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Southern Tenant Farmers' Union was founded in 1934
The union was formed in Tyronza, Arkansas, with the aim of reforming the crop sharing system of sharecropping and tenant farming. During the 1930s times were rough for southern farmers stemming from the Great depression and the New Deal Reform. -
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Overarching lesson
This union shows what humans can do when they come together and fight for a cause as one people.This union represents the good in America, where individuals come together despite race, color and creed to fight for their rights.This union was far ahead of its time and even was a symbol of women equality, at this time period women were under appreciated and did not have roles in various organisations but they were welcome to join this union and also held important positions in this establishment. -
Primary Source(link at the end of timeline)
This newspaper article highlights the major struggles that sharecroppers faced such as false promises from the government and rich planters. As they stated the new program was to better the condition for farmers in poverty and show them a way out of the terrible economic conditions they lived in at the time. This source shows that no one actually benefited from the new system and many sharecroppers were stuck in poverty, not being able to make ends meet. -
Movement of the union in 1935
The headquarters of the union was relocated from the Mitchel-East building in Arkansas to Memphis ,Tennessee as they received threats from night riders. -
The strike of 1935
The union organized a harmless strike for cotton pickers. This strike aided in an increase in pay to the pickers per pound of cotton. -
Expansion of 1936
The union had started to gain popularity and in 1936 spread to Texas, Missouri Tennessee and Oklahoma. -
March of the Time(1937)
This was a tv series by CBS that spoke about social issues of the time.In August of 1937 an episode was aired that addressed the struggle of black and white sharecroppers in the south. -
Meeting of 1937 with Eleanor Roosevelt
H.l Mitchel was summoned to speak to Eleanor Roosevelt in Washington DC on behalf of poor and homeless farming families -
Video of the Southern Tenant farmers' Union
This is a documentary on the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjQpfyNldQM -