Reaping a Greater Harvest: African Americans, the Extension Service, and Rural Reform in Jim Crow Texas

Reaping a Greater Harvest

Reaping a Greater Harvestº Number Fourteen: Sam Rayburn Series on Rural Life Sponsored by Texas A&M University–Commerce M. Hunter Hayes, General Editor TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY PRESS College Stationºº Reaping a Greater Harvest African Americans, the Extension Service , and Rural Reform in Jim Crow Texas DEBRA A. REID Copyright © 2007 by Debra A. Reid Manufactured in the United States of America All rights reserved First edition The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, Z39.48-1984. Binding materials have been chosen for durability. ⬁ 䊊 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Reid, Debra Ann, 1960− Reaping a greater harvest : African Americans, the extension service, and rural reform in Jim Crow Texas / Debra A. Reid. — 1st ed. p. cm. — (Sam Rayburn series on rural life ; no. 14) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-1-58544-571-4 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn-10: 1-58544-571-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Texas Agricultural Extension Service. 2. African American agriculturists— Texas. 3. Agriculture and state—Texas. 4. African Americans—Texas—History. 5. Rural extension—Texas. 6. Rural development—Texas. I. Title. II. Series. s544.3.t4r45 2007 630.71⬘5—dc22 2006021742 In memoriam, ROBERT A. CALVERT vii CONTENTS List of Illustrations IX Series Editor’s Foreword XI Acknowledgments XIII Introduction XIX 1 African Americans and Rural Reform in Texas, 1891–1914 . . . . . . . . . 1 2 Forming Separate Bureaucracies: The Negro Division of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, 1915–20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 3 Segregated Modernization: Taking the Message into African American Fields and Farm Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 4 Public Reform in Black and White: The Maturation of a Segregated Division .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 5 Building Segregated Social Welfare: Texas’ Negro Division and Roosevelt’s New Deal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 6 Beyond the Farm: Cultivating New Audiences and Support Systems at Home and Abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 7 Separation Despite Civil Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Conclusion: Measuring Greater Harvests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Notes 195 Bibliographic Essay 257 Manuscript and Archival Sources 263 Index 269 ix ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURES 1. Robert L. Smith, ca. 1928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2. John McQuinney and Walter C. Porter, ca. 1928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3. Robert L. Smith with unidentified group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4. Robert L. Smith with farmers at McKinney, Texas, 1923 . . . . . . . . . . . 28 5. Seth T. Toney, Seguin, Texas, inoculating pigs, January 1937 . . . . . . . 51 6. Unidentified couple feeding their chickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 7. Home of W. T. Lewis and family, Antioch Community, Texas, April 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 8. Willie Mae Lewis’s bedroom, Antioch Community, Texas, April 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 9. Ira Bearden, Gay Hill, and his prize-winning corn crop, 1923 . . . . . . . 60 10. Armelia Marsh, Elysian Fields, after 1924 Dallas Fair . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 11. Meeting to discuss canning, ca. 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 12. Mrs. Callie Byrd and Mrs. Fannie Hollaway sealing tin cans, 1924 . . . 71 13. Buildings suitable for community canning plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 14. Community canning house, Pyrtle Community, Texas, April 1933 . . . 73 15. Brick furnace in Pyrtle Community, Texas, canning house, April 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 16. Beulah Community canning house, Palestine, Texas, April 1933 . . . . . 75 17. Office of J. V. Smith and Miss Ruby O. Phelps, McLennan County, Texas, April 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 18. Duroc Jersey sow with her litter, owned by Hathaway Goodlow, near Waco, Texas, April 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 19. Club boys butchering hogs, Kendleton Community, Texas, 1937 . . . . . 106 20. Miss Bankhead, Sunny Side, Texas, 1931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 21. Soil conservation demonstration at Ernest Stein’s farm, Mount Enterprise Community, Texas, April 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 22. Checking terrace elevations, R. P. Pervey’s farm, Browndale Community, Texas, April 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 23. Evans Spring club women, Neches, Texas, refinishing a bedstead, April 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 24. Ruby O. Phelps conducting slipper chair–making demonstration, Harrison Community, Texas, April 1933 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 25. Nathan and Ellitie Harvey family, Burleigh Community, Texas, 1940 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 26. Leigh 4-H Club girls’ display, 1946 Central East Texas Fair . . . . . . . . . 148 27. Lula Foreman, Limestone County, Texas, showing new refrigerator, 1949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 28. Mrs. R. H. Franc, Smith County, Texas, inspecting modern electric sewing machine, June 1955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 29. Jim Foreman and sons with hogs they planned to show, July 1949 . . . . 154 30. Annie L. Barrett presenting chicks to African American youth, April 1946 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 31. Southern District Sears, Roebuck Cow-Sow & Hen Program, Gilt & Boar Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 32. Third Annual Meat Show, Tyler, Texas, March 1942 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 33. Judging entries at a Negro hog show, 1940 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 34. Jim Foreman and sons with ribbons from State Fair, 1948 . . . . . . . . . . 166 35. Charles E. Trout...