Federal Land-Use Policy and Resettlement in the Great Plains: an Experiment in Community Development During the New Deal Years, 1933-1941
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Theses and Dissertations in Geography Geography Program (SNR) 4-2020 Federal Land-Use Policy and Resettlement in the Great Plains: An Experiment in Community Development During the New Deal Years, 1933-1941 Theresa Glanz University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geographythesis Part of the Geography Commons Glanz, Theresa, "Federal Land-Use Policy and Resettlement in the Great Plains: An Experiment in Community Development During the New Deal Years, 1933-1941" (2020). Theses and Dissertations in Geography. 37. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geographythesis/37 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Geography Program (SNR) at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations in Geography by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. FEDERAL LAND-USE POLICY AND RESETTLEMENT IN THE GREAT PLAINS: AN EXPERIMENT IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DURING THE NEW DEAL YEARS, 1933-1941 by Theresa A. Glanz A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Geography Under the Supervision of Professor David Wishart Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2020 FEDERAL LAND-USE POLICY AND RESETTLEMENT IN THE GREAT PLAINS: AN EXPERIMENT IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DURING THE NEW DEAL YEARS, 1933-1941 Theresa A. Glanz, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2020 Advisor: David Wishart In 1933, the United States federal government authorized the National Industrial Recovery Act to help the country recover from the Great Depression. Section 208, Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act authorized the creation of subsistence homesteads to aid in the recovery of destitute rural families and the urban unemployed. Between 1933 and 1941, the United States federal government authorized the construction of 207 rural and urban resettlement communities to house impoverished farm families and unemployed urban workers. The projects were located throughout the United States, including in the territories of Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The resettlement communities were designed as small-scale farmsteads that allowed the residents space to grow produce and raise livestock for family consumption with the goal of keeping the settlers off government relief rolls. The Division of Subsistence Homesteads, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, and the Resettlement Administration were the primary federal agencies with administrative oversight of the various projects. Despite the support of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for the resettlement communities, they never did receive congressional support and as a result the Resettlement Administration was defunded in 1937 by the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. This dissertation examines the federal agencies involved in the resettlement projects’ creation and describes the communities built within the United States with an emphasis on the communities built in Nebraska. iv Copyright 2020, Theresa A. Glanz v Table of Contents 1. Introduction: Rural Development and the New Deal a) Statement of Purpose……………………………………………………………………..3 b) Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………4 c) Methodology……………………………………………………………………………… 13 2. Settlement and Federal Land Policies……………………………………………………... 17 a) Ideology of Early Federal Land Policies……………………………………………….. 27 b) A Shifting Ideology………………………………………………………………………. 35 c) Federal Land Utilization Program………………………………………………………41 d) Land Acquisition and Displacement……………………………………………………47 3. The Federal Resettlement Programs……………………………………………………….. 49 a) The Division of Subsistence Homesteads………………………………………………56 b) Federal Emergency Relief Administration…………………………………………….. 65 c) The Resettlement Administration……………………………………………………….76 4. Moving Forward with Plans and Hope…………………………………………………….80 a) Selection of Program Participants……………………………………………………….81 b) Segregation………………………………………………………………………………...88 c) Types of Resettlement Communities……………………………………………………95 d) Land Selection and Use………………………………………………………………….. 106 e) Architectural Standards…………………………………………………………………..119 5. Nebraska Resettlement Projects……………………………………………………………. 129 a) Nebraska Land Acquisition Instructions……………………………………………….133 b) Accommodating Displaced Families……………………………………………………135 c) Nebraska Resettlement Communities…………………………………………………..138 i) Fairbury Farmsteads…………………………………………………………………143 ii) Falls City Farmsteads……………………………………………………………….. 150 iii) Grand Island Farmsteads……………………………………………………………151 iv) Kearney Farmsteads……………………………………………………………….... 156 v) Loup City Farmsteads……………………………………………………………..... 162 vi) Scottsbluff Farmsteads……………………………………………………………… 163 vii) South Sioux City Farmsteads………………………………………………………. 165 viii) Two Rivers Farmsteads……………………………………………………………... 167 d) Design Standards to Maximize Functionality….……………………………………... 173 e) Tracking Resettlement Families………………………………………………………… 178 i) Health………………………………………………………………………………… 182 ii) Financial Standing……………………………………………………………………188 iii) Social Participation…………………………………………………………………...190 6. Program Termination………………………………………………………………………... 195 a) Taxes………………………………………………………………………………………. 196 b) Interference in the Free-Market………………………………………………………… 199 vi c) Disposition of the Finished Homesteads………………………………………………. 200 d) Social Planning and Paternalism……………………………………………………….. 202 e) World War II and the End of an Experiment…………………………………………. 204 7. Summary………………………………………………………………………………………. 208 Appendix A………………………………………………………………………………………… 216 Appendix B………………………………………………………………………………………… 217 References………………………………………………………………………………………….. 219 vii List of Figures Figure 1.1: Henry Holt, an African American farmer to be resettled………. 11 Figure 1.2: Family of ten to be resettled……………………………………….. 11 Figure 2.1: Map of Land-Use Problems…………………………………….…. 20 . Figure 2.2: Map of Readjustment Area from Small Farms……………….…. 23 Figure 2.3: Power Farming Displaces Tenants…………………………….…. 33 Figure 2.4: Home of Wheat Farmer-Speculator………………………………. 33 Figure 2.5: Map of States Affected by Dust Bowl……………………………. 37 Figure 2.6: Map of Areas Removed from Crop Cultivation………………… 43 Figure 2.7: Land Purchased in South Dakota for Extension of Grazing…… 44 Figure 2.8: Land Purchased in South Dakota for National Park Extension.. 44 Figure 2.9: Areas Purchased for Land Utilization Projects…………….…..... 46 Figure 3.1: Family of Submarginal Farmer………………………………….... 51 Figure 3.2: Division of Subsistence Homesteads, Before and After………... 59 Figure 3.3: Impact of Subsistence Farming on Household Finances...…….. 62 Figure 4.1: Cut-Over Land in South Dakota………………………………….. 84 Figure 4.2: Wife and Children of Family Relocating to Wabash Farms……. 88 Figure 4.3: Serving Lunch during Construction of Newport News………... 90 Figure 4.4: Completed House in Newport News Homesteads….………….. 90 Figure 4.5: Garment Factory in Hightstown, New Jersey…………………… 93 viii Figure 4.6: Hightstown, New Jersey Canning Facility………………………. 93 Figure 4.7: Diagram of Greenbelt towns………………………………………. 99 Figure 4.8: Diagram of Greenbelt, Maryland…………………………………. 100 Figure 4.9: Location of Resettlement Communities…………………….……. 108 Figure 4.10: Types of Vegetables to Plant……………………………………. 112 Figure 4.11: Diagram of Homestead in the North…………………………... 114 Figure 4.12: Diagram of Homestead in the South…………………………... 114 Figure 4.13: Diagram of 2-acre Lot…………………………………………… 115 Figure 4.14: Diagram of 4-acre Lot…………………………………………… 116 Figure 4.15: House Plan #614…………………………………………………… 121 Figure 4.16: House Plan #501…………………………………………………… 122 Figure 4.17: House Plan #404…………………………………………………… 123 Figure 4.18: House Plan for Phoenix Arizona………………………………… 124 Figure 4.19: House Plan #307…………………………………………………… 125 Figure 5.1: Small Farmstead Plan……………………………………………… 139 Figure 5.2: Large Farmstead Plan……………………………………………… 139 Figure 5.3: Fairbury Farmsteads. View of Home and Buildings…………… 143 Figure 5.4: Aerial view of Fairbury Farmsteads. © 2017 Google ………….. 145 Figure 5.5: Fairbury Farmsteads. House Prior to Removal…………………. 146 Figure 5.6: Fairbury Farmsteads. Hidden Buildings…………………………148 ix Figure 5.7: Fairbury Farmsteads. House under Construction……………… 149 Figure 5.8: Fairbury Farmsteads. House from Site Visit……………………. 149 Figure 5.9: Falls City Farmsteads………………………………………………. 151 Figure 5.10: Grand Island Farmsteads. New Construction…………………. 152 Figure 5.11: Grand Island Farmsteads. Existing House…………………….. 152 Figure 5.12: Grand Island Farmsteads. Layout Diagram…………………… 154 Figure 5.13. Aerial view of Grand Island Farmsteads. © Google Earth…… 154 Figure 5.14: Grand Island Farmsteads. House “H”…………………………. 155 Figure 5.15: Grand Island Farmsteads. House under Construction……..… 155 Figure 5.16: Kearney Farmsteads. Layout Diagram…………………………. 157 Figure 5.17: Kearney Farmsteads. Houses on 39th Street……………………. 158 Figure 5.18: Kearney Farmsteads. Complete Farmstead……………………. 158 Figure 5.19: Aerial view of Kearney Farmsteads. © Google Earth…………160 Figure 5.20: Kearney Farmsteads. Remaining 39th Street Home…………… 161 Figure 5.21: Kearney Farmsteads. Existing Cannery on Grand Avenue….. 162 Figure 5.22: Scottsbluff Farmsteads. Layout Diagram………………….….... 164 Figure 5.23: Scottsbluff Farmsteads. Existing Home © 2020 Google.…….. 165 Figure 5.24: