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Size | 11.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 9,200 items) |
Abstract | Delta Cooperative Farm, started in 1936 in the community of Hillhouse (later called Rochdale) in Bolivar County, Miss., and Providence Cooperative Farm, started in 1939 near Cruger in Holmes County, Miss., were attempts by Cooperative Farms, Inc., a philanthropically supported corporation, to help southern agricultural laborers out of their economic plight. The cooperatives were organized around four principles: efficiency in production and economy in finance through the cooperative principle, participation in building a socialized economy of abundance, inter-racial justice, and realistic religion as a social dynamic. To these ends, the Delta and Providence cooperatives were to pay African Americans and whites equal wages for work and provided social and other services, most of which were open to neighboring communities. These services included a cooperative store; a medical clinic, eventually run by physician David R. Minter; a credit union; a library; a community building; religious services; educational programs; summer work camps; and community institutes. In addition to growing cotton, agricultural operations eventually included a dairy farm, a beef farm, a pasteurizing plant, and a saw mill. Papers include correspondence of Sherwood Eddy, secretary-treasurer; Sam H. Franklin, director 1936-1943; and A. Eugene Cox, director after 1943. Major topics include agricultural issues and farm operations; fundraising and donations; interracial issues; member morale; poor conditions of southern sharecroppers; cooperative methods; staffing; medical issues; relations and tensions with surrounding communities; criticisms of the farms; and the establishment and impact of the various educational, social, and religious programs on the farms. Other topics include eviction and dire conditions of Arkansas sharecroppers following a strike, many of whom became members at Delta; the Rust cotton picker and plans to fund cooperatives with revenue from its sales; and criticisms of the farms' management techniques and member morale from trustees William R. Amberson and Blaine Treadway, among others, which ultimately led to an investigation conducted by the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union in May 1940. Also included are scattered financial material and other records; plans; issues of the farm publication, "The Co-op Call"; membership agreements; and letters from prospective members seeking placement on the farms. Prominent correspondents include Arthur Raper of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation; H. L. Mitchell and Howard Kester of the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union; Delta trustees Reinhold Niebuhr, John Rust, and William R. Amberson; David R. Minter; and various representatives of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Socialist Party, the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen, the Cooperative League, the American Friends Service Committee, the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and the Young Women's Christian Association, among others. There is also some correspondence with Margaret Sanger regarding the Delta farm's interest in contraception. Other papers include incorporation materials, financial materials, organizational papers, meeting minutes, subject files, histories, ledgers, writings, medical reports, and clippings. Clippings include newspaper articles about a meeting held in Tchula, Miss., during which David Minter and A. Eugene Cox were asked by the community to leave Holmes County because they had been accused of teaching social equality between races on the farm. |
Creator | Delta Cooperative Farm (Hillhouse, Miss.)
Providence Plantation (Miss.) |
Language | English |
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Delta Cooperative Farm, started in 1936 in the community of Hillhouse (later called Rochdale) in Bolivar County, Miss., and Providence Cooperative Farm, started in 1939 near Cruger in Holmes County, Miss., were attempts by a philanthropically supported corporation, Cooperative Farms, Inc., to help southern agricultural laborers out of their economic plight. The cooperatives were organized around four principles: efficiency in production and economy in finance through the cooperative principle, participation in building a socialized economy of abundance, inter-racial justice, and realistic religion as a social dynamic. To these ends, the Delta and Providence cooperatives were to pay African Americans and whites equal wages for work, and provided social and other services, most of which were open to neighboring communities. These services included a cooperative store; a medical clinic, eventually run by physician David R. Minter; a credit union; a library; a community building; religious services; educational programs, including a school for African American children; summer work camps for visiting students; and community institutes. In addition to growing cotton, agricultural operations eventually included a dairy farm, a beef farm, a pasteurizing plant, and a saw mill.
Delta Cooperative Farm was founded by missionary evangelist and author Sherwood Eddy, who served as secretary-treasurer, and Reverend Sam H. Franklin, director, 1936-1943. In addition to Franklin and Eddy, the original board of trustees included theologian Reinhold Niebuhr; John Rust, inventor of the cotton picking machine; and Professor William R. Amberson. Later trustees included Blaine Treadway, Charles S. Johnson, Arthur Raper, and Frederick Patterson. Most of the first member families on the farm were sharecroppers who lost work following the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933; many were also refugees from East Arkansas who were evicted during a strike in the mid-1930s. Interracial efforts on the farm primarily focused on establishing economic equality, as whites and African Americans worked together and were to be paid equally depending upon the amount and quality of work done. Living arrangements, schooling, and social affairs were segregated, while it appears that some religious services and the medical clinic were integrated. The farm was managed by a democratically elected council made up of five members, no more than three of whom could be of the same race, and was organized into a Producer's Cooperative and a Consumer's Cooperative. Delta was funded primarily through capital investments. Over time, members were to amortize the capital funds supplied by the board of trustees and would gradually gain control and ownership of the farm. The capital funds would then be used by the trustees as a revolving fund for the establishment of more cooperative farms.
Providence Cooperative Farm was established in 1938 in hopes that its better quality soil would bring in higher revenues for the project, as there were deficits at Delta for 1936 and 1937. The Delta farm was sold in December 1942 and operations were consolidated at Providence due to better farming prospects and the number of familes at Delta who had left for service in World War II. The consolidation brought the first African American members to Providence, which had been started with six white families from Delta. Providence was organized into a Producer's Cooperative and the Providence Extension Farm. The Producer's Cooperative handled the bulk of the farming, while the Providence Extension Farm, whose earnings funded social work and other services offered at Providence, handled dairy and beef herds and the farming of land that was not part of the Producer's Cooperative. Additionally, there was the Providence Cooperative Association, an organization of African Americans living in and near Providence aimed at community improvement along religious, educational, economic, and public health lines. Educational institutes were held under the auspices of the Providence Cooperative Association, which brought in leaders from institutions such as the Tuskeegee Institute and the Farm Security Administration to teach on topics such as farming methods, community health, and civic problems. In May 1943, Franklin left Providence to serve as a naval chaplain to Asia, and A. Eugene Cox, the farm's accountant, took over as director.
In 1946, Delta Foundation Inc., was organized as a non-profit organization primarily for educational work. In 1950, Sam Franklin, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Charles S. Johnson resigned from the Providence Cooperative Farm board of trustees and a new board of directors was formed. On this new board were A. Eugene Cox; Lindsey Cox, registered nurse at the medical clinic; David Minter; and Mary Sue Minter. By 1950, cotton had become unprofitable at Providence, and from 1950 to 1956, operations were almost entirely centered on education and medical work. Efforts to provide educational opportunities on a broad geographic scale, which were primarily funded through cash rent and the sale of timber, included summer camps, farmer's institutes, the consumer's cooperative, the credit union, and the medical program. The political climate of the early and mid-1950s, especially with regard to McCarthyism, increased tensions between the Providence Cooperative Farm and the surrounding communities, as Providence was accused of being a communist operation that taught social equality between races. Probably due in part to these tensions, cooperative efforts at the farm ceased around 1956 and portions of the land were sold to the individual member families.
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Papers include correspondence of Sherwood Eddy, secretary-treasurer; Reverend Sam H. Franklin, director 1936-1943; and A. Eugene Cox, director after 1943. Correspondence is chiefly with and about patrons, trustees, founders, social organizations, educators, religious groups, and other interested parties. Major topics include agricultural issues; fundraising (see especially 1936-1937 materials); donations of money, books, clothing, and other items; interracial issues; member morale; farm operations and conditions; cooperative methods; staffing; poor conditions of southern sharecroppers; medical issues, especially in handling childbirth, malaria, and other illnesses; relations and tensions with surrounding communities, and the establishment and impact of educational, social, and religious programs, cooperative stores, a medical clinic, a credit union, a library, summer work camps for students, and educational institutes for African Americans. Other topics include the eviction and dire conditions of Arkansas sharecroppers following a strike, many of whom became members at Delta; the Rust cotton picker and plans to fund cooperatives with revenue from its sales; and criticisms of the farms' management techniques and member morale from trustees William R. Amberson and Blaine Treadway, among others, which ultimately led to an investigation conducted by the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union in May 1940. Also included are scattered financial material (see especially annual December and January materials); plans; periodic updates on the state of the farm to the Board of Trustees; issues of the farm publication, "The Co-op Call"; membership agreements; letters expressing general interest in the organization and requesting information; and letters from prospective members seeking placement on the farms (see especially 1936-1937). Frequent and prominent correspondents include Arthur Raper of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation; H. L. Mitchell and Howard Kester of the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union; Delta trustees Reinhold Niebuhr, John Rust, and William R. Amberson; David R. Minter; and various representatives of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Socialist Party, the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen, the Cooperative League, the American Friends Service Committee, the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and the Young Women's Christian Association, among others. There is also some correspondence with Margaret Sanger regarding the Delta farm's interest in contraception. Note that the bulk of the papers are from 1936 to 1943.
Other papers include incorporation materials, by-laws, policies, a member's manual, and other organizational papers; minutes of the Cooperative Council meetings; subject files; histories; clippings, including collected newspaper articles about a meeting held in Tchula, Miss., during which David Minter and A. Eugene Cox were asked by the community to leave Holmes County because they had been accused of teaching social equality between races on the farm; ledgers; articles and other writings, chiefly by Sam Franklin and Sherwood Eddy; audits; tax returns; medical reports; financial reports; and other records of farm operations. Note that, like correspondence, these files are most complete for 1936-1943.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Papers include correspondence of Sherwood Eddy, secretary-treasurer; Reverend Sam H. Franklin, director 1936-1943; and A. Eugene Cox, director after 1943. Correspondence is chiefly with and about patrons, trustees, founders, social organizations, educators, religious groups, and other interested parties. Major topics discussed throughout include agricultural issues; fundraising (see especially 1936-1937 materials); donations of money, books, clothing, and other items; interracial issues; member morale; farm operations and conditions; cooperative methods; staffing; poor conditions of southern sharecroppers; medical issues, especially in handling childbirth, malaria, and other illnesses; relations and tensions with surrounding communities; and the establishment and impact of educational, social, and religious programs, cooperative stores, a medical clinic, a credit union, a library, summer work camps for students, and educational institutes for African Americans. Also included are scattered financial material (see especially annual December and January materials); plans; periodic updates on the state of the farm to the Board of Trustees; issues of the farm publication, "The Co-op Call"; membership agreements; and incoming letters expressing general interest in the organization and requesting information. Frequent and prominent correspondents include Arthur Raper of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation; H. L. Mitchell and Howard Kester of the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union; Delta trustees Reinhold Niebuhr, John Rust, and William R. Amberson; David R. Minter; and various representatives of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Socialist Party, the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen, the Cooperative League, the American Friends Service Committee, the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and the Young Women's Christian Association, among others. Note that the bulk of the papers represent the time period from 1936 to 1943.
Correspondence and related materials documenting the establishment of Delta Cooperative Farm and the first two operating years prior to the purchase of the Providence Cooperative Farm. In addition to topics included throughout, these materials discuss the eviction and dire conditions of Arkansas sharecroppers following a strike, many of whom became members at Delta (see especially 1936 material); the Rust cotton picker and plans to fund cooperatives with revenue from its sales; educational program planning; and dissatisfaction and general morale among farm members. Also included are letters from prospective members seeking placement on the farms, some correspondence with Margaret Sanger regarding the Delta farm's interest in contraception, a tentative plan of organization, deeds, membership agreements, and other organizational documents. Pre-1936 material contains items regarding cooperative communities generally, among other items.
This material represents the Delta and Providence Cooperative farms from the purchase of the Providence farm in January 1938 to the sale of the Delta farm and Sam H. Franklin's stepping down as director in 1942. In addition to topics included throughout, these materials discuss fundraising for a new church and the hiring of a pastor for the African American community at Providence; arrangements to receive medical and dental services and clinics from the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority; tensions between farm members and with the local community; criticisms of the farms' management techniques and member morale from William R. Amberson and Blaine Treadway, among others, which ultimately led to an investigation conducted by the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union in May 1940; the formation of the Providence Cooperative Association; and educational institutes for African Americans held at the farm.
This material documents the Providence Cooperative Farm after the sale of the Delta Cooperative Farm in January 1943 and after the change in directorship from Sam H. Franklin to A. Eugene Cox in May 1943. Note that the records for this time period are significantly less complete than for previous years. The majority of the correspondence is from or to Cox and Sherwood Eddy and discusses the consolidation at Providence Farm; operations on the farm; the incorporation of the Delta Foundation Inc. in 1949; Franklin's enlistment as a naval chaplain, including a few scattered letters from Franklin describing his experiences; the formation of a new board of directors in 1950; and financial troubles with the cooperative's credit union (see especially 1956 material). Also included is a 1963 letter from Cox describing the later years of the Providence Cooperative Farm (1950-1956) in response to a request made by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill master's student. The letter especially addresses gaps in the organizational history not explained in the sparse records available from that time period.
Includes incorporation materials, by-laws, policies, a member's manual, and other organizational papers; minutes of the Cooperative Council meetings; subject files; histories; clippings, including collected newspaper articles about a meeting held in Tchula, Miss., during which David Minter and A. Eugene Cox were asked by the community to leave Holmes County because they had been accused of teaching social equality between races on the farm; ledgers; articles and other writings, chiefly by Sam H. Franklin and Sherwood Eddy; audits; tax returns; medical reports; financial reports; and other records of farm operations. Note that, like correspondence, these files are most complete for 1936-1943.
Processed by: SHC staff and Jessica Sedgwick, September 2008
Encoded by: Jessica Sedgwick, September 2008
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