Putting the Barn Before the House: Women and Family Farming in Early Twentieth-Century New York by Grey Osterud by Grey Osterud (review)

In Putting the Barn Before the House, Grey Osterud examines the first forty years of the twentieth century and the complicated economic decisions made by rural women in the Nanticoke Valley of New York State. As the title implies, the majority of women in this demographically diverse community believed that the fruits of their labor, whether from the home, barn, field, or off-farm employment, needed to be reinvested in the family’s agricultural enterprise. The subject matter explored in this text is not new, but the diversity of the Valley results in historical conclusions that are different from those highlighting other regions of the country. Immigrant women often farmed while their husbands worked in town. Their commitment to owning land and keeping the farm made them more willing to re-invest in the farm with modern labor-saving technologies, but not the farm home. On farms with good soil and enough resources, families chose to concentrate on one crop, often dairy or poultry. On these farms some women actively participated in farming activities, while others adopted divisions of labor that mimicked the prescriptive literature and advice of agricultural reform groups, such as the state’s Cooperative Extension Service. Osterud’s real contribution is that she looks beyond class, exploring such issues as inheritance, marriage, and rural political and reform organizations. She clearly demonstrates that no one factor entirely influenced a woman’s perspective and that rural people are far from monolithic.

The presence of Endicott Johnson and International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in nearby towns changed the make-up of neighborhoods as well as established off-farm employment options. Some farm families chose a single family member to earn regular wages in town, other families peddled crops to urban employees, and still others adopted specialized farming businesses. Some abandoned farming for urban living after trying to survive on hilly and less fertile farms. In their wake came first generation immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe, who purchased these farms and changed the community. Putting the Barn Before the House reveals the complicated nature of a rural community in transition.

Putting the Barn Before the House is based on extensive oral histories, archival collections, manuscript collections, and printed sources. The depth of these sources is reflected in the detailed narratives and analysis devoted to each individual—some serving as the sole subject of a chapter. This is Osterud’s second monograph detailing the history of farm women in Nanticoke Valley, which speaks to the rich primary source collections she uncovered related to the region. Her previous work, Bonds of Community, focused on the second half of the nineteenth century and the absence of the ideology of separate spheres in rural women’s lives. In this work, she continues that theme to looking at women’s decisions that prioritized the farm business over domestic comfort. Scholars interested in women’s studies, rural / agricultural studies, labor studies, and immigration would all benefit from the important conclusions of Osterud’s work.