SEGMENT: FAMILY BACKGROUND, NON-FARM WORK, & REFLECTIONS
Dr. Debra Reid>ISM Interviews M-Z>ISM Interviews M-Z, Segment 4
| <-Previous Segment | Next Segment-> |
- Names, Dates, & Places
- FARMING DURING GREAT DEPRESSION
- Her mother never reminisced about the Depression. Her father would recall his days in the CCC. As a young teen in the Depression, he had a paper route that gave him some income.
- FAMILY BACKGROUND
- Values; Education; Military Service; Non-Farm Work; Teachers
- NON-FARM WORK
- Applied for a fellowship at Historic Deerfield, on the Connecticut River in Massachusetts. Very rich land, raised beef for Boston Market. Went to Maine, worked at a historic farm called the Washburn Norlands in Livermore. Managed the Farmers Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Went to Denmark where she worked at the National Open Air Museum. Managed Gov. Bill and Vera Daniel Historic Village Museum for Baylor University, which focused on share cropping. Out of research for this site she started her doctoral research which she completed at TX A&M. Started working at Eastern Illinois University, where she teaches history, and partners with places like Lincoln's Log Cabin. Also teaches an agricultural history course at University of Illinois.
- REFLECTIONS
- Kaskaskia and other Illinois Indians started agriculture in the area. Proceeds through the different immigrant groups (French, German, Polish) and people moving westward from Pennsylvania and New England. She believes land and transportation networks, as well as culture of the immigrants, are responsible for the types of farming in Illinois. Historically, there has been more hillside farming with emphasizes on diversification. In southern Illinois, the land had to be drained first. Staley Company pioneered soy bean farming, along with University of Illinois. Transition was easier than the transition to hybrids.
