<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://digital.centerforknitandcrochet.org/items/show/39656">
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Harrison, William W]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Oral history]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Missouri--History, Local]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Missouri--Politics and government]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Oral histories]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Missouri Politics]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Politics]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Political History]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Political Oral History]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[United States]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Missouri]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:title><![CDATA[Cape Girardeau (Mo.)]]></dcterms:title>
    <dcterms:subject><![CDATA[William W. Harrison]]></dcterms:subject>
    <dcterms:subject><![CDATA[Will Sarvis]]></dcterms:subject>
    <dcterms:creator><![CDATA[http://cdm17228.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/ohc/id/627]]></dcterms:creator>
    <dcterms:source><![CDATA[none]]></dcterms:source>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[a fellow from Washington down by train, and I met him at Cairo, Illinois, where he got off. So, we made a tour of those camps. He was unaware of what they were like or anything else. The question was put to extension, ‚ÄúDo you want to take them over?‚Äù You know what the answer was. ‚ÄúNO! We have no use for them. We‚Äüre not in that business.‚Äù Then they sold them to this church group in St. Louis. They raised money and helped some of those families have a long time payment plan, or give it to them, and I don‚Äüt know what all. But Alex Cooper is still with that organization, directly or indirectly. I don‚Äüt know whether you know about Alex or not. [tape meter, 200] WS: Heard a little bit. BH: Little bit. As a matter of fact, that Cooper family is something else. They were black leaders in southeast Missouri. They were a family of, I think, eight boys and one girl. They were a tenant family that moved from Arkansas or Mississippi into Missouri. They were the first family to get a Farmers Home land loan to buy. And they bought either eighty or a hundred acres out from Hayti. Good land]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[productive. They raised that family. Of course, they did some work outside [of farming]. All the boys (there might have been one [that didn‚Äüt]) that have college degrees. Two of them are MDs. Alex is down here. Mike was a school teacher, and his wife was a school teacher. When the government started this Head Start program? The committee in the Bootheel had an office in Portageville. They had the government-run programs, 18 BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis including Head Start. It was not going good. They were told to get rid of Head Start. They were not doing it effectively or efficiently]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[to get out of it. They came to extension. ‚ÄúWill you take over these Head Start programs?‚Äù Brice Ratchford was still in extension at that time]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[[he asked] ‚ÄúDo we want to do that?‚Äù Well, I was hesitant. He insisted we take it or try to run it until they could get better organized to do it themselves. You know who wrote the proposal for the university to do it? WS: No. BH: Don [Littrell] and his wife wrote the proposal, with my help. We got it for a million dollars, to run I don‚Äüt know how many centers. But I told Brice, ‚ÄúThere‚Äüs just one thing that [I insist on before] we take it. I insist Mike [Cooper] stays on as supervisor to run it. [tape meter, 250] I can work with Mike.‚Äù And they kept it six years before we (laughing) finally got rid of it. But, it‚Äüs a good program, now. (Laughs) And going strong. But Mike, after extension turned it over, he‚Äüs continued. He‚Äüs retired and living in Hayti now. But the other story about the Coopers. We were being pressured to add some additional black [employees] after equal opportunity laws were passed. They were wanting to put a man in Charleston]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[black man, to serve the black people in the two counties, Mississippi and Scott. Because there‚Äüs quite a few [black people] in the Sikeston area. I proposed Roy Cooper from over at Hayti. He had a degree in ag, and had taught some veteran classes. They had a veteran program at Charleston, a black man there. This group that was promoting from the two counties, black people, agreed that BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis 19 whoever was put in there, they would have a chance to pass on them, as well as the councils. That it would be suitable to them. They had their own organization. Well, I attempted to contact Roy. I went to their home over at Hayti to see about where he was or how I could get in touch with him. He was in the veterans‚Äü hospital over at Poplar Bluff. I went over to see what was going on and visit with him. I got over there. I‚Äüd discovered that he and one or two of his brothers had been out coon hunting at night. He had climbed a tree and fell out and broke his leg. (Laughs) And he was at the veterans‚Äü hospital. Well, it went on and I told him it would be a while. I went back over there. He‚Äüd come to find out it [his leg] was broken up here below his hip and [above his] knee. When they set it, it came out like that. [tape meter, 300] [Mr. Harrison gestures with his hands to indicate an overlapping bone]. They had to re-break it. In the meantime, they were pushing me to meet and get somebody approved. Well, I got to this meeting and both sides were there, the whites and the blacks and the councils and so on. They presented this name of this fellow over at Charleston that they blacks wanted. The councils turned them down. They didn‚Äüt want him. I presented Roy‚Äüs name. You know what? He got turned down too. (Chuckles) I had two turned down. (Laughs) That was a one-time experience, getting two turned down. So, we had to start all over. But there was another black ag graduate]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[I think from Mississippi or Tennessee, [William D.] Purnell. I talked to Bill. [He said] yeah, he‚Äüd be interested. So I got the group back together later. And they approved him. He was right there already situated in Charleston. But he stayed until he retired. He was mentioned in 20 BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis an article in today‚Äüs Cape paper on this controversy on the courthouse at Charleston. But it was a black reporter here at Cape that interviewed him. She‚Äüs from Charleston]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[so probably had a close relationship with him over there. It‚Äüs a small world. But Bill, you know what he‚Äüs doing? WS: What‚Äüs that? BH: He‚Äüs in the funeral business. He got into a funeral business in Hayti and at Sikeston and at Charleston. This is another story. (Laughs) You don‚Äüt have to listen to it. This is a black story, too. We had Ella Stackhouse as a home agent in Pemiscot County. She was the only black person that we had on the staff. [tape meter, 350] And, of course, there were a high number of black families in Pemiscot County. She, at one time, had 2,000 boys and girls in 4-H Club work in Pemiscot and a few in Dunklin (which, they don‚Äüt have many blacks). That was a state record. But my other story. We were expanding, and they had an applicant, or were going to put one in Mississippi County, a woman. She‚Äüd been working for extension, I think]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[or teaching over in Tennessee. And I was having her over for an interview at Hayti. That‚Äüs where Ella Stackhouse was home agent. I asked her to meet with us. I wanted her opinion. I wasn‚Äüt real confident that I could pass judgement. [end of side 2, tape I]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[tape meter, 374] [During the tape change, Mr. Harrison said this interview was his first in a funeral home.] BH: But we hired her and she stayed on. BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis 21 At that time they had separate programs for the black and the white in Washington, DC. [Mabel] Jones is on the youth staff in Columbia. Right after the war they were adding some people down there that worked primarily on food on an intensive [basis] with low income [people]. She was just graduating at the university. She had [some credit] beyond her degree, on her master‚Äüs, maybe]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[maybe about half of it. I had her in for an interview in Columbia at my office. She had an offer in St. Louis. I said, ‚ÄúMabel, you need to go down there where you know the people and they know you. You‚Äüd be a lot happier than trying to go to St. Louis. If you go down there and do a good job, and you get a little tenure, I‚Äüll see to it that you can get back up here and go to school and finish up. ‚Äù And she accepted, so I put her on. She did a respectable job. I‚Äüd check with her now and then. It so happened that the state 4-H wanted someone on their staff, in the state [program]. They took Mabel in. She has finished her doctorate. She‚Äüs been doing quite a bit of work over in Africa recently. (Laughs [in admiration]) She grew up in Malden. Mabel is eligible for retirement]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[I don‚Äüt think she‚Äüs going to. But she‚Äüs one of my girls. And she was the only black one at Brice Ratchford‚Äüs recognition of the people that were on the staff when he came here last, a year ago in May. (Laughs) She was there. We had a nice little visit. She still appreciates the help she‚Äüs had. But Ella started her. Some of these things, they go in the right direction. Not all of them. But most of them. (Laughs) WS: This is kind of a broad question, but how did all that money from the 1960s‚Äü Great Society programs and all affect the area of southeast Missouri? Just in terms of politics, I 22 BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis kind of wonder if it eroded some of the autonomy or the power that some of the local figures had. BH: Possibly so, possibly so. We got so many different programs going that I can‚Äüt keep up with them. I think there‚Äüs some overlapping. It‚Äüs a different ball game than it was, when the local politicians could more or less call the shots. That‚Äüs in my opinion. I‚Äüm not as close to it as I used to be. But there‚Äüs still a need of working close with your elected officials, not only on the local level but on the state level and on the national level. Down here at this Delta Center they have two big events during the year. Kit Bond, and Ashcroft, and [Congressman Bill] Emerson usually made them. Which was good. They can see what was going on, and have a chance to mingle with people]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[get their views. I don‚Äüt think it‚Äüs all bad. [tape meter, 50] To me, it‚Äüs a way to at least have some common knowledge of what the situation is, and the need, and so on. But it hasn‚Äüt helped our overall national budget. (Chuckles) That‚Äüs for sure. WS: Did you ever have much interaction with the farm organizations, like the Farm Bureau or MFA [Missouri Farmers Association] or NFO [National Farmers Organization]? BH: I‚Äüve been a member of the Farm Bureau since 1934. I used to attend some of their state meetings and their district meetings. They still have a close relationship with the university and extension and the Farm Bureau. Of course the Farm Bureau was sponsoring agents in about two-thirds of the counties that I had when I was supervisor. I had the extension association and one MFA. BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis 23 WS: You mean in those twenty-three [counties], only one. BH: Yes. One, and that was in Franklin County. The others were Farm Bureau or extension association -- just organized for that one purpose, to be sponsors. But the state law is set up how it is to be elected and so on. Since then there‚Äüs been a state law passed]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[it specifies the election, the procedure, and the number, and who is to be represented, and so on. It‚Äüs a uniform sponsering group now, as far as selection is concerned, or who can sponsor. WS: Did you ever see any presence of this National Farmers Organization in that part of Missouri? BH: Not in this area. WS: There more up near Iowa, I guess. North-central. [pause] BH: No, the MFA . . . I don‚Äüt believe they have . . . a store or an MFA exchange south of Jackson. I don‚Äüt believe there‚Äüs one at Dexter. But there‚Äüs one here. And I believe there‚Äüs one at Perryville. I‚Äüm not sure. Originally, MFA was started by Mr. Hirth]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[I believe it was Hirth. Boone County, Columbia. So it‚Äüs central Missouri-based, originally. It expanded. WS: Going back to the 1930s, did you ever meet anybody involved with the Southern Tenant Farmers Union? [long pause] BH: No. [long pause] If I did, it was very incidental. Nothing of significance. 24 BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis WS: Did you have an idea of what the Farm Bureau perspective on the Southern Tenant Farmers Union was? [pause] BH: No, no. By the way, did you happen to interview a fellow at Portageville]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[he was MFA. (I‚Äüll think of his name in a minute). [tape meter, 100] WS: I guess you witnessed the revolutionary change in agriculture with the mechanization in southeast Missouri, and the loss of hand labor. BH: World War I, I guess, started it. It was either forty or an eighty acres [per family] when I first went to the delta]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[that is Dunklin and Pemiscot counties in particular, depending on the size of family, as to whether they‚Äüd sharecrop forty or eighty acres, with a certain amount in cotton and feed for the work stock]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[and a little pasture, maybe, for a milk cow. A little corn for their work stock and to fatten the hog for meat. Some of them didn‚Äüt have that privilege. The ginners furnished money for them to live on until the cotton was picked. Then it came out of their cotton share. So they did not have very much after they got through picking than just the pay back [of their debt]. Then they‚Äüd start all over again. But the ginners did a lot of the financing on, particularly, the cotton crop production. In 1934, I made a trip -- and I was not too familiar -- one Sunday afternoon in the fall. I was located at New Madrid]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[[I drove] from [New Madrid] across to Malden and down Dunklin to Kennett and back across to Hayti, and then north to New Madrid. And BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis 25 it was really at the low point in the Depression. I particularly tried to observe any signs of home improvement or new construction of any kind from Kennett to Hayti. There was absolutely none that I could observe. It was that bad, as far as any visible improvement in housing or structures of any kind. And that was about as low as you could get. I was not (chuckling) impressed. But it has changed. Some of the housing that they‚Äüve got down there now, and all those [older] houses have completely disappeared. Getting back to the labor, the change in the mechanization, the war changed that from hand labor to anything that you could substitute a machine for and reduce labor, it was done. During World War II they had two war prisoner camps in the Bootheel. One at Conran or down in that area, south of New Madrid. [tape meter, 150] Well]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[I guess there were three. There was one up north here, north of Sikeston. And then we had one at Kennett. They were either German or Italians out of the camp up near Ste. Genevieve. We had 200 or so of those Italian war prisoners at Kennett. Incidentally, extension had funds to hire a man to help and direct the use of farm labor, and to see that it was not recruited and taken out of the area. It was against the law for these farm laborers, what was there, to leave. They were supposed to stay. As a matter of fact, the highway patrol even stopped a truck that was trying to haul some of our labor out of Dunklin County. They didn‚Äüt get (chuckling) very far. But the Italian farm labor, they were housed at Kennett. They were permitted to earn, I think, about]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[oh, two or three dollars a day for picking cotton]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[hand picking. The thing that happened, when they‚Äüd go out there and pick that cotton, it was about ninety 26 BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis pounds of seed cotton. That was before it was ginned. When they got that picked, that was the amount that they could earn. Because of their [federal governmental agricultural output] restrictions, that‚Äüs as much as they could earn. That‚Äüs all they picked. So it wasn‚Äüt as good as it looked like it might be on the face of it. They weren‚Äüt giving us back anything except (laughs) what they got. But they stayed until the picking was over, and they went back to Ste. Genevieve. It was not too successful, but I did have a man on [to oversee that]. After that, the day labor and the sharecroppers and all [were obsolete]]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[that versatility in labor that could handle machinery [was required]. If they couldn‚Äüt handle machinery they weren‚Äüt needed. It keeps getting bigger and bigger units. The fences disappeared. Machines get bigger. And if it can‚Äüt be handled with equipment]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[why, we don‚Äüt grow it. WS: How did this mechanization affect your work, coming from the extension service? BH: I‚Äüm not sure I‚Äüd be in a position to answer it very well. It did change the kind of help they wanted and needed, these farmers. This was one of the things, shortly after Brice Ratchford came, I was beginning to see what was going on, that we were unable to supply these people with specialized farming operations. [tape meter, 200] Particularly in the delta area, whether it be in growing vegetables and fruit -- and there was some interest. It kept getting more technical all the time. There was interest in livestock]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[most of the folks down there were not familiar with it. And we had a soil BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis 27 testing [laboratory]. They were wanting help on more fertilizer and better use of it [and also] insect control. I was, apparently, the one that pioneered the starting of our specialized staffing in Missouri. I worked for a year with the leadership in these seven counties to determine what they considered their most pressing needs, as far as staff is concerned]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[not only in agriculture, but also in home economics. Is it getting so technical that a farm person can handle all of it adequately and do a good job? So, we had a year of exploring. I took time off and went to Fort Collins, Colorado, at the state university, and got away from it and wrote up the proposal. I was in summer school. I got some credit for it, too. I came back and reviewed it with Brice and some of the others. We kept trying to refine it as much as we could, and finally got the representatives from each of the counties together. Not only did Brice come down, but President [Elmer] Ellis. We went over this. (In fact, the president and I, I think we flew down together). But we met at Caruthersville. And they accepted it. It was a little difficult working out the contributions and how we‚Äüre going to approve of funds, as well as the staffing pattern and so on. So, we got it worked out and started. It‚Äüs still going, statewide. But, there‚Äüs one thing -- and I don‚Äüt know what the solution is, to it -- but I discovered this. After they got going, particularly in some areas out of the delta area, that they got to hiring these specialists with their master‚Äüs or more in their particular subject matter field. They knew their subject matter, but you know what? [tape meter, 250] They hadn‚Äüt had any training or experience in doing -- what would you guess? 28 BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis WS: Dealing with the people. BH: That‚Äüs right. They didn‚Äüt know how to deal with the people. (Chuckles) And sometimes they got themselves in a hole. They didn‚Äüt get the leadership to say what they should say. But those two, you can‚Äüt separate them in doing extension work or educational work, in my book. WS: Well, I‚Äüve got another broad question. I‚Äüm wondering how the presence of the federal government and federal money and programs differed between what you saw in the New Deal of the 1930s and then what you saw in the ‚Äû60s with the Great Society. BH: Really, there hasn‚Äüt been too much additional federal money except for some of these specialized programs. They‚Äüve been more or less trying to keep up with inflation. Really, the increase has been in local and state funding, not federal. It‚Äüs been pretty static, in federal. They‚Äüve had a few of these food programs, and like that, that are earmarked for specialized things. Most of that has come along since I retired in 1973. That will soon be twenty-five years [ago]. I‚Äüve tried to keep up a little bit with what‚Äüs going on -- but I don‚Äüt want to interfere. WS: With your work with the extension service, did you have more interaction with the local politicians like a J.V. Conran, or was it more with the state representatives, state senators? BH: Officially we had to have contacts with the county courts for appropriations. This is getting out of the delta a little bit, but was still my area -- in Ripley County, which is a county which is not too flush with funds -- but the county court, after they were supposed to appropriate a minimum, they didn‚Äüt put anything in their budget for extension at all. BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis 29 Left it zero. Well, the council filed a lawsuit to force them to meet the minimum requirement. [tape meter, 300] They had the circuit judge to hear the case. I was a witness. The agent there was a big, raw-boned, southerner with one short leg because of a war injury. He was asked to be a witness. I can still hear him going up before that [court] to be a witness]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[when he‚Äüd hit that floor as he went up through that courthouse. (Laughs) But, they had me up for a witness too. The court members were up there. They were the ones being sued, of course. The three county judges* were there. This circuit judge directed a question at them. ‚ÄúIf this money had been left out of your appropriation, don‚Äüt you think it could be put back in?‚Äù (Laughs) That was the circuit judge asking. They put it back. (Laughs) So you know what the decision was. They put back the minimum. Those were all interesting incidents]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[and important ones, really. Some of them make a point. [end of side 1, tape II]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[tape meter, 334] WS: When it came to dealing with these county courts, or the county governments -- I‚Äüm wondering how the power hierarchy broke down, and maybe that changed from county to county. [pause] BH: I‚Äüd say, on the average, the local support has been going up and up, and has been going up a little faster than the inflation rates. I think we had real good support on a statewide * Now called county commissioners. 30 BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis basis from where we started out originally. We can‚Äüt fuss with the county courts. If they had the money -- they can only spend what they‚Äüve got or can see that they can get. WS: One thing I was wondering, talking about the county governments, though -- I‚Äüve noticed in some parts of Missouri the county clerk will be a central figure, a powerful figure, and a much sought after office -- but not in other counties. Of course, Mr. Conran was prosecuting attorney, and in some cases the prosecuting attorney seems to be the most powerful political leader in the area. I just wonder why there was a Mr. Conran in New Madrid County and probably not an equivalent in the delta region or southeast Missouri, at least that I‚Äüve ever heard of. [pause] BH: Well, I think his interest . . . and this is pure speculation]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[that he enjoyed being able to give leadership to his political leanings. And maybe he got more satisfaction from it than he did his being prosecuting attorney. He just was able to give that leadership. But, of course, he was from an old family. Incidentally, the Robins -- I mentioned the Robins that were in the courthouse]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[two different ones. I happened to be in St. Louis visiting one of them one weekend, and coming back I stopped over at Oran to pick up a young woman (who wasn‚Äüt so young, but), a friend of J.V.‚Äüs, to take to New Madrid. She was going down to visit him, and that later was his wife. So she was from Oran. Then they were both Catholics]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[backgrounds, and strong. But the Robins were all Catholic, and the Hunters are all Catholics. The Catholics did have a fairly strong -- [earlier] I said the church didn‚Äüt [have interaction BH = William ‚ÄúBill‚Äù W. Harrison]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[WS = Will Sarvis 31 with politics] -- but I‚Äüd say in New Madrid, there were some of the leaders were pretty strong Catholics, and did have some cohesive effort. [pause] WS: Well Mr. Harrison, I‚Äüve kept you quite a while here. BH: (Chuckles) Well, I‚Äüve enjoyed it. [end of interview]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:date><![CDATA[tape meter, 41] INDEX agricultural mechanization, 25-29 Amburgey, M.D., 6 Ashcroft, John, 23 Billings, William, 6, 7 Bond, Christopher S. (Kit), 23 Brown, R.Q., 3-6 Conran, James V., 7, 30, 32 Cooper, Alex A., 18, 19 Cooper, Roy Jr., 20, 21 Dalton, John M., 10, 13, 16 Dawson, Bud, 7, 8 Delmo housing, 17, 18 Delta Research and Extension Center, 10, 11 elections, 13-15 Ellis, Elmer, 29 Elman, Joe, 6 Emerson, William, 23 Farm Bureau, 24, 25 Farmers Home Administration, 17, 18 Grimm, Stanley, 7 Head Start program, 19 Hearnes, Warren E., 16 highway strike (1939), 2, 3 Houck, Louis, 13 Hunter, Hal E., Jr., 8 Jones, Mabel, 22, 23 Jones, Paul C., 16 Little River Drainage District, 12, 13 Littrell, Donald W., 1 Missouri Farmers Association (MFA), 24, 25 National Farmers Organization (NFO), 24, 25 Patterson, J.F. (Pat), 16, 17 Purnell, William D., 21 Ratchford, Charles Brice, 19, 23, 28, 29 religion and politics, 32, 33 Reynolds, Crews, 12, 13 Reynolds, J.W., 12, 13 Robin family (New Madrid County), 7, 32 Shotwell, William, 5 Snow, Thad, 3-5 Southern Tenant Farmers Union, 25 Stackhouse, Ella, 21, 23 Talbert, C.R., 15 Tinnin, Nelson B., 17 Truman, Harry S., 8, 9 Ward and Reeves law firm, 9]]></dcterms:date>
    <dcterms:relation><![CDATA[Heartland Hub]]></dcterms:relation>
    <dcterms:references><![CDATA[full:001:http://cdm17228.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/ohc/id/627]]></dcterms:references>
</rdf:Description></rdf:RDF>