North Carolina’s tobacco history dates back as far as we can remember. After the Great Depression in 1935 (as part of the New Deal) the Farm Security Administration (FSA) tried to combat extreme rural poverty through the Resettlement Administration. The ‘rural rehabilitation’ was established to improve the lives of sharecroppers, tenants, and very poor landowning farmers and of course, revolved around two main crops – tobacco and cotton.
The relief system soon came under attack; Farm Bureau deemed it ‘collectivizing agriculture’ – AKA using and exploiting farmers to work on large, government-owned farms. Over time the Conservative Coalition took control of Congress and transformed it into a program that helped poor farmers buy land, now known as the Farmers Home Administration.
Between the years before and after, tobacco farming dominated North Carolina’s history. Aside from farming, tobacco giant RJR headquartered in Winston-Salem with other cities like Durham also known for their high tobacco sales. While today we realize the effects from smoking cigarettes, that doesn’t change the deeply rooted tobacco culture that shaped our state. Lucky for us, the FSA and RA are known for their amazing photography program that hired photographers to document and report the lives and struggles of poor farm workers. These photos below give a glimpse into history.
- 1939 in Wake County, the daughter of a sharecropper goes up and down the rows to ‘worm’ the tobacco.
Yale Photogrammar / Dorothea Lange
- This simple 1939 photo shows a deep look into the life of tobacco farmers. The screen platform in the background is where one of the family members slept at night to tend to the fire. On top of the tobacco sleds sit two children who already knew the meaning of hard labor.
Yale Photogrammar / Dorothea Lange
- This was a daily sight - a rehabilitation supervisor discusses the recent crop with one of his clients. 1936, Smithfield.
Yale Photogrammar / Dorothea Lange
- Some things you just gotta do barefoot. Like this tobacco farmer from Farrington in 1940.
Yale Photogrammar / John Vachon
- During this time, it wasn’t rare to have tobacco growing up to the front door. So is this case with this sharecropper and his family outside of Chapel Hill in 1939.
Yale Photogrammar / Dorothea Lange
- With a little assistance from the wildlife, tobacco farmers could accomplish a bit more. This photo from 1939 in Granville is proof of just that.
Yale Photogrammar / Jack Delano
- One great way to sell your crop was at auction. This was one of the many tobacco auction warehouses. Wendell, 1939
Yale Photogrammar / Marion Post Wolcott
- A tobacco ‘flower.’ Once the tobacco plant blooms, it is then topped with an extra decoration.
Yale Photogrammar / Dorothea Lange
- Mrs. Oakley, the wife of a tenant farmer, strings tobacco during harvest. Photo from Granville in 1939.
Yelp Photogrammar / Dorothea Lange
- All the hard work doesn’t always guarantee a good crop; that’s up to nature to decide. So is the case with this rehabilitation supervisor examining the season’s yield in Durham in 1936.
Yelp / Arthur Rothstein
- And when the crop is good, you sell it. So is the case at a tobacco warehouse in Durham in 1936.
Yale Photogrammar / Arthur Rothstein
- When the tobacco sells, celebrate. This rehabilitation client poses with his crop that will pay off all of loans. Durham 1936.
Yale Photogrammar / Arthur Rothstein
- Another interesting look at the process. Even some years later in 1939, there’s still the same environment in warehouses. Buyers sift through crop, deciding the best to purchase. Durham 1939.
Yale Photogrammar / Marion Post Wolcott
- A sharecropper poses with his son on the front porch.
Yale Photogrammar / Dorothea Lange
- The wife and children of the sharecropper in the above picture. Taken in 1939.
Yelp Photogrammar / Dorothea Lange
What a unique glimpse into the past and how lucky we are to view it today. Were you a tobacco farmer or raised by one?
Yale Photogrammar / Dorothea Lange
Yale Photogrammar / John Vachon
Yale Photogrammar / Jack Delano
Yale Photogrammar / Marion Post Wolcott
Yelp Photogrammar / Dorothea Lange
Yelp / Arthur Rothstein
Yale Photogrammar / Arthur Rothstein
For more unique North Carolina history, these photos during WWII in North Carolina are amazing.
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