Race and the Remaking of the Rural South: Delta Cooperative Farm and Providence Farm in Jim Crow-Era Mississippi
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Carolina Digital Repository Race and the Remaking of the Rural South: Delta Cooperative Farm and Providence Farm in Jim Crow-Era Mississippi Robert Hunt Ferguson A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2012 Approved by W. Fitzhugh Brundage William R. Ferris Jacquelyn Dowd Hall James L. Leloudis Adriane Lentz-Smith © 2012 Robert Hunt Ferguson All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT ROBERT HUNT FERGUSON: Race and the Remaking of the Rural South: Delta Cooperative Farm and Providence Farm in Jim Crow-era Mississippi (Under the direction of W. Fitzhugh Brundage) Delta Cooperative Farm (1936-1942) and Providence Farm (1938-1956) were intentional communities in rural Mississippi that drew on Christian socialism, cooperative communalism, and social egalitarianism to enact progressive and leftist challenges to the South’s racial hierarchy and labor practices. This dissertation demonstrates that even in the “closed society” that Mississippi represented, the rural poor and their leftist allies could challenge hegemonic social structures by employing a cooperative economy, operating a desegregated health clinic, holding interracial church and union meetings, and successfully managing a cooperative credit union. For twenty years, the farms were a beacon of hope and safe haven for southerners engaged in racial amelioration, labor reform, and black self-help. By the mid 1950s, however, the armies of massive resistance forced the closing of the remaining farm while internal racial tension bubbled to the surface among farm residents. The story of Delta and Providence is a measure of the possibilities for and obstacles to transformative change in the rural South during the mid-twentieth century. Race and the Rural South also places Delta and Providence within the context of the major social and economic changes taking place in the rural South from the Great Depression, through World War II, and into the early years of the classic phase of the civil rights movement. Dynamic labor activism in the 1930s rural South abated during iii the war years when agriculture further mechanized and many dirt farmers moved off the land and into factories. Civil rights activism, intimately entwined with labor unionism in the 1930s, was grounded in interracialism—black and white activists tackling their problems together—but World War II also changed this dynamic as whites left the farms. After World War II, African Americans living at Providence deliberately engaged in black self-help endeavors, using the farm as a sort of “free space” to carry out their visions for a democratic society. In these ways, Delta and Providence farms were representative of a rapidly changing region. iv For Charlie and Annadelle June v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have accrued many debts since arriving in Chapel Hill in 2006. I benefited from expert suggestions, valuable critiques, and unflagging support from my dream team dissertation committee, William Ferris, Jacquelyn Hall, James Leloudis, and Adriane Lentz-Smith. W. Fitzhugh Brundage, my advisor, guided my work with precision and pragmatism, reining me in during frequent forays off the reservation and encouraging me when I had the rare good idea. His encyclopedic knowledge of history and culture, eloquent prose, and captivating teaching have influenced me well beyond this dissertation. It was my honor to have Fitz, Bill, Jacquelyn, Jim, and Adriane direct my work. Other historians have read or offered suggestions on portions of my project in formal and informal ways. I am particularly indebted to Dani Botsman, David Cline, David Goldfield, John Giggie, Alison Greene, Valerie Grim, John Hayes, Jerma Jackson, Tracey K’Meyer, Elizabeth McRae, Jason Manthorne, Elizabeth Payne, Adrienne Petty, Mark Schultz, Bryant Simon, Jason Ward, and Jeannie Whayne for their insights. Richard Starnes has been a constant source of support over the last decade. Richard read drafts and, during a late night conversation at my dining room table, suggested important frameworks for this project. Fred Smith graciously shared valuable information from his own superb research on Delta and Providence. Kerry Taylor also generously handed over a carton full of his own primary research on Providence Farm. From our few interactions, Kerry has taught me much about the meaning of collegiality. Members of the Minter family fleshed out questions that could not be answered in the archives. William Minter was kind enough to put me in touch with his sister and vi mother. I flew to Albuquerque and met Sue and Susan Minter for a series of wonderful conversations that reshaped parts of the narrative. Several archivists and librarians provided essential navigation around their institutions’ archives. Of particular help were Laura Clark Brown, Matt Turi, and the wonderful staff at the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina; Mattie Sink in Special Collections at Mississippi State University; John Wall in Special Collections at the University of Mississippi; Eleanor Green and Emily Weaver at the University Archives at Delta State University; Henry Fulmer in the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina; Ed Frank and Chris Ratliff in Special Collections at the University of Memphis; and Julia Young at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Fellowships and funding allowed me the time and resources with which to craft this dissertation. The Center for the Study of the American South (McColl Dissertation Year Fellowship in Southern Studies), UNC’s Department of History (Doris G. Quinn Dissertation Fellowship), the Folklore Curriculum at UNC (Archie Green Occupational Folklife Fellowship), the UNC Graduate School (Smith Graduate Research Grant), and the Communal Studies Association all provided timely and generous support. Beyond Chapel Hill I have relied on the kindness of friends and colleagues to provide shelter during research trips. Steve and Elise Smith in Jackson, Mississippi opened their home to me so often that they could have made a small fortune if they had charged rent. As academics, they understood the importance of archival research and having a space of one’s own to work, but they also understood the need to unwind from the archives. Each evening, Steve and Elise provided home-cooked meals, talked music, vii or took me to minor league baseball games. Jason Ward and Alison Greene in Starkville, Mississippi were also tremendous hosts. When I discovered that they too were North Carolinians, it wasn’t long before we had figured out the friends we have in common. I was also pleased to discover that Jason is a dyed-in-the-wool Wolfpack fan, a secret both of us usually keep pretty well. Alison’s research had so many overlaps with mine that we spent most nights up late trading ideas and sources. In fact, her willingness to share sources saved me from at least one expensive research trip. I have spent most of the last six years thinking and writing about intentional communities. During that time I was able to reflect fondly on the communities that supported me while in Chapel Hill. My graduate school colleagues—Randy Browne, Brandon Byrd, Catherine Conner, Christopher Fowler, Jonathan Hancock, Lance Lagroue, Liz Lundeen, Kelly Morrow, Brad Proctor, Rob Shapard, Jessie Wilkerson, and David Williard—provided a sense of community that spilled beyond Hamilton Hall. Between attending conferences, organizing working groups, and preparing for interviews, we found time to play soccer and pick-up basketball, go to shows at the Cat’s Cradle, and help North Carolina elect Barack Obama in 2008. The members of my writing group—Rachel Martin, Cecelia Moore, and David Palmer—read and debated drafts of our dissertations on more occasions than any of us want to remember. They were my fiercest critics and most ardent supporters. My work is better for their thoughtful insights. When I asked Anna Krome-Lukens to proofread a draft of my entire dissertation at the eleventh hour, she enlisted her mother, Elizabeth Krome, and both cheerfully went about the task. I am lucky to have Anna as a colleague and friend. viii The first friend I made at UNC was Katy Simpson Smith. I believe Katy would have rather kept to herself while she completed the Ph.D., but she has benevolently endured my friendship over the years. Aside from one lunch at Two Sisters in Jackson, Mississippi when she casually told me what my dissertation was about before I had a clue, we spent most of our time together talking about anything other than our projects— which is probably why we’ve remained close friends. I was also lucky to have a wonderful community of non-historians who sustained me in important ways. When I first arrived to the Ph.D. program, longtime friends Jason Heinrich and Nadia Charguia saw that I lived on a shoestring budget and thoughtfully invited me over for home-cooked meals, imported beer, and engaging conversation on so many occasions that I practically lived at their home. I was particularly pleased that Jason and I could rekindle a friendship that dated back to our high school days. Other local friends have been quick to offer diversions. Playing cards, hosting potlucks, or enjoying the outdoors with Jack Rockers, Mary Johnson Rockers, Ty Rockers, Matt Simon, Carrie Banks, Nick Adams, and Leslie Riley provided the essential community that would have been hard to live without while writing the dissertation. They reminded me that what we did in our free time was often more lasting than hours spent at work. The above people also came to our aid when my family needed the support that only a tight knit community could provide. I am grateful for their friendship.