Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2018/Fall/Section 2/Bob Franklin

Overview
Bob Franklin was a poor white farmer interviewed by Barbara Darsey for the Federal Writers Project in 1939.

Biography
Born in Geneva County, Alabama in 1894, Dunman spent his early life working on a farm, harvesting cotton and corn. In 1919, he married Anne Dunman, with whom he had grown up, living on neighboring farms. His marriage as well as economic challenges led him to move South to Florida in a town near Hicoria. The Dunmans had three daughters and two sons, whom he hoped to provide with a better education than his own. Franklin received up to a 6th grade education, cut short by family economic struggles. Dunman briefly returned to Alabama before settling permanently in Florida once more, where he continued to farm corn and cotton. However, difficulties adapting their farming technique to the Floridian terrain forced the Dunmans to practically start over, relearning corn harvesting techniques by working on neighboring farms. In 1933, Dunman unexpectedly received 60 dollars (nearly 1000 of today's dollars)1)owed from work he had done in Alabama. Going into debt to purchase lumber, he built a store and used the 60 dollar sum to stock his store with groceries.

Though both a store owner and a farmer, Dunman faced economic struggles as the result of his lack of education. He praised the Democratic Party as “the onliest one what ever looked out for the poor folks”. In his discussion of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dunman expressed his views towards poverty in the US and the importance of religion and education. As a poor farmer who experienced the Great Depression, he was representative of a working class in America with strong faith in government. He was given hope by the New Deal and the promising economic reforms and praised Roosevelt repeatedly in his interview with the Federal Writers Project.

Education in the 1930s
With unemployment rates at a high during the Great Depression, both private investors and state governments were forced to make severe budget cuts on public and private schools in the US. Also, despite speculation that the education rate would decrease during the depression, increased unemployment led to an influx of secondary school students. Although college enrollment also increased, the increase in high school students was so great that the proportion of high school students who went on to attend decreased. Therefore, the quality of schools began to deteriorate due to overcrowding. One room schoolhouses were still popular, given that the introduction of public school transportation had just begun to grow in the early 20th century. Meanwhile, the ongoing economic struggle forced many students to sacrifice their academic careers to pursue a stable income for their families. This was especially common in rural communities. President Roosevelt responded through programs such as the National Youth Administration of 1935, which was dedicated to providing youth ages 16-24 years old with the economic means to attend school against financial pressures to drop out. As New Deal programs were dedicated to economic stability in both agricultural and industrialized regions of the US, property taxes and higher incomes improved public school funding and the quality of education.

New Deal Farm Programs
Following the end of World War 1 in 1918, both the industrial and agricultural sectors of the US economy were suffering from Overproduction. Because the government had implemented price supports on crops and provided farmers with "machinery, seeds, and agricultural supervisors," agricultural production peaked during the war. There was a decrease in agricultural demand during the Great Depression. As a result, farmers were forced to lower their prices. Farm income dropped approximately 60 percent and the farm foreclosure rate grew to 38.8 percent in 1933.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration responded with the Agricultural Adjustment Act(AAA)of 1933, which subsidized a decrease in production by paying farmers to decrease their production of grains, cotton, and other products. Declared unconstitutional in 1936, the AAA was replaced by the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936, which made soil conservation and "proper land use" requirements for grants to farmers. As another measure of combatting the displacement of farmers due to foreclosure, the Resettlement Administration of 1935 financed "in whole or in part, the purchase of farm lands and necessary equipment by farmers, farm tenants, croppers or farm laborers.”[11] Other New Deal Programs such as the Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act of 1935 aimed to create a temporary “moratorium” or ban on foreclosures. The act faced opposition from banks that wished to repossess farms from farmers who failed to pay loans. It was declared unconstitutional, then modified from a five year to a three-year moratorium in 1935. While these programs slowed the process of foreclosure, foreclosure rates did not drop significantly until the 1940s. Many credit World War II and renewed agricultural demand for saving the US agricultural sector. However, several New Deal programs still exist in the US and help to prevent another agricultural crisis.