loaders, combines, manure spreaders, convictions directed toward church and milking machines, as well as other loyalty. mechanical equipment for barns. Dairy The type of educational organization farming demands a knowledge of ani which exists in the county is also sup mal husbandry. Problems of breeding, ported by deeply rooted attitudes or feeding, and diseases require consider values. Despite its many disadvantages able technical information if a farmer as an effective educational instrument, is to be successful. Although there are the small, one-teacher district school still a number of farmers who are not has been able to survive because the very well informed on the best long people place a high value on direct time soil conservation practices, most participation in the management of of them possess enough of the "know their educational affairs. For many of how" of farming to be proud of it. In them the district school stands as the fact, some of them believe so thorough last symbol of local self-determination. ly in their attainment in the technical There are also sentimental attachments skills of farming that they undoubtedly to these schools, arising from the fact tend to minimize the value of high that a number of them bear the names school education for their sons, believ of prominent families or are the places ing that a boy can learn to make a liv where several generations of the same ing on the farm much better than he family have gone to school. can by attending high school. 72 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 If farm boys and girls attend high elementary to high school is another school, they must go to the village or factor which keeps these boys and girls town high schools which are not a out of school. Additional reasons in part of the rural school system ·and clude the actual, as well as imagined, over which their parents have no con difficulties which farm youth face in trol. The absence of well established adjusting to the environment of the institutional patterns whereby farm village or town high school. boys and girls may easily pass from 9. Organizational !(elations/tips Relationships of Formally table). The Extension Service and the public schools also participate in this Organized Groups program. The rural health clinics are Table 5 indicates the relationships sponsored by the Farm Bureau, the that exist among 18 of 24 organiza Home and Community Committee of tions which are county-wide in scope. the Home Demonstration organizations, Three of the 18 organizations, namely the County Health Association, the the Farm Bureau Federation, 4-H clubs, County Medical Society, and the and Home Demonstration organizations, County Medical Auxiliary. The County are really groups of organizations, since Public Health Nurse, the Extension they include a number of local units. Service, and the public schools are also All five of the general county-wide participants in this project. farm organizations are included."' Eight, or four-ninths of the organiza The Farm Bureau, Home Demonstra tions, have no relationships with any tion organizations, and 4-H clubs sur of the others. Indeed, if the table ex pass all others in the number of groups cluded the farm organizations which with which some type of relationship are associated with the Extension Serv exists from time to time. The number ice, there would be almost no relation of relationships maintained by these ships among these formally organized three organizations is augmented by groups which are county-wide in scope. their cooperation with each other. This While organizational relationships in situation results because these groups the county are generally cooperative, are associated with the Extension Serv there are some conflict situations. The ice and are utilized by the Service as more "strictly business" cooperatives channels for education and community probably represent the most important service projects. area of organizational conflict, because Two service projects account in a the competition between the smaller large way for the number of coopera and larger cooperatives has sometimes tive relationships of the Farm Bureau, created antagonistic feelings. Leaders the Home Demonstration organizations, in some of the smaller organizations and the 4-H Clubs. These projects are are critical of the intrusion of the a county-wide farm safety program larger enterprises. Indications are, how and the rural health clinics. Cooperat ever, that the larger organizations will ing in the safety program are the Farm eventually absorb the smaller ones. Bureau, the 4-H Clubs, and the Red Improved transportation facilities and Wing Safety Council (not listed in the the requirements of economic opera- os No treatment of the relationships of organizations within the same village or town. is undertaken here. In some instances there is a considerable amount of cooperative activit)" among these groups. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 73 Table 5. Interrelationship of Formally Organized Groups* Q) 2 g '§ Ul a ..: 0 0 E aQ) Q) Organizations >g 0. .§ t.j u 0. 0 :a Q) "'Q) ll :'<: ~ ~5o ~ ~ggo555oo ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 0 0 0 u u u u 0 u u County Chapter of National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis . County Cooperative Breeders Association County Cooperative Electric Association X County Crop Improvement Association County Farm Bureau Federation X X X X X X X X County Health Association ... X X X X County Historical Society... County Holstein Breeders Association X County Horticultural Society..... County Medical Auxiliary...... X X X X County Medical Society...... X X X X County Red Cross Chapter... X X County Veterans Service Committee Four-H Organizations ... X X X X Home Demonstration Organizations X X X X X X X Rural Youth . X X X Township Officers Association ... United Farmers of America . * While all relationships among these organizations may not have been ascertained by the mvestigator, it is believed that the data presented here are a fair approximation of the situation for the period of about two years preceding the field work. 74 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 tion are forcing the smaller enterprises public agency. For this reason, its re to consolidate. Only the strong ties of lationship to organized groups and long-established, intimate groups pre agencies will be described in detail. vent the more rapid absorption of the The chart (figure 15) on page 77 shows smaller organizations. the organizations and agencies with A sharp conflict arose recently be which the Service maintains some tween two local consumer cooperatives type of relationship. These organiza which are associated with larger out tions and agencies fall into two major side organizations. The conflict threat classes: (1) agricultural and (2) non ened to cause serious differences among agricultural. The former can be further some of the leading farmers of the subdivided into extension service or county until the mediation of the ganizations and nonextension service county agent led to a peaceful solution. organizations and agencies. On the chart, nonagricultural organizations Relationship of Public and agencies have been divided into Agencies to Each Other and organizations and agencies, as have the nonextension service organizations and to Formally Organized agencies. There are two groups of ex Groups tension service organizations: (1) plan Table 6 summarizes agency-to-agency ning and administrative, and (2) edu and agency-to-organization relation cational. ships."' No attempt is made to indicate The extension organizations are in a the character of the relationships which very real sense instruments of the sometimes are of a well established, County Extension Service. Most of customary nature. In other instances, them were organized by that agency, the relationship involves little more or if not organized, have been main than an occasional speech by an agency tained and developed by it as instru representative at a meeting of an or ments for reaching farm people. For ganization. Like table 5, this table pre example, the Farm Bureau, which is sents the incidence of relationships the legal sponsor of the Extension but shows nothing of their character. Service, operates independently in the On the basis of number of relation performance of some of its functions, ships, with individual organizations and but the Bureau is greatly dependent on classes of organizations, the Extension the extension staff for advice in organi Service ranks highest, with 27. Next is zational matters and for the planning of a group including the Public Health its educational activities. Nurse, the Veterans Service Office, The planning and administrative SCS, Welfare Department, and FHA, bodies listed in the first column of with 10 to 14 relationships. A third figure 15 are concerned with employ group consists of the Minnesota Em ment of extension personnel and with ployment Service, the Weed Inspector, planning and reviewing programs. The and the PMA, which have from 6 to 7 more important of these units are the relationships. County Cooperative Extension Com mittee, the Farm Bureau Board of Di Agricultural Agencies rectors, the Home and Community Extension Service--Table 6 shows Committee, and the County 4-H Coun that the Extension Service is much cil. The organizations appearing in the more deeply enmeshed in the organized second column are the primary chan life of the county than is any other nels through which the Extension Serv- 50 In several instances classes of organizations rather than specific organizations are listed in table 6. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 75 Table 6. Relationships of Agencies to Each Other and to Organized Groups* AGENCIES Agricultural Extension Service.. . X X X X X X X X Farmers' Home Administration .. . X X X X X Minnesota Employment Service .. X X X Production and Marketing Adm. (Agricultural Conservation Program) .. X X X X X Public Health Nurse (County) .. X X X X Soil Conservation Service.... X X X X Veterans Service Office .. X X X X X Weed Officer (County) ... X X X Welfare Department X X X X X FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS Commercial Clubs (Villages and Red Wing) X X X Cooperative Breeders Assn. (County)... X X X Cooperatives (Cheese factory, con sumer, creamery, credit, elevator, and service) ...... -... .. X X X X Crop Improvement Assn. (County)f... X X Dairy Herd Improvement Assns. (3) ... X Farm Bureau ...... X X X X X X X X Four·H Organizations X X X X X Health Association (County) .. X X Holstein Breeders Association... X Home Demonstration Organizations.. X X X lzaak Walton Leagues.... X X X Kiwanis Club of Red Wing.... X X X X League of Women Voters of Red Wing X Medical Auxiliary (County) X X Medical Society (County)... X X National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (County Chapter) .. X X X PTA's in Red Wing ...... X X X X Red Cross (County Chapter) X X X X Red Wing Safety Council ...... X X Sportsmen's Club . X Veterans Organizations (Legion, DAV, VFW) ...... X X X Veterans Service Committee (County) .. X X X * For the most part, relationships of agencies ans1ng principally from war-time activities have been excluded from this table. If these had been included, the number of relationships for som<> ag.encies, particularly the PMA, would have been somewhat larger. In a number of instances, relation ~hips are indicated for classes of organizations. In these cases, any one agency's relationships seldom mclude all the organizations in a given class. . t Organized in March, 1947, the Crop Improvement Association replaced the County Crop Com nuttee. The relationships indicated in the table were principally with the old Crop Committee. 76 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 ice carries on its educational activities. of relationship.'11 Fairly close relation Under the leadership of the Extension ships exist between the Extension Serv staff, these groups also provide recrea ice, the SCS, and the PMA; but those tional activities for farm people and with the FHA are not very import serve as mediums through which these ant. The county agent maintains in people can render services to their com formal relationships with the teachers munities. of vocational agriculture, sometimes There is a somewhat tenuous line of participating in their classes, at other demarkation between the planning and times planning activities with them. administrative organizations and those The county weed inspector has received serving as primary educational chan considerable assistance from the Ex nels. The Home and Community Com tension Service in promoting weed mittee is not only a planning group but control. The county agent sponsors an also serves as an educational channel. informal agricultural council which in While the 4-H Club Federation func cludes representatives of the PMA, tions primarily in an educational capa FHA, SCS, the Goodhue County Co city, it also helps with planning the operative Electric Association, and the county's 4-H program. Although the teachers of vocational agriculture. The newly organized County Crop Improve council meets once a year to discuss ment Association"" expects to operate common problems and to review pro principally as a planning and adminis grams and accomplishments of the trative body in connection with certi agencies."' fied seed production, it will almost in There are a number of nonagri evitably acquire certain educational cultural organizations with which the functions. Extension Service works from time to The organizations classified as non time. (See figure 15, column V.) Rela extension serve as secondary educa tionships with these organizations in tional channels. Although the county volve either cooperation with Exten agent actively assisted in organizing sion in broad community enterprises both the Cooperative Breeders Associa that concern farm people, or the spon tion, the Holstein Breeders Association, sorship by these groups of an organiza and the Goodhue County Cooperative tion or special activity in which the Electrical Association, none of these Extension Service is interested."' organizations can be considered a According to the chart (figure 15) primary educational channel for exten there are four nonagricultural agencies sion education. For the most part con with which the Extension Service tacts with the nonextension groups are sometimes cooperates. With one of casual, usually through talks made by these agencies the cooperation has been the county agent at annual meetings on a county-wide project involving farm or by way of advice given by the agent people. The relationships with the concerning organizational problems. other three agencies include consulta The fourth column lists the county's tion on common problems and participa agricultural agencies with which the tion of agency personnel at meetings of Extension Service maintains some type organizations sponsored by Extension. "'This organization was formed in March, 1947, to replace the County Crop Committee. "' Included in the list are groups and individuals that can hardly be considered agncul tural agencies. Strictly defined, the high school agricultural departments are not agencies, the veterans' agricultural teachers are only so many individuals, and the agricultural counctl is only a conference group that meets once a year. Despite such discrepancies, it was con sidered feasible to classify these groups and individuals as agencies. o2 The agricultural agencies which are affiliated with the USDA are nominally members of a USDA County Council, but this Council is inactive. ro The Red Wing PTA's do not come under either of these types of relationships, but are included because the home demonstration agent has done educational work with several of the town's PTA groups. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 77 AGRICULTURAL NONAGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS ORGANIZATIONS AND AGENCIES AND AGENCIES NON EXTENSION N { IC.HOOA HOOD l ( AOtAS ~ :::'w,~~ I (vNORGANil to) V( T(fl"'"'S VOCATIONAl I cro\uo& w.~'c. COUNTY GOOOHV( :G,··"" V( l[II"N 1 HOLSTEIN J ~(R\11({ I -- r fiR[( 0[ AS COVNTY CROP I AS SOC lA TtOI'< I'"'PROV(O.O(NT-~~ r"SSOCI ... TION I I I I COOP(A.O.TIV(.) CH(('H L CIHAO.O(RT I U,.[VATOI'I 0_'.L_,_~ ~~ ---• I -- GOOOHU( I COVt COUNTY [llC TALC ASSOCIATION' ·• COOP{II.O.TIY( ~ [>;T(NSION C.OO.Oo.AITTC E I --- I J I ~------'' ~- -~--~------'1.----"'c_ ____[Kl(NSION S[RVIC( J FIG. 15. Goodhue County Cooperative Extension Service and organizations and agencies with which it cooperates Since the Extension Service has cooperative relationships with some of the churches and with the. public schools, these institutions might very well have been included in this chart. They were onutted because their relationship to agencies and formally-organized groups are treated in another part of this section. 78 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Soil Conservation Service--The SCS staff undertake to interest their clients has its district supervisory boards in farm organizations and sometimes which serve in an advisory capacity, attend or speak at meetings of such but its general educational work is groups. Although contacts are main done primarily through existing organi tained with five other agencies, none of zations. Most of the agency's personnel these contacts is especially significant. consider it better to spend their time with the individual farmer, rather than County Weed Inspec!lor-The Exten in maintaining formally organized sion Service works closely with the groups. Nevertheless, the agency does Weed Inspector, as does the PMA and, attempt some group work, such as con to a lesser extent, the SCS. In the per servation days and demonstration meet formance of his functions, the Inspector ings. Personnel of the agency frequently maintains contacts with such organized speak at Farm Bureau meetings, and groups as the Farm Bureau, 4-H clubs, sometimes appear on the programs of service (consumer) cooperatives, and 4-H clubs, sportsmen's clubs, and Izaak the County Crop Committee."' Walton leagues. Occasional contacts with three other organizations were Nonagricultural Agencies also reported. The agency has some Welfare Department-A part of the type of relationship with each of the Welfare Department's organization is other four agricultural agencies. the County Welfare Board. This Board Production and Marketing Adminis serves the professional staff in an ad tration-The PMA operates principally visory and policy making capacity. through its county and community From time to time the Department committees. It makes no effort to works on common problems with such utilize other organized groups for edu local agencies as the Minnesota Em cational purposes, though the Farm ployment Service, the County Exten Bureau concerns itself to some extent sion Service, the county nurse, the Vet with the agency's program. The Ex erans Service Office, the FHA, and the tension Service and the SCS work courts. It also makes local investiga closely with this agency. It has also had tions for, or otherwise assists, outside some relationships with the FHA, agencies such as state institutions, the County Weed Inspector, and Veterans State Veterans Service, and child Service office. placement agencies. Occasionally the head of the Welfare Department speaks Farmers Home Administration-The at a Farm Bureau meeting where he FHA operates principally through its explains the agency's program. The county committee and has never at agency has also had working relation tempted to create any formal organiza ships with other organizations, includ tions through which to work with its ing the Red Cross, American Legion, clients. At annual meetings of the bor Red Wing Kiwanis Club, and County rowers the past years' activities are re Chapter of the Infantile Paralysis viewed and plans made for the coming Foundation. year. The agency reported occasional contacts with such organizations as a County Public Health Nurse-The credit cooperative, the Goodhue County Extension Service cooperates with the Cooperative Breeders Association, Farm county nurse in promoting the rur~l Bureau, 4-H clubs, and Home Demon health clinics, and the nurse helps t11e stration organizations. Members of the Extension Service in its health program "'This committee is now extinct, having been replaced in March, 1947, by the Goodhue County Crop Improvement Association. - RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 79 for 4-H clubs. In addition, the public works with the Welfare Department on health nurse occasionally works with problems relating to the employment of such other agencies as the Welfare De the latter's clients or applicants for as partment, the Veterans Service Office, sistance. The agency has also had oc and the FHA. casion to work with other organized The County Health Association is the groups including cooperatives, Red principal organized group with which Wing Kiwanis Club, County Veterans the county nurse works. This organiza Service Committee, and veterans or tion helps finance the salary of a clerk ganizations. It was under the leader for the nurse and also provides her ship of the Employment Service that with an advisory committee. The Farm the County Veterans Service Commit Bureau, the Home and Community tee was organized. Committee, the County Health Associa tion, the County Medical Society, and the County Medical Auxiliary cooperate Relationships of Informal with the nurse and Extension Service Groups to Formal in promoting the rural health clinics. The nurse is active in the Red Cross Organizations and and works closely with the county Agencies chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. She also does some Recreational activities sponsored by work with the PTA and Safety Council agencies and formal organizations have in Red Wing. resulted in numerous informal crowds and groups. These recreational groups Veterans Service Office-The Veter and the important role which informal ans Service Office has established work personal contacts play in the activities ing relationships with the county office of formal organizations and certain of of the Minnesota Employment Service, the public agencies have already been the County Welfare Department, the discussed in detail in section 6. Public Health Nurse, the Extension Natural, informal neighborhood Service, the PMA, and the State Vet groups, which were already in exist erans Administration. Contacts of vary ence, have not often been consciously ing significance have also been made utilized by agencies or formal organi with a number of organized groups, zations. During the war the Extension such as veterans organizations, com Service set up a system of neighbor mercial clubs, County Veterans Service hood leaders, but for the most part Committee, Red Cross, PTA in Red these persons represented arbitrarily Wing, Izaak Walton leagues, Infantile defined areas rather than natural Paralysis Foundation, and Farm neighborhoods. Because the Extension Bureau. Some of these contacts were Service has followed a policy of or for the purpose of discussing veterans' ganizing Home Demonstration and 4-H problems, others for planning how to clubs wherever possible, irrespective serve veterans, and still others for pro of township boundaries, some of these viding specific services for veterans. organizations have been formed on the Minnesota Employment Service basis of neighborhoods. (See page 82) The Employment office cooperates with There can be no doubt that a number the Extension Service in handling farm of cooperatives were first formed on labor problems, and the County Vet the basis of the informal relationships erans Service Office refers veterans with of a small locality group, and some of employment problems to the Employ these organizations are still held to ment Service. The agency sometimes gether by bonds of this kind. 80 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Relationships of Institutions Church The sacred and secular tend to be to Each Other, to Formally separated in the organized life of Good hue County. This separation results Organized Groups, and to from two factors: (1) an accomodation Agencies whereby people with markedly varying religious beliefs can function together in secular organizations, and (2) a School strong belief held by some that affairs Not many organizations use the rural of the church and state should be kept school buildings as a place for meet separate. While a few of the 4-H clubs ings. The schools clear agreements by have their memberships confined parents to have their children attend largely to one church, none of the clubs the rural health clinics jointly spon meets in a church building and only sored by the Public Health Nurse, Ex occasionally have pastors actively en tension Service, Farm Bureau, Home couraged their formation. Religious and Community Committee, County ritual is seldom introduced at meetings Health Association, County Medical So of secular organizations. Some church ciety, and County Medical Auxiliary. buildings are used for meetings by The county superintendent of schools secular organizations-one Farm Bu and the rural school teachers cooperate reau unit meets in the basement of a Methodist church and the Rural Youth with the Extension Service, Farm group has held its annual banquet in a Bureau, 4-H clubs, and Red Wing Lutheran Church in Red Wing. The Safety Council in promoting a county practice is not widespread, however, wide program of farm and home safety. and may be frowned upon when at In alternate years the Public Health tempted. Now and then a minister Nurse conducts eye and ear examina speaks at a 4-H club, a Farm Bureau tions in the schools. meeting, or a farm women's meeting. The village high schools are used In the villages and at Red Wing minis fairly frequently as meeting places by ters sometimes appear at civic clubs, organizations of farm people. Their memorial occasions, and other gather bands and basketball and football ings of this nature. The village high teams have made them important rec schools usually have a baccalaureate reational centers for both village and service at which various ministers farm people. In connection with em speak, but these services are generally ployment and educational problems of held in a public building other than veterans, staff members of some of the the church. high schools work with the Red Wing However, in some of the rural schools officer of the State Employment Service the teaching of religion is an accepted and the County Veterans Service Office. practice. In such instances all of the The County Welfare Department some pupils are usually of one faith, so that times deals with the schools in hand no obection is raised by either church, ling welfare problems. To a limited school officials, or parents. Further extent, the SCS has utilized the public more, the summer church schools are schools as a channel for its educational sometimes held in the rural school work. Members of the SCS staff and buildings. the FHA supervisor have occasionally Public agencies make no great effort served as resource persons in the agri to extend their services through the cultural classes offering on-the-job churches, and they would probably training for veterans. meet with resistance if they attempted RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 81 to do so. The personnel of the SCS has membership list of the Farm Bureau utilized personal contacts to interest includes only the head of the family, ministers in soil conservation. One SCS both husbands and wives attend meet worker has taken a group of ministers ings and participate in Bureau activi on a conservation tour. Sometimes the ties. Several local units encourage the Extension Service contacts ministers attendance of the entire family, and in for the purpose of interesting them in some units there are large numbers of 4-H work, and in one instance in the relatives. Four-H clubs are closely past the Service has succeeded in stimu associated with the family. Children lating a minister to influence his com have to obtain the consent of their munity to organize a 4-H club. Occa parents to participate in 4-H work. sionally the Welfare Department or Parents with children of eligible age the Employment Service consults a sometimes accept leadership responsi minister about some problem. Some bility because they want their children times the Red Wing Salvation Army to have the benefits of club work. Many and the Welfare Department cooperate 4-H meetings are held in the homes of on a common problem. The schools and members, and in some instances par other organizations in two villages ents bring their children and remain recognize one night in the week as until the meeting is ever. The home church night. Some village and open demonstration project clubs usually country ministers say the high schools meet in the homes of members. The are definitely competing for the loyalty county agricultural agent frequently and time of the church's young people, refers to families as "good extension pointing out that it is impossible to families," pointing out how father, have a church gathering the same mother, and children all participate in night on which a basketball game is extension programs. The SCS conducts scheduled. a great deal of its education work with The relationship of churches to secu the individual farmer and members of lar organizations is affected in part by his family (sons). Of course, the FHA their relationship to each other. Some with its supervisory program has denominational groups hold very rigid definitely emphasized the family group. beliefs about inter-church activities. Annual meetings of cooperatives are Because of these views, it is often im sometimes attended by both husbands posible to hold union services which in and wives. clude all members of the religious As a unit, the family assumes con community. Only one village and the siderable importance in many of the town of Red Wing have interdenomina churches. In referring to membership, tional ministers' associations. In the ministers and laymen, too, frequently village the association meets once a give the number of families. In some of year to plan a union Thanksgiving the churches where the Norwegian and service, and the Red Wing association Swedish nationalities constitute a fairly is said to be rather ineffective. With solid parish neighborhood, there are churches of different faiths maintaining numerous relatives who are members such rigid separateness, it is easy to see of the same church, and it appears that that they might find it difficult to work these kinship ties encourage attend with secular organizations. ance. Many open-country churches, as well as those in the villages, serve as Family centers of social life for family and kin Both formal organizations and public ship groups. Family groups in the pews agencies give considerable recognition at Sunday worship are fairly numerous. to the family. Although the official Also tending to emphasize family unity 82 1VIINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 in church membership is the prevalence institutions, especially the high schools, of denominations which induct their are playing ·in the development of vil children into membership by confirma lage-centered communities. tion. There are relatively few organized Except for annual picnics, Christmas groups and institutions that may be or Thanksgiving programs, and in identified with the smaller hamlet formal afternoon meetings of mothers centered communities. Some nonfocal invited by teachers to visit their (without a center) neighborhoods have schools, the rural schools are seldom 4-H clubs and/or Home Demonstration the centers of family life. Now when project groups. In this study, most of the future of the one-teacher rural the open-country church parishes have school appears to be somewhat un been considered locality groups center certain, the family's role in its survival ing, of course, around churches. (See is both a positive and negative in section 2) Goodhue County has a num fluence. Because of family traditions ber of these groups. Also the rural associated with particular schools and school districts have their one-room because of parental sentiment about schools, but most of the districts are keeping small children near home, some characterized by a low degree of group families strongly support the continua identification. tion of the one-teacher school. On the The agricultural agencies frequently other hand, decline in size of farm use the villages (as well as Red Wing) families has so reduced enrollment as meeting places for farmers associated that it is no longer feasible to maintain with their programs. However, the many of the smaller schools."" people who attend these meetings come from areas which do not always con Relationships of Formally form to the service areas of the villages. This situation is well illustrated by the Organized Groups, Agencies, home demonstration leadership train and Institutions to ing classes and the 4-H district organi Locality Groupings zations which constitute the County 4-H Federation. The home demonstration Section 2 cited some of the import training classes are held in some of ant factors in the development of com the villages and at Red Wing, and the munities around village centers. These 4-H district organizations center around factors included the fairly large number three of the villages and Red Wing. In of village-centered organizations with some instances, representation at the farm members, and the efforts of vil home demonstration classes tends to lage organizations and business men to correspond somewhat with the service foster good relationships between vil areas of the villages at which the lagers and farmers. In fact, the emerg classes are held, but in other cases ing social structure centering in the there is little correspondence. The same villages, but including farmers as well holds true for the district 4-H organiza as villagers, is one of the more signifi tions. Although some of the Home cant findings of this study. This social Demonstration clubs, as well as the structure includes not only formally 4-H clubs, are organized on the basis organized groups but also such institu of neighborhoods, this is not the result tions as schools and churches. Section of very much conscious planning. 2 of this bulletin described in detail Agencies have much more consciously the important role which these two directed their organizational activities 00 The family's declining role in organizations is discussed in section 7 of this bulletin. RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 83 toward the villages and Red Wing, but Within the county there are 189 sub even here they have not been especially units of government, 155 school dis concerned with these places as the tricts, 23 townships, 7 incorporated centers of more or less well defined villages, one incorporated town, and 3 communities. soil conservation districts... With so many subdivisions, some division of loyalty on the part of citizens is to be Relationships of County to expected. The people look to the school districts to provide schools; the town Various Types of ships help provide roads and weed con Organization trol; the villages and Red Wing furnish numerous services such as streets, Goodhue County has 24 county-wide water, and fire and police protection; organizations. For the most part the and the soil conservation districts assist membership of these groups is drawn farmers with the protection of their soil. from people living within the county. Another important influence weakens The degree of correspondence between the people's awareness of the county as the membership areas of these organi a social entity. This influence is the zations and the county area helps growing community consciousness"' that to define the county as a social unit. has been emerging around each of the Furthermore, most of the county-wide county's villages. Many people are more organizations are affiliated with state or loyal to these communities than to the national bodies and, because of the county because both their social and county-identification involved in parti economic interests are organized around cipation in these larger groups, their these centers rather than the county. members are provided with experiences Still another factor that has worked that tend to develop in-group attitudes against the development of strong relative to the county. county consciousness is the noncentral Six of the county's nine public location of Red Wing on the northeast agencies serve an administrative area ern edge of the county. Poor road con which corresponds to that of the nections between Red Wing and the county, which fact should contribute to southwestern part of the county also county consciousness. Among the agen make it difficult for the county seat to cies, the Extension Service is especially function effectively as a center of outstanding in developing in the citi county-wide activities. The result has zens an awareness of their county. This been that there are some sections which is true because the Extension Service have no strong attachments to the has become a sort of catalytic factor in county as a whole. In these sections it county-wide projects !nvolving a num · is difficult to establish and maintain ber of organizations and agencies. organizations that are county-wide in Moreover, many Extension activities scope. place the county in a position of rivalry While there are several important with other counties in the state, thus factors contributing to county con helping to develop in-group sentiments. sciousness, it seems that those factors The relationships noted thus far are which oppose this consciousness have such that they contribute to the group been more influential, so much more consciousness of the county. There are so, in fact, that it may be concluded other relationships, however, which that the people feel the county is only have produced the opposite effect. moderately important as a social entity. ""Part of one of these districts is in an adjoining county. "7 The people would probably refer to trade-area consciousness but from close examina tion of the situation, the term community-consciousness appears to be more accurate. 84 MINNESOTA BULLETIN 401 Organizational Contacts with tions, the churches serve as instru ments for contact with the larger the Outside world. Most of the county's agencies receive considerable financial support All of the formal organizations spon from state and federal funds and are sored by the Extension Service, most of to some extent supervised by state or the county-wide organizations, and federal organizations, so that the char many of the village and town organiza acter of public service which they pro tions are channels of contact with the vide is influenced in a significant way outside world. As cooperatives have by these larger units of society. These consolidated, or farmers have become many contacts with the outside are not members of larger organizations, they, merely one-way connections serving too, have brought the people into or as instruments whereby the larger ganized relationships beyond the society influences the smaller unit; they boundaries of their county. Likewise, are also channels through which the through their denominational affilia- people influence society as a whole. 10. eonc/usiOIIS OMMUNITY LIFE Is Being Infe integration is far from complete, but it C gra:ted More and More Around is under way. Village-cen:ters. The village-centers Formal Organizations Are Increasing which were formerly simply service In Response To Needs Tha:t Can Be centers are broadening their functions. Sa:tisfied Only Through Group Ac:tion. In each is a high school which serves The new cooperatives, such as the Arti both village and farm families. Anum ficial Breeders Association and the ber of village organizations include Rural Electrification Association, are both farm and village members. The good illustrations of the necessity for number of farm members in village organization to meet special needs. churches is often fairly large and The depressed state of agriculture dur seems to be increasing. Village civic ing the 1930's and the development of and commercial organizations are ac technical information whereby the tively promoting better farm-village farmer might become better equipped relationships. to carry on in a competitive society The villages have been showing have not only resulted in the creation rapid growth in population as they of new public agencies but also have have increasingly become service cen increased the activities of existing ters for farm people. This growth is re agencies. Requirements for immediate flected in the general optimism of their action and the necessity for contacting many people at one time have induced leaders. These leaders are trying to the public agencies to create organized minimize distinctions between farm and groups. Moreover, as new agencies village people, because they want farm ers to become a part of a community were established, they were generally required by law to form local advisory centering in the village. This attitude boards so that they might effectively is not entirely unselfish, it is true, but the self-interest is so well mixed with identify themselves with local condi genuine good will that the village tions. leaders are meeting with considerable E:thnic Groupings Have Survived in success in their effort. The process of :the Church as a Resul:t of Sociological RURAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN GOODHUE COUNTY 85 Characteristics Peculiar to this Insti ganization of cooperatives. Likewise, tution but Are Relatively Unimportant organized groups cooperate naturally in Secular Organizations... The con because their members have common servative and traditional character of interests. religion, the use for many years of Although Informal and Face-to-Face foreign language service, the mainten Group Relationships Continue to Be ance of parochial schools, and settle Numerous and to Occupy a Significant ment patterns following ethnic lines Proportion of the People's Time, the are factors which have kept nationality County has Moved Far Along the Road backgrounds alive in the churches. On toward Formalized and Secondary the other hand, the people's secular or Group Life. Intimate, personalized re ganizations have arisen largely in re lationships still predominate in the sponse to needs that were peculiar to numerous open-country neighborhoods, America, and hence for the most part open-country church parishes, work have had no ethnic traditions. Indeed, rings, and small cooperative organiza for some types of organization, par tions. Many informal recreational ticularly those with scopes wider than groups exist, and many of the activities the immediate neighborhood or com of formally organized groups and of munity, it was necessary to develop public agencies are promoted through accommodative attitudes whereby na informal, highly personalized "visiting" tionality differences as well as religious contacts. However, one cannot escape the fact that formal organization is differences were minimized. both extensive and complex. This is Democratic Participation in Group true of both the farm and village Life, the Large Number of Coopera people. The large number of coopera tives, and a Reasonable Degree of tives; the extent and complexity of the Organizational Cooperation Are the Farm Bureau, Home Demonstration and Functions of a Relatively Classless 4-H club organizations; the many vil Society. A broad participation base lage organizations, a fairly large num characterizes Goodhue County's social ber of which include farm members; organizations. A high degree of eco and the several village-centered organi nomic equality, not unrelated to the zations that are county-wide in scope predominance of family-sized farms, are only the outward aspects of the provides the basis for a relatively class highly organized society found in less population. There is also a super Goodhue County. Underlying this ex structure of values which gives added tensive social structure are basic atti support to democratic participation. A tudes, such as "organization is the way sense of equal worth prevails; in to get things done" or "people can help general, no class or group is categorized themselves if they will organize to do for exclusion. so." In addition a number of the people Since most of the people are on are skilled in organizational tech much the same level, they find it easy niques, including knowledge of parlia to work together to promote each mentary procedures, constitutions and other's general well-being. This feeling by-laws, and understanding of the partly accounts for the extensive or- functions of officers and committees. 68 While this is generally true in Goodhue County. there is some evidence that ethnic groups do influence extension work and education in other counties in the state. This state ment Is based on unpublished research now in progress in the Division of Rural Sociology of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. "Cite Authors Frank D. Alexander is a social science analyst with the Division of Farm Population and Rural Life of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, United States Department of Agri culture. Lowry Nelson is professor of sociology, University of Minnesota, and in charge of rural sociological research at the Agricultural Experiment Station.