By Graham Dewart
In 1930, Indiana residents
experienced a drought that changed society. Cities, towns, and rural areas all
faced a severe drought that impacted Indiana industry. Because of the great
importance of agriculture in Indiana, dry spells in the warmer months were of
especial significance. Because Indiana is a relatively large territory,
citizens faced different challenges depending on where you lived. In the end,
the drought of 1930 shaped Indiana’s history in many ways.
During the 1920’s the Indiana economy was primarily
supported by the agriculture, steel, iron, and coal industry. These sectors of
the agriculture and manufacturing economy can largely be separated into two
categories, urban and rural jobs. During the 1920’s, thousands of rural farm
workers began migrating to urban areas where factory work was more prevalent.
“By 1930, 34 percent of the urban population was between the ages of twenty and
thirty nine, while in rural Indiana only 24 percent of the population was in
this young adult category.” [i]While the events leading up
to the drought illustrated a rural to urban shift for younger populations,
agriculture was still a big part of the Indiana economy and a valued part of
Indiana culture. “Even after the population balance had shifted to urban
areas by 1920, Indiana had a higher proportion of its population engaged in
agriculture than either Ohio or Illinois, both of which industrialized at
faster rates.”[ii] Indiana
soil provided optimal growing conditions for crops like corn, soybeans, winter
wheat, oats, and hay.[iii]
In 1930 farms were fewer in number but larger in size. When the drought hit
that crop season, farmers suffered a period of tremendous economic hardship.
The 1920’s and
1930’s saw a rural to urban shift for the Indiana population. While industry
was a primary driver of this societal change, there were other issues that
Indiana residents were involved in. The issue of race was a key topic during this
time period in a Midwestern state like Indiana. In 1920 the black population
only made up about 3 percent of the total Indiana population and was largely
present in urban communities vs. rural communities.[iv]
Conflicting interpretations of the Ku Klux Klan indicate, the attitudes of the
white, Protestant, native-born, and rural Hoosiers toward racial and ethnic
minorities needs to be better understood. But one thing is clear; the Ku Klux
Klan was incredibly popular during the first half of the 1920’s. Both urban and
rural areas showed strong support for the KKK and Indiana residents were open
to the anti Catholic, Jewish, and African-American message the Klan spoke of.
While some argue the KKK’s message was focused on race, others argued the KKK
was concerned with Prohibition enforcement and crime. While the two different
focuses are not mutually exclusive, the Klan did play a role in Indiana
politics. In 1924, a KKK member by the name of Ed Jackson was elected governor
of Indiana. “Jackson warned locals about the “Catholic threat” and told tales
of young Protestant girls being kidnapped and forced into abbeys where they
became sex slaves to Catholic priests or African American and Jewish men. These
stories and the pressure to prove 100% Americanism, combined with a desire to
be part of the supposedly family and church focused social network, resulted in
a high Klan membership rate and a large group of followers for Ed Jackson. A
year later in 1925, Klan influence and membership decreased after Jackson was
convicted of murdering a young woman.[v]
Four years later
in 1929, the stock market crash causing tremendous economic failure and factory
shutdowns all around Indiana. This stock market crash began the great
depression. Unemployment and poverty spread throughout urban and rural
communities in Indiana. Because citizens had decreased purchasing power, the
agriculture industry suffered from decreased consumption. Because job
opportunities in urban areas became increasingly scarce, there was a temporary
reversal of the rural to urban migration. This “back to the land movement”
emerged as towns and cities returned to their rural counties in an effort to
try and live off the land. “Since many of these individuals returned to
economically depressed rural areas in southern Indiana, they exacerbated the
already difficult conditions in these counties”[vi]
When the drought hit in 1930, Klan membership was down, the stock
market had just crashed causing economic hardship, and citizens were moving
back to rural communities throughout Indiana. With sub-par growing conditions
hit in the summer of 1930, Indiana farmers found it difficult to make ends
meet.
The geography of
Indiana played an important role in the drought of 1930. Because Agriculture
was and is an important piece of the Indiana economy, weather often determined
the crop outcomes, which were correlated with profits for farmers. Because many
Indiana residents were relying on crop yield for income, the drought of 1930
exacerbated the hardship of farmers based on region. In other words, some
regions of Indiana were more impacted by the drought than others depending on
the severity of impact on agriculture. For example, “A large part of the northern half of the state
suffers drouts distinctly less frequently on the average than does the southern
half.”[vii] This was true in 1930
when Southern Indiana communities fared worse than Northern Indiana
communities. In 1930 the zone bordering the Ohio River had a deficiency of
rainfall totaling from 13 to 18 inches.” [viii]While southern residents
may have faced different impacts from the drought than the northern half of the
state, Indiana as a whole was driest in the year of 1930.
When the drought
impacted Indiana in the summer of 1930, citizens around the state perceived the
disaster based on direct experience and local news sources. If you were a well
educated Hoosier you might pick up a copy of the Wall Street Journal and read
the headline: Counties Need Drought Relief. The Article written on August 14,
1930 informs readers that 198 counties in five states of Virginia, West
Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and Indiana are in shortage of feed for livestock
because of the drought. Further, “The Secretary of Agriculture has sent the
list to the American Railway Association in order that the emergency freight
rates authorized by the Interstate Commerce Commission could be made effective
at once.” [ix]
In other words, an emergency relief rate aka government intervention would
reduce the price of hay, feed, and water, for impacted farmers. The news
article concludes, “The 198 counties are only a partial list of the drought
damaged area and lists covering the other seven states are being compiled from
information gathered by the department’s crop reports, county agents and other
sources.” 5 days later, The Kokomo Tribune, a local newspaper, ran the
headline: Indiana News Says Drought Not Yet Acute. [x]
The article ran on August 19, 1930 and explained Indiana Agriculture
had not yet fully felt the impact the drought would inevitably have on the
Indiana economy. “Throughout the drought areas of central and southern Indiana,
however, the fears of the farmers are greater than their present realization.
They are afraid the winter months will find them short of hay and feed for
livestock and nearly all are hopeful that means of outside employment will be
found.“ In the counties surrounding Indianapolis conditions were slightly below
normal due to parched pastures, but no farmers reported distressed conditions. Additionally, “canning factories were
operating on regular season schedule packing tomatoes though bean and sweat corn
packing crops were small.” It appears the Kokomo Tribune and the Wall Street
Journal both believed the issue with the drought was the shortage of feed for
livestock, which is necessary for productive crop yields.
Aid for drought
victims came from the federal government and local government. Keynesian economics
was used when governments stepped in and began concrete relief programs like
the full mobilization of the Indiana Red Cross. In 1930, Indiana governor Harry
G. Leslie outlined three objectives in the Kokomo Tribune for a local aid plan
and drought relief program. [xi]
The first objective was to start a survey to gather the needs, resources, and
health of communities throughout Indiana. The second objective was relief on
freight rates and authorized relief supplies. Lastly, the Indiana government
would work to provide employment to drought sufferers. “Governor Leslie
expressed the opinion Indiana is not in nearly as acute a situation as other
states represented at the president’s conference. The following day on August
19th, 1930, the Kokomo Tribune ran a follow up article with the headline:
Leslie’s Relief Plan Is Delayed. On August 20th, Leslie’s relief
plan was blocked when the Governor tried borrowing $2,000,000 to use on
Indiana’s highway system to create employment opportunities for southern
Indiana farmers impacted by the drought. [xii]
The Governors request was turned down because drought regions had grown to 300
counties and federal money was more efficiently spent in other impacted areas
outside of Indiana. Instead, in order to coordinate relief efforts between
federal and state governments, President Hoover appointed Secretary Hyde as
chairman of the national drought relief committee. [xiii]
While Indiana received very little federal aid in 1930, on February 7, 1931,
The Didette Messenger, a newspaper in Valparaiso, Indiana ran the headline: “$20
Million Drought Fund Agreed Upon.”[xiv]
Additionally in the same newspaper a headline read: “Rain Fall is Great Relief.”[xv]
A string of precipitation events throughout Indiana in February 1931 combined
with the Federal governments approved 20 million dollar budget, gave Hoosiers
hope as aid and relief began to affect the people of Indiana.
While Hoosiers
worked to build a resilient community that could endure the “dust bowl”, they
were also faced with a continued exposure to race relationships. As articles
ran headlines for flood relief, the federal farm drought body, etc. articles
also depicted regions that were still plagued with racial issues. In the Kokomo
Tribune on August 19, 1930, a passage titled “ Carolina Mob Storms Jail, Hangs
Negro” [xvi]
detailed an unfortunate and tragic outcome for a black man in Tarboro North
Carolina. The man was in his jail cell when masked men stormed the jail and
found the 29 year old “negro”. The man awaiting trial for assault was dragged
100 meters outside the jail and filled with bullet holes. When the white mob arrived
the black man “realized his fate and went to his death without a word.” While
racial tensions in Indiana significantly decreased after the KKK scandal of
1925, this article gave Hoosiers exposure to the brutality that was still
occurring without any consequences. The article concludes: “None of the men in
the mob have been recognized.” This exposure to violence and an un-just system
gave Hoosiers a lot to think about as they were subjected to a society filled
with racial issues, little rainfall and a depressed economy.
Hoosiers reacted
to the drought of 1930 by creating a well-structured government relief program
and delivering a resilient agriculture, and industrial economy. 1930 was an
interesting time in Indiana history because the drought combined with evolving
race relationships made a unique and continually changing society. If you were
a Hoosier in 1930 in a rural or urban community you would be faced with a lot
to think about. If you were a rural farmer you would be struggling to provide a
sustainable yield with varying weather patterns throughout the 1930’s. If you
were in an urban area, factory work would often be dependent on manufacturing
needs. The urban to rural migration
that occurred when the stock market crashed reversed when WW2 and post war
prosperity brought jobs into Indiana cities. While 1930 was only the beginning
of the dust bowl, it did prove to be the driest yearly average Indiana has
faced in all of recorded history.[xvii] The resilience that
persisted throughout Indiana industry in the 1930’s helped develop the next
generation of Hoosiers. In the end, the drought of 1930 helped shape Indiana
into what we are today by holding onto agriculture and manufacturing as the
primary drivers of our Indiana economy.
[i] Madison, James H.. The Indiana way: a state
history. Bloomington: Indiana University Press ;, 1986.
[ii] Barbara J. Steinson. "Rural Life in Indiana,
1800–1950". Indiana Magazine of
History, 90, 3 (1994): 203-250.
[iii] Visher, S.S. CLIMATE OF INDIANA.
Institute of British Geographer: The Royal Geographical Society, 2006.
[iv] Barbara J. Steinson. "Rural Life in Indiana,
1800–1950". Indiana Magazine of
History, 90, 3 (1994): 201-203.
[v] Brown, Janet. "The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana
in the 1920s." Indiana Historical Society.
http://www.indianahistory.org/teachers-students/plan-a-field-trip/Tin%20Lizzies%20Ku%20Klux%20Klan%20Lesson.pdf
(accessed February 4, 2014).
[vi] Barbara J. Steinson. "Rural Life in Indiana,
1800–1950". Indiana Magazine of
History, 90, 3 (1994): 203-250.
[vii] Visher, S.S. CLIMATE OF INDIANA.
Institute of British Geographer: The Royal Geographical Society, 2006.
[viii] Visher, S.S. CLIMATE OF INDIANA.
Institute of British Geographer: The Royal Geographical Society, 2006.
[ix] Wall Street Journal. "Counties Need Drought Relief." The
Wall Street Journal (New York City), August 14, 1930.
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/ (accessed February 4, 2014).
[x] The Kokomo Tribune, "Indianapolis News Says Drought Not Yet
Acute," August 19, 1930, sec. The Kokomo Dispatch.
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/ (accessed March 4, 2014).
[xi] The Kokomo Tribune,
"Governor And His Aids Plan Drought Relief," August 18, 1930. http://www.libraries.iub.edu/
(accessed February 4, 2014).
[xii] Chicago Daily Tribune,
"Drought Relief For Indiana Is Blocked By Law," August 20, 1930.
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/ (accessed February 4, 2014).
[xiii] The Kokomo Tribune,
"Hyde To Head Federal Farm Drought Body," August 19, 1930, The kokomo
Dispatch edition. http://www.libraries.iub.edu/ (accessed March 4, 2014).
[xiv] The Didette Messenger (Valparaiso), "20
Million Drought Fund Agreed Upon," February 7, 1931.
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/ (accessed February 4, 2014).
[xv] The Didette Messenger (Valpariso), "Rain Fall Is Great
Relief," February 7, 1931. http://www.libraries.iub.edu/ (accessed
February 4, 2014).
[xvi] The Kokomo Tribune,
"Carolina Mob Storms Jail, Hangs Negro," August 19, 1930, The Kokomo
Dipatch edition. http://www.libraries.iub.edu/ (accessed March 4, 2014).
[xvii] Madison, James H.. The Indiana way: a state
history. Bloomington: Indiana University Press ;, 1986.
