Farm and Land
From the days of colonial America to the watershed year of 1933, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Agricultural Adjustment Act in an attempt to relieve the economic distress of owner-operated farms, there was a gradual change in approach and attitude toward our farmlands -- the nation's heartland. The agrarian philosophy of stewardship for the land shifted to a philosophy based on efficiency, commerce, and productivity.
The Agrarian Tradition corresponded to the Jeffersonian ideal of the "independent yeoman farmer." It blended two traditions: farming-as-a-way-of-life, emphasizing the intrinsic goodness of dealing with the land, and farming as a contributor to the development of responsible citizens through the encouragement of social virtue, economic prosperity, and democracy. Agriculture, the nation's basic industry, reflected America in microcosm.
The Efficiency Tradition, also known as the entrepeneurial tradition, corresponded to the pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps success of stories of Horatio Alger. Farming was an occupation that was instrumentally good. Land was a resource to be gainfully and efficiently employed to promote the best future for oneself and the nation.
These intertwining traditions each expressed something of the American experience and the nation. Gradually, the efficiency tradition dominated as new methods of industry and increased modernization resulted in a transformation of farming and rural life.
A Family Farm Album: Frank Sadorus' Photographs : Farm and Land
Sow and Piglets
Harvesting Wheat
Hay Wagon
Dog in the Snow
Kneeling Gardener
Bull
Frank Harvesting Corn
Christmas Post Card of Home
Wheat harvester
Sheep
Corn-sheller
Boiling Syrup
Slaughtered Hogs
Row of Trees
Frank Picking Corn
Warren Leaning on a Stump
Elmer Clearing Fallen Tree
Big Rock
Tapping for Maple Syrup
Elmer and GWB with Manure Wagon
Sluice Gate
Is That So. -W-e-l-l.
Two-Mile Dredge Ditch
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A Family Farm Album: Frank Sadorus' Photographs : Farm and Land