Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2021/Spring/105/Section 56/Arthur Lee Emerson

= Arthur Lee Emerson =

Biography
Arthur Lee Emerson was born in Tennessee. He did not know his father and his mother died when he was still young, leaving him an orphan. He was placed in an orphan asylum and at 14 years of age was taken in by Dr. Parker. Arthur was an active advocate for labor rights. He first got involved with labor rights at the age of 18. While working in Georgia on a strawberry farm, he organized a strike which resulted in improved working conditions and wages for the strawberry pickers. His next big accomplishment was advocating for the rights of lumber workers. He had been working in the lumber industry for a while, but when the lumber corporations started requiring that employees could not be connected to labor unions, he knew it was time to act. He joined with his fellow workers and formed the Brotherhood of Timber Workers. Arthur and the Brotherhood organized and led a revolt against the owners of the lumber industry lasting more than 3 years. Their revolt finally came to an end when one or their demonstrations ended in a gun fight. Arthur and 50 other members of the Brotherhood were then arrested on conspiracy to murder. The jury ruled that they were not guilty, however after that altercation Arthur was unable to get the Brotherhood back together. He would not let his passion die there however and so he went on to study law. Arthur practiced law in Chattanooga and in a short time rose to power in the labor movement and the democratic party. In 1921, however he suffered a stroke of paralysis, leaving his left side cripple and speech impaired. Being unable to pursue his career any longer, he retreated to the mountains and started a farm. He had some success initially, raising a flock of around 500 hens, unfortunately when the panic of 1929 hit the flock was lost as a result of the drop of prices on eggs and chicken. Arthur and his family fell on rough times during the depression. They were living mostly in rags and survived off cornbread, cowpeas and molasses, which they had managed to save. One of the things Arthur worked hard for was to ensure that his kids got through high school. To do so he spared no expense, however he regretted that he would not have enough money to send his children to university.

Labor and The Great Depression
During the great depression, unemployment skyrocketed while wages plummeted. Unemployment was at 25% in 1933.[1] The debt that people had accrued combine with the sudden lack of income devastated many Americans. People stopped spending money and as a result, industry and employment started plummeting.[2] The lack of consumer confidence prompted companies to reduce wages and fire employees. When the Roosevelt administration was elected to office, they declared that unemployment and poverty had become a national problem.[3] Roosevelt implemented the new deal and with it came the Works Progress Administration, which provided permanent jobs to those who were unemployed. Congress passed the Social Security act to provide unemployed persons with relief.

The Great Depression and Farming
Life for farmers was very difficult during this time. Giant dust storms plagued farmers, blowing precious topsoil away and causing huge financial problems. These dust storms would bury homes, barns, tractors, and fields under drifts up to 25 feet in height.[4] A prolonged drought destroyed the crops that had survived leaving many farmers without income. Falling prices made it tougher for farmers to profit from the goods they sold making it troublesome for farmers to repay loans.[5] This combined with the weather resulted in a movement of hundreds of thousands of refugees to the West Coast. In 1937 the Soil Conservation Service estimated that around 43% of the 16-million-acre area in the heart of the dust bowl had been seriously damaged by wind erosion.[6] The depression combined with the terrible weather resulted in many farmers loosing their livelihoods and being forced to relocate.

Education and The Great Depression
The education system was hurt badly by the great depression. Over 20,000 schools had closed nationwide by the beginning of 1934. Teacher salaries had become a financial burden that could no longer be afforded. Students were sometimes required to bring there supplies and potentially even pay for tuition.[7] Relief to the education system came in the form of the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration. The Public Works Administration constructed around 13,000 schools, while the Works Progress Administration employed 100,000 teachers. The education system was hurt badly, but with the help of several government programs was able to recover.