New Deal Agricultural Policy and Farm Security Administration Archive Documenting Federal Aid to a Farmer in North Carolina, ca. 1941-49

New Deal Agricultural Policy

Archive

[Federal Agricultural Policy][Environmental Management][USDA] United States Department of Agriculture Farm Security Administration records documenting federal agricultural credit, debt restructuring, and subsistence planning for a farmer in Cullohwee, North Carolina, 1940s, significant for providing direct documentation of New Deal rural relief programs aimed at aiding farms impacted by the Dust Bowl. The materials establish a paper trail of borrowing, repayment difficulty, and government oversight, including promissory notes, renewal notices, and compliance documentation tied to conservation and production requirements, giving insight into Depression and Dust Bowl-era agricultural policy, federal intervention in rural debt, and the administrative policies used to stabilize small-scale farmers in the American South.

North Carolina farmer John Phillips archive of 23 items, ca. 1940s, consisting of typed and manuscript correspondence, promissory notes, payment receipts, loan statements, conservation program forms, and printed USDA pamphlet material, all addressed to or from John G. Phillips of Cullohwee, North Carolina. The documents are primarily issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Security Administration, and related agencies, with postal markings from North Carolina administrative centers including Raleigh and Asheville. The archive includes formal loan instruments, including renewal promissory notes marked “Renewed Not Paid,” statements of account tracking principal and interest, and receipts for partial payments. A “Farm and Home Plan of Work” manuscript outlines agricultural production requirements tied to federal assistance, specifying acreage allocations for corn, wheat, oats, clover, and pasture, along with livestock holdings and subsistence planning. Additional materials include a printed pamphlet titled “Social Security for Farm Families,” seed sample packets, and administrative correspondence regarding eligibility, inspection, and compliance with conservation programs.

Among the items in this archive are a formal loan instrument issued to John G. Phillips, outlining repayment obligations under federal agricultural credit programs; later stamped to indicate renewal status, a tabulated record tracking loan balance, payments, and accrued interest, signed receipts documenting partial payments toward outstanding loan balances, a revised loan agreement extending repayment terms, stamped “Renewed Not Paid,” a manuscript agricultural plan detailing required crop distribution, livestock management, and fertilizer application as conditions of federal assistance, application form documenting participation in conservation subsidy programs tied to soil management and production quotas, typed letters regarding loan status, documentation requirements, and supervisory oversight of farm operations, a printed pamphlet explaining the extension of Social Security benefits to agricultural workers, reflecting expansion of federal welfare programs into rural populations, and three original sample clover seed packets from American Field Seed Company in Chicago, IL.
The Farm Security Administration, established in 1937, extended earlier New Deal agricultural programs by providing loans, technical guidance, and subsistence planning to struggling farmers, particularly in regions affected by soil depletion and economic instability. This archive documents the administrative intensity of those interventions, including detailed oversight of planting decisions, livestock holdings, and debt repayment schedules. The presence of repeated loan renewals and stamped notices indicating non-payment underscores the persistent financial precarity faced by small farmers despite federal assistance. The integration of Social Security literature within the archive further situates these materials within the broader expansion of federal welfare systems into rural America. Light creasing, toning, and edge wear throughout, with occasional small tears, filing holes, and handling wear; manuscript entries legible and printed text clear; overall good condition. Includes original envelopes postmarked 1941-1949. A comprehensive archive illustrating federal agricultural policy and economic planning during the New Deal.

Item #23077

Price: $1,850.00