The Cotton Boll Weevil and Its Lost Revolution, 1892-1930
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THE SOUTH’S GREATEST ENEMY? THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL AND ITS LOST REVOLUTION, 1892-1930 by JAMES CONRAD GIESEN (Under the Direction of JAMES C. COBB) ABSTRACT When the cotton boll weevil crossed the Mexican border into Texas around 1892 and began a slow march across the Cotton Belt, many predicted that the pest would destroy the plantation South, whose economy and society rested on the production of cotton. As the pest began devouring the staple and moving through the region, land owners, tenants, politicians, and extension agents continued to paint the pest as a direct threat to their livelihoods. Despite the fear that gripped the South, by the time the weevil made its way to the Atlantic Ocean, the pest had made no major, lasting effect on the economic, social, or environmental structures of the region. This dissertation examines how individuals and communities in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia reacted to the arrival of the pest, and how in each place forces acted to use the boll weevil to advance their own purposes. Instead of blaming antiquated credit systems, Jim Crow racial codes, and poor agricultural practices, contemporaries and scholars alike used the boll weevil as a material scapegoat for enduring poverty in the rural South, as well as changes to the land and society that had little to do with the pest’s arrival. INDEX WORDS: boll weevil, cotton, agriculture, diversification, American South, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia THE SOUTH’S GREATEST ENEMY? THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL AND ITS LOST REVOLUTION, 1892-1930 by JAMES CONRAD GIESEN B.A., DePauw University, 1995 M.A., University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1998 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2004 © 2004 James Conrad Giesen All Rights Reserved THE SOUTH’S GREATEST ENEMY? THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL AND ITS LOST REVOLUTION, 1892-1930 by JAMES CONRAD GIESEN Major Professor: James C. Cobb Committee: Kathleen Clark Bryant Simon Paul Sutter Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2004 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The seed of this project was planted in the spring of 1994 in an undergraduate seminar with John Dittmer at DePauw University. I owe my primary thanks to him, who not only first drew my attention to the southern rural experience before the New Deal, but who introduced me to the idea that historical questions were, well, important. He has guided my efforts in one way or another since my undergraduate days and I can only hope that my own work as a scholar and teacher will live up in a small way to the magnificent model that he has set. I returned to the boll weevil in the fall of 1996, as a first-year M.A. student at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. One morning, while brainstorming about seminar paper topics at work as a research assistant in a dank, yellow-painted basement room in McIver Hall, I turned to the only bona fide historian around, Chuck Holden, and asked him if he thought the boll weevil was a good topic. Unfortunately he said it was. He was the first person to encourage me to pursue this project and he’s been the sounding board for my ideas every step of the way since. In addition to reading drafts of nearly everything I’ve written about the pest, he even traveled with me to Enterprise, Alabama to see the statue. Apart from the boll weevil and southern history, Chuck has helped me sort out many topics, including but not limited to: The Flatlanders, Hofstra’s chances of a March run, and mule eating. v Dozens of other people made my time at UNCG intellectually exciting and, in the end, incredibly valuable to this dissertation. Bill Link encouraged this topic from the beginning and offered important insights at its crucial early stage. Bill Blair, Steven Lawson, Loren Schweninger, and Lisa Tolbert enriched my graduate experience in Greensboro in a variety of ways and to them I owe a great debt. Robert Shelton and Denise Kohn fed me for two Thanksgivings and dozens of meals in between and generally made life better for me in North Carolina. When I finally arrived in Athens, I moved into a “rustic” shotgun house next to the world’s second-greatest restaurant. Dexter Weaver, of Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods, and his staff, proved to be great neighbors. I learned from my first morning, however, that having your bed pushed up against an open window maybe ten feet from a chicken-fryer exhaust fan might bring with it a set of problems. Four greasy years later I was better, and at least ten pounds heavier, for the experience. Though this dissertation may not be, as Weaver D. says, “Automatic For the People,” his slogan has become a worthy goal. My academic home in Athens has become an equally fulfilling place, thanks to a great mix of professors and graduate students. There is no more important person in LeConte Hall than Laurie Kane, who keeps everything running. As Robert Pratt’s student and teaching assistant, I learned a great deal not only about history, but about how to organize a classroom and how to mix seriousness with humor. Kathleen Clark served on my dissertation committee and offered very important questions and insights vi at the end of this process. Paul Sutter has opened the door of his office and his home to graduate students like me and we are all better for it. He has quickly become a very important part of the History Department and undoubtedly a crucial member of my committee. He has always made himself available to answer my often obtuse questions and has given this dissertation a very careful and critical read. Bryant Simon lived around the corner from us for the two years I spent actually writing this manuscrpit and, as a result, heard more about the boll weevil than he wanted to. But he never grew tired of my nagging and prodding and this dissertation is the direct result of questions and comments he offered in our yards and on the sidewalks between, usually with his kids perched atop or hanging from at least one of us. Bryant, Ann Marie Reardon, Benjamin Simon, and Eli Simon made life in Athens a great joy. They fed us, kept us laughing, found us housing, employed us, and just brought us in. We can never repay that debt. James Cobb directed this dissertation in every sense of the word. His own scholarship has long served as a model for my own and as this manuscript took form, his comments constantly pushed me in new and better directions. He offered encouragement at precisely the moment I needed it, and criticism where I most needed it. During the last few months it must have seemed to him like reading and editing my dissertation was all he was doing, and I truly appreciate his work. There are too many graduate students who have impacted my thinking and ultimately made this a better dissertation to name them all. But a couple deserve to be vii mentioned. Tammy Ingram is a rare person (thankfully). She is almost as smart and funny as she thinks she is, but she is always exciting to be around (though she is around an awful lot). Alex. Macaulay has taught me as much as anyone—and that’s about the greatest praise I can offer. His humor and intellect know no bounds. Eleanor, Eliza, Lee, and Alex. have made my time in Georgia more fun and more rewarding than they can ever know. I miss their presence in Athens every day. Carl Burkart, John Walker Davis, Jen Gross, Mark Huddle, and Travis Rose all deserve their own sentences. John Hayes, Ivy Holliman, Icihro Miyata, and Bert Way read and commented on my dissertation proposal and helped me to rethink some of my silliest assumptions. I also acknowledge the wonderful help of the staffs at the libraries and archives I visited to research this work. Mattie Sink at Mississippi State and Dwayne Cox at Auburn deserve special mention for going out of their way to help me find materials (and Dwayne for buying me lunch). Bill Marshall at the University of Kentucky provided me special access to a dusty group of store records even before he became my father-in- law. The Reference and Interlibrary Loan Departments at the University of Georgia consistently answered my queries and tracked down material crucial to this dissertation. I thank them all. I also need to mention some other people who don’t fit nicely into the chronology of my academic career. These are folks who probably don’t think they’ve impacted the pages that follow, but who have undoubtedly left their mark on how I think about the viii human issues central to this dissertation: Kristin Earhart, Beth Kilkelly, Jason Kreag, Cynthia Nearman, Brant Rumble, Matt Simpson, Megan Simpson, Jason Small, John Strange, Chris Thomas, Tommy Wagstaff, Kevin Waltman, and Kevin Wertz. I also need to thank The Star Room Boys and The Drive-by Truckers. My parents are happy that I’m finishing. Barb and Phil Giesen have remained my biggest supporters through it all. My dad sprang into action as an editor as well, reading this entire draft and providing snide comments in the margins of nearly every page. Betty Giesen and Katie Giesen remain my heroes, as they always have been. The depth of Bill, Jan, and Jennie Marshall’s commitment to making their newest family member feel at home never ceases to amaze me.