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Southern Tenant Farmers' Union Collection

Call Number

WAG.329

Dates

1930-1989, inclusive
; 1972-1989, bulk

Creator

Southern Tenant Farmers' Union
Mitchell, Samuel (Role: Donor)
Mitchell, Dorothy Dowe (Role: Donor)

Extent

10 Linear Feet in 8 record cartons, 2 oversize flat boxes and 1 manuscript box.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English

Abstract

The Southern Tenant Farmers' Union (STFU) was founded in 1934, in Tyronza, Arkansas by an interracial assembly of eighteen local sharecroppers and tenant farmers. Despite extreme persecution by landowners and deputy sheriffs the movement quickly developed locals in communities throughout the delta region and beyond. The STFU numbered 31,000 members at its peak in 1938. Several agricultural strikes and two roadside encampments-highlighting the plight of agricultural workers-garnered national press coverage. State commissions were established to relieve the plight of sharecroppers in Arkansas and neighboring Missouri and federal legislation was passed, creating programs to underwrite loans for sharecroppers to buy their own farms, as well as programs to build emergency housing for agricultural laborers. This collection consists of several hundred slide photographs, approximately ninety audio cassettes, sixty video cassettes, a dozen reel to reel tapes and a dozen 16mm films. The slides document sharecroppers, STFU leaders and rank-and-file members, and the devastation in Depression-era Dust Bowl farms. The film, video and reel to reel tape recording were generated in the course of filming the documentary "Our Land Too" on the history of the STFU.

Historical/Biographical Note

The Southern Tenant Farmers' Union was founded in 1934, in Tyronza, Arkansas, a rural town in northeast Arkansas. The region up until the 1930s was fertile and impoverished, consisting primarily of cotton plantations own by a small number of land owners. Sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and agricultural laborers worked the land. Sharecroppers were provided seed, tools, a shack to live in and credit to buy food and clothing. They turned over half their crop to the landowner. Tenant farmers provided their own tools and seed, turning over one third of their crop to the landowner. Agricultural laborers worked the landowners' land for small wages.

The New Deal agricultural subsidy programs redistributed income towards the landowners, at the expense of the sharecroppers and laborers working the land. With this miscarriage of policy as their impetus, H.L. Mitchell and Henry Clay East, two self-taught socialists, who ran a laundry and filing station respectively, in Tyronza, began talking up socialist alternatives to the agricultural system in operation in much of the Arkansas delta. The first meeting of the STFU, on July 13th 1934, was attended by an interracial assembly of eighteen local sharecroppers and tenant farmers.

Despite extreme persecution by landowners and deputy sheriffs the STFU quickly developed locals in communities throughout the delta region and beyond. The STFU numbered 31,000 members at its peak in 1938, and parleyed support from socialist leader Norman Thomas, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rheinhold Niebuhr, Gardner Jackson (working in 1934 for the Department of Agriculture), and others to obtain the ear of federal agricultural policy makers.

Enduring shootings, beating and near-lynchings, the STFU obtained a great deal of press coverage. A "March of Time" newsreel was made in 1935 about sharecroppers. Several agricultural strikes and two roadside encampments-highlighting the plight of agricultural workers-garnered national press coverage. State commissions were established to relieve the plight of sharecroppers in Arkansas and neighboring Missouri and federal legislation was passed: the STFU influenced the creations of programs to underwrite loans for sharecroppers to buy their own farms, and to build emergency housing for agricultural laborers.

The STFU is also memorable for the quasi-religious character the movement assumed. The union had its own anthems and fighting songs ("Roll the Union On," was composed by STFU member John Handcox). It had elaborate rituals: "The Ceremony of the Land," and a string-tying initiation ceremony. Principles of racial equality were espoused from the beginning of the STFU, making it one of the first interracial organizations of working people to function in the southern United States.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into three series:

Series I: Slides, 1934-1985

Series II: Audio Recordings, 1930-1985

Series III: Film and Video Recordings, 1978-1989

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of several hundred slide photographs, approximately ninety audio cassettes, sixty video cassettes, a dozen reel to reel tapes and a dozen 16mm films. The slides document sharecroppers, Southern Tenant Farmers' Union (STFU) leaders and rank-and-file members, and the devastation in Depression-era Dust Bowl farms. Prominent photographers such as Margaret Bourke-White, Dorothea Lange and Farm Security Administration photographers are included. Audio cassette recordings include a small number of interviews with STFU organizers as well as lectures given by H.L. Mitchell and others at U.S. college campuses. The film, video and reel to reel tape recording were generated in the course of filming the documentary "Our Land Too" on the history of the STFU.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by H.L. Mitchell was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Southern Tenant Farmers' Union Collection; WAG 329; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Initially donated by Micky Beth Stiller on behalf of Dorothy Dowe Mitchell in 1991. A new donation agreement was signed by Sam Mitchell (H.L. Mitchell's son) in 2009. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 1990.001, 1990.002, 1990.004, 1990.007, and NPA.2005.173.

Custodial History

Film, video and reel to reel tapes were commissioned by Southern Tenant Farmers' Union founder H.L. Mitchell, who also headed the Southern Rural Welfare Assocation, Inc. until his death in 1989. Many of these materials were produced by Kudzu Films of Montgomery, Alabama, though rights to these materials were held by H.L. Mitchell. Audio recordings were primarily made by H.L. Mitchell.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Access to audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room.

Audiovisual materials that have not been preserved are not available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu, (212) 998-2630 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Related Archival Materials

Print materials from the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union are owned by the Southern Rural Welfare Association, Inc., and are on loan to The Southern Historical Collection of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library:

Southern Tenant Farmers' Union Records, 1931-1991 (Collection #03472)

The papers of Henry Clay East, co-founder of the STFU, were donated to the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections in 1973:

Henry Clay East Papers (Collection 189)

Collection processed by

Maggie Schreiner

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:41:24 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English

Processing Information

This collection was originally divided into four separate collections: Southern Tenant Farmers' Union Films (FILMS 006), Oral History (OH 029), Photographs (PHOTOS 225) and Videos (VIDEOS 004). In 2014 these were reunited into a single collection, the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union Collection (WAG 329).

The majority of reels, audio and video cassettes in this collection have individual identification numbers. These numbers were assigned before the collection was donated to the Tamiment Library. The collection was later weeded due to the substantial number of duplicates. As a result, particularly in the audio recordings, there are frequent gaps in the numerical sequence of the individual cassettes.

Finally, when the collection was intially donated, an extensive item level inventory was created which contains some additional information not reflected in this finding aid. This inventory is available at the respository.

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012