The Resettlement Administration was a New Deal agency that later became the Farm Security Administration (FSA). The FSA had many programs involving agricultural issues and dealt directly with the plight of farmers who were victims of the Dust Bowl disaster. The FSA had a photography division that set out to document the Depression and the plight of thousands of victims. Some of the greatest photographers of the time, including Dorthea Lange, whose photographs of California’s migrants have become iconic images of the Depression, photographed migrant farm laborers all over the west coast. There are well over 100,000 FSA photographs at the Library of Congress.
The FSA also set up approximately 20 experimental migrant camps, mostly in California. These camps, which are referenced in the section on the Dust Bowl, were self-sufficient and were subject to rules made and enforced by the camp residents. They were clean and safe and offered a welcome respite for the migrants, who often were subject to cruel law enforcement officers and unscrupulous farmers who provided degrading and wretched living quarters for their workers. (http://hearingvoices.com/webworks/dust-bowl/) The following report from a FSA worker describes the living arrangements at one of the California camps:
…[The camp] contained 145 families (650 persons). The camp consists of 106 metal shelters (steel, painted with an aluminum paint said to cut off the sun’s rays perceptibly), 98 tents, and 20 adobes. At the peak of the cotton picking the camp population rises to 250 families, or 1200 persons. (Average family is 4.2 persons, said to be below the average for the nation). The adobes are assigned on a selective basis. The occupant must show a record of 6 months employment in agriculture during preceding year. The adobes are permanent homestead — including an acre of ground; we saw flower gardens, etc. Rent is $8.25 per month. Rent for the shelters or tent platforms is $.25 per week. The Comm. which chooses the residents of the adobes is a camp comm. The occupants of the adobes are “permanent” — the occupants of the tents and shelters may not stay in the camp for more than a year – although they may move back after having lived elsewhere for a while.
(Id.)
“Little Rag Houses” written by Jack Bryant (1940) refers to the tents that migrants lived in at FSA camps. A few camps had actual cabins but most used tents for the residents. The song reflects the attitude embraced by many people that they would be willing to move out of the relative comfort and safety of a government run camp to find gainful work. This song utilizes the tune of “I Don’t Want Your Greenback Dollar” and is sung by the 198 String Band. The 198 String Band hails from Buffalo, NY and is comprised of Tom Naples (guitar, banjo, autoharp), Peggy Milliron (guitar and vocals), and Mike Frisch (fiddle, guitar, vocals). Tom Naples traveled the route of the Dust Bowl migrations and interviewed former migrant camp residents. (http://musicfromthedepression.com/little-rag-houses/)
I don’t want your little rag houses
I don’t want your navy beans
All I want is a greenback dollar
For to buy some gasoline.The scenery here is gettin’ rusty
I’ll go further up the line
Where the fields are green and purty
It will satisfy my mindWe don’t want to be a burden
On the people of this land
We just want to earn our money
And you people know we can.So goodbye my friends and neighbors
We are on the tramp
Many thanks to all officials
Of this migratory campSo goodbye my friends and neighbors
We are on the tramp
Many thanks to all officials
Of this migratory campI don’t want your little rag houses
I don’t want your navy beans
All I want is a greenback dollar
For to buy some gasoline.
“Government Camp Song” offers a description of camp life from the mouths of two 12-year-old female residents, Mary Campbell and Margaret Treat. The song was recorded in August 1941 by FSA employees, Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin, who were charged with documenting the conditions in which the migrants lived. Note the reference to “rag house home.” (www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197415/) This audio is accompanied by a vivid slide show of the conditions in the camps.
Over here in the government camp
That’s where we get our government stamps
Over in that little rag house homeOver in the isolation that where we get our vaccination
Over in that little rag house homeOver in Unit One, that’s where the people have their fun
Over in that little rag house homeOver in Unit Two, that’s where people go without their shoes
Over in that little rag house homeOver in Unit Three, that’s were the people have jamborees
Over in that little rag house homeOver in Unit Four, people don’t live there anymore
Over in that little rag house homeOver in Unit Five, people don’t act like they’re alive
Over in that little rag house homeOver in Unit Six, that’s where people want no tricks
Over in that little rag house homeOver in the garden homes, that’s where people like to roam
Over in their little garden homeOver at the recreation, that’s where the people do new creation
Over in that little rag house homeOver at the library, that’s where the people like to tarry
Over in that little rag house homeOver at the sewing room, it needs a needle and a broom
Over in that little rag house homeOver at the welfare, it sure gets to the people there
Over in that little rag house homeOver at the reservoir, it needs be cleaned by man and boy
Over in that little rag house homeOver at the center building, that where they have a nurse for the little children
Over in that little rag house homeOver at the boxing ring, that’s where the people like to shout and sing
Over in that little rag house homeOver where we cook and can, we hope some day to get a man
Over in that little rag house homeWe are proud of the government camp
That’s where we get our government stampsOver by that little rag house home
Mary Sullivan’s ballad “A Traveler’s Line,” speaks of hardship, disappointment, and a deep desire to return home. It was written and sung by Mary Sullivan and recorded at a FSA Camp in 1940. (http://www.loc.gov/item/toddbib000078/)
As I was walking one morning
I spied a man old and gray,
A story to share with someone
So these words to me he did say.For two long years now I have wandered
Away from loved ones at home.
It seemed that starvation was on us
And then we decided to roam.At first we camped out on the prairie,
Then state to state we did try
To find work enough for provisions
But it seemed there was no use to try.I finally wound up in a chapter
In an FSA camp by the way.
A man walked up and told me
You can sign for a grant check today.Then groceries brought in by the armfuls
The children no longer did sigh.
The camp’s such a nice place to live in
The manager so nice in reply.So now you all heard my sad story,
And how we first ventured out.
The welfare will clothe all your families,
When you stop in a farm workers’ camp.