Full text of Work Relief in Missouri : 1934-35

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WORK RELIEF I~ MISSOUR

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Gu}' I?>. l)ark ·
Gti~E--riOrr of .Missouri

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOURI

Ct>mpiled by
William Gammon

~IS~OURI RELIEF co~~ISSION
W 4.LIACE CROSSLEY, 4.drnini~t.-ato.-

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193 5

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ForEword
In February, 1934, with foreknowledge that the Civil
Works Administration would be t errninated March 31, relief
administrators,

as well

speculated on how to

as state

and city

executives,

meet the problem of caring

for the

millions of families whose federal employment would cease
and who would again be dependent upon public bounty. They
realized that

the Civil Works Administration had

its purpose:

it had turned

and had

met an acute human

new problems would be forged,
hannful effects

the tide of
emergency.

situation when,

the depression
But in

its wake

perplexing problems.

of direct relief,

people dependent,

served

its tendency

were openly recognized.
on February 28,

The

to make

Such was the

the President announced

at the White House a new strategy of advance - a work relief proGram

that would provide

an opportunity

to work

for those who must of necessity demand aid.
The work

relief program

this report, was,

in Missouri,

described in

therefore, a part of a national effort

to meet United States unemployment.

Administrator
September 1, 1935
Jefferson City, Missouri

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WALLACE CROSSLEY

Admi ni~t·. -ato.-

I ntroduction

· State Financing .of Relief

Changes in Organization

The Work .Pro gram

. women 's Work

Highway Cooperative Program

Safety Program

Drought Relief

Water Conservation and Development

Hay and Pasturage Development

105

Removal of Drought Cattle

108

Feed Conservation and Distribution

111

Seed Corn Conservation

116

Garden and Food Conservation

119

Topo graphic and Geolo gic Survey

131

Commodity Distribution

140

Missouri State Plann i ng Board

144

Smal l Industries

147

Emergency Education

150

Coal Di stribut ion

153

Intensity of Relie f

154

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WORK RELIEF I~ MISSOURI

I nl.-oduction
On July 21,

1932,

the President approved an Act of Congress, 1

recognizing nation wide unemployment and authorizing the Reconstruction Finance

Corporation to make loans

the several states

and

territories for the purposes of emergency relief.
For two years

prior to that

time

Missouri municipalities had

been throwing their resources into the

breach caused by the general

breaking down of the economic structure.
tion had
lifted its

long been

at work.

The forces of disintegra-

Industrial unemployment ,

ugly head sporadically

which

for more than a decade,

had

was be-

coming progressively more serious.
In 1930, St. Louis, in common with
industrial

other American cities where

unemployment was reaching new heights , sought to develop

plans to cope with physical distress and attendant evils of enforced
idleness.

The problem was not new to St. Louis, nor was the idea of

public spending of public funds to meet a public calamity.
fore, in 1921, as an emergency measure
monies for
needy". 2

"the purpose of supplying

St. Louis had drawn upon tax
work

to the

unemployed

and

The emergency clause of this ordinance, possibly the first

1 Public No. 302, 72d Congress.
Ordinance 31381, approved Nov. 8, 1921.

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Once be-

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post-war example

of an .American municipality's

relief program with city funds,3
lent that

steps must

embarking on a work

stated: "Unemployment is so preva-

be taken

immediately

to control

the spread

thereof."
Citizens'

committees

origin, cooperated
social

agencies

on relief

and

employment,

with city governments and
in devising

plans

various

private charities and

meeting

unprecedented

situation.
Beginnings of central state direction of relief activities were
made in 19310

The Honorable Henry

Caulfield,

then Governor of

Missouri, sought to organize to relieve distress among the unemployed during the forthcoming winter.
ment of

The winter past had seen develop-

numerous city plans, notably in the

trial areas, and it was the

major urban and indus-

leaders of these communities, outstand-

ing citizens who had a current important connection with relief work
already inaugurated,

that the Governor called to the Missouri Con-

ference on Unemployment Relief, September 30, 1931.
not in the

Governor's mind to

but rather to stimulate
machinery.

set up a state

emergency relief

However, it was

relief organization,

work, utilizing

Indeed, no funds w~re available for the establishment of

a central relief administration.
ference, whlch

In addressing himself to this Con-

resulted in the formation of the

Missouri Committee

on Unemployment Relief, the Governor said: 4
"The responsibility for relief is local, and
every

citizen

should give

according

3 Emergency Work Relief Colcord, Koplovitz and Kurtz, Russell Sage
Foundation (1932).
4 Library - Missouri Relief and Reconstruction Commission.

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existing

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to his

means.

We must all realize that the situation

must

be met by

voluntary

contributions,

that the nation or state may be
bark upon
ployed

a system of

forced to em-

support for the

unem-

through taxation, which will lead us,

we know not where."
While recognizing the emergency,

and the necessity for immedi-

ate action, the Governor, in common with the political leadership of
the day,

sought to

establish and

increase the

people as to business conditions and to
butions.

"Unfortunately",

very much exaggerated
many who normally
tho se who,

he said,

in the minds

by their purchases,

encourage our

cttizens to

"the number of

unemployed is

This has

influenced

provide employment,

as well as

make work for others.

not only have to face unemployment

of the

stimulate voluntary contri-

of many.

would be able to

confidence

So you Will

but must seek to dispel fear and

resume their usual . course in

trade and

industry ." 5
A campai gn of optimism to
carried on,

hand in hand with definite work to ascertain the extent

of unemployment in the state.
ly urban industrial areas,
tion that

counteract depression psychology was

unemployment

Meanwhile many communities, especial-

were being brought to the acute realiza-

was a

maJor catastrophe

with which

local

charity was scarcely able to cope.
Subsequent to
the state_, and

this meeting,

conferences were

a survey was ma.de by Mr.

held tnroughout

Walter Burr, Professor of

Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri, to determine as nearly

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as poss-fble

aeourate r: est:imates , ·or· the · e-xt,e nt ·, of -Yunemployment -in

the various counties and

the availability

which to meet community needs.
ed more upon

of local resources with

This survey was yursory, and depend-

opinion of local leaders than upon specific findings.

The following surmner,

at a time when local charity funds were

almost completely exhausted, when mounting unemployment was creating
destitution

that no longer could be denied,

the Federal Government

undertook, by authority of the Emergency Relief and Construction Act
of 1932,

to lend to the states funds to relieve the need of persons

destitute by reason of unemployment.
tended to deter

Repayment features of the Act

states from accepting funds,

tably New York, attempted to

finance their

without recourse to federal aid.

means of annual deductions
the r epayment
Act j

relief

program

to repay aid so extended,

Reconstruction Finance Corporation.

funds , originally provided as loans,
f or hi ghway construction.

entire

no-

A few other states, however , feel-

ing that they never would be called upon
called heavily upon the

and some states ,

These

were to be repaid later by the

from the states' share of federal grants
Subsequently,

provisions of

the 73d Congress abrogated

the Emergency Relief and

~nd such funds as had been advanced by the

Construction

Reconstruction Fi~

nance Corporati0n accrued to the states as outright grants. 6
On September 20, 1932, Mr. Burr, who had served as Secretary of
the Missouri Committee on Unemployment Relief for more than a year,
was given a temporary leave of absence

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sity of Missouri
state.

from his work at the Univer-

and became Director of Unemployment Relief for the

The Administrative expense in connection with his office was

6 Of the total of $4,616,789.00 received by the State of Missouri from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation $1,158,118.00 was granted prior to January l, 1933.

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borne by the Governor out

Executive Department funds.

Arrange-

ments were made to extend aid to the needy 1n the counties.
Federal fundf;I were made available to ltlaaourl almost 1mmed1ata-

1Y to cover relier needs or September, October, November, and December, and in succeeding monthe the state came to rely more and more

on the Federal Government for such

aa were plainly necessary

rim.dB

as supplementary aid in the meeting or depression-created destitllltion.

In the counties, rel1a1 was adm1n1stered by volunteer commltr.

tees.

This was a natural procedure,- since federal funds were avail-

able as loans.,

to be

adm1niatered as state and

local authorities

thought beat.
In January, 1933,

with the advent

ot a new state adm1ntstra,-

t1on, the Honorable Guy B. Park, Governor or 1lieaour1, named a state ·

Advisory Committee
Committee

on Unemployment Relier

on Unemployment

Wallace Crossley,

Relief.

of Warrensburg,

to succeed the IHsaouri

This Committee

1la8

headed by

and its other members were F. B.

Mumford, Dean of the College or Agriculture~

Columbia, and the late

Dr. E. R. Cockrell, of Fulton. 7
After adjournment of
visory Committee

the legislature then in s eaaton,

on Unemployment Reller was

the .Ad-

designated by the

Goy- -

em.or as the Missouri Relief and Reconstrnct1on Co:rmnlsaion 8.lld Col.
John T. Harding,

ot Kanaae City, and the late Col. J. Harry Relmle> •

- of St. Louts, ware appointed to serva on the newly created Conmtaa1on.

No legislative authority ex1Bted tor the establ1Bbment

the Commission;

.,
8

and such funds as have bean appropriated ror rellat

De·e eaaed Sept-.ber lS • 19M.

Deceased July 25, 19S6+

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Pl.}!P_Qs~s rr9rn th~ g~n~raf: -:r~v~r_m es o.:( ,;the state have been tor use at
the discretion of the Governor
. . -- .
Fed~ral .fµnds . that .- ~ad ~ee.n _·; :qi~~e ,available under the Emergan0y
R~1.1~f and C(?nstruct1on Act of , 19.3,2 _~ere, nearing exhaustion,
May __ the :Wagner-~~wis _Act,~ w~s = ~ppr,qyect_ by the President,

and in
This Act

created the _Fe9-e~l .~ergen~:v .R~l~_~ f Administration which immediately -set about . the - ~s~a!,)~l~~ent :,o~ _u.n~!_
orm regulations for the administration qf -re:L1ef
throµgtwut
...,the . ~punt_ry.
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Most important, was the

regul~t1on
_;tp.at _publ~c- ._ fun9:S
. must ..- b~
by public agencies •
·
. .-· --~. P~nt
.

.,.

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. .

1933, .- ~ the Gqvernor . appointed

Op_ . July .l"

,:_i..

Chairman of the

_,,._ • • .

, ___ · .;

Missouri Relief

· ,.

Wallace

Crossley,

and Reconstruction Comm.1as1on,. t o

suc.c.e~d Walter -Burr ,§.R Di:t;:ector of . relief activities.10 Missouri had
.

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po state _ supervis,ed _poor re1i~f. . Coµuty courts
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funds . under
outmoded laws.
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~~ere .wa~ :nothing in the

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~embltng organiz~d wel:f.a~e __ departmar:its. .
-.

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administered poor

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These,

counties re-

the new relief ad-

mJn1f3tr_
a t1.on was obliged tq- . set ,uJ) in
.every county receiving federal
.
. .

machinery- a_cceptable
to the federal author!. -

te~1ef adm1nistrat1v~

..:_

(

Immediately work was started

ties.
~~

in _organizing county committees

~Runty o~f1cea.
There
was•.. .in . the
Adm1n1strator's
_m1nd an acute
:.
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~:ti~ .approa.chiTT~

a-wareness that

lV~~t~f ; ;wp.~~,·-8~~.a te -~!_tuat1ona and pose perplexing

problems to .t.he solution .af ...which would be needed the best in local
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f Oµra 9~, ~~nft,J e~qe5~11:1p • . :• :

1;qf \i_9-ti ye,
1~nc~ _) ,n

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!-n order to pool local exper-

me.~t1:rig }?r.Ob1~~ ot .,. tlJ.e, depr.~ssion and in forging a plan
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9 Public No. 16, 7Jd CongQ!!e&e.

10 Kr. Burr resigned to acoept appointment as Associate Director
of the •ational Reemployment Service, Washington, D. c.

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with the Un iversity of Missouri , called the first Mi ssouri Institute
on Public Welfare to meet the third week in November .
On November 10 , 1933 , the Commission was formally desi gnated to
act as the Federal

Civil Works Administration

f or Mis souri and Mr.

Crossley was named Civil Works Administrator: 1 The institute meeting
was a propitious occasion,
tion plan for CWA.
work.

at which to lay the state wide organiza-

By January,

than 100,000

persons were at

The Civil Works Administration was terminated March 31, 1934.

During its life time more than $19,000,000.00
disbursed in Missouri .
the close

of the CWA

June, 1934,

in federal funds were

A work relief program was inaugurated after
program,

and,

continued until July 1 ,

except for a brief
1935,

period in

when curtailed federal

allotments made its continuance impossible.
A year later,

in October, 1934,

the second Missouri Institute

on Public We l fare attracted leaders from surrounding states , representatives

of the

Federal Relief

Administration and

thousands of

persons engaged in relief work in Missouri .
12

Its membership depleted by death and resi gnation,
Relief

and

Reconstruction

Commission was reorganized

1935, as the Mis souri Relief Commission,
facto

body.

John T.
James
Mexico,

The members were:

Harding
of Joplin,

Wallace

of Kansas City,
C. D.

Crossley of

of Sikeston,

of Kansas City,

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Warrensburg,

of Fes tus,
Fred A.

Grover

Morris of

Mrs . DeWitt C. Chastain

11 For details of the work of the Federal Civil Works Administration
for Missouri see "Civil Works Administration of Missouri: A Review"
(1934)

12 Dean F. B. Mumford resigned June 7, 1935.

August 27,

like it s predecessor, a de

N. W. Brickey

Matthews

Burris T. Jenkins

the Miss ouri

or Butler,

Mrs. ·Edward J.

Walsh or St. Louis,

St. Louis, H. A. Sprague of St. Jo"seph,
H. A. Buehler of Rolla, Mrs.

Dean Isidor Loeb or
Head of Palmyra,

E. Still of Kirksville,

Neale or Springfield.

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Braces Were Made for Hundreds of Crippled Children

Relief Workers.

18-

Dr.

and Ben F.

WORK RELIEF I~ . ~ISSOIJRI

Irmnediately_up·on

his assumption

of Off ice

in January,

1933,

Governor Park sought appropriations by the 57th General Assembly for
relief purposes.

An effort also was made for

the establishment of

an official relief administrationo

This latter proposal failed, but

the legi°slature appropriated from

the general revenues of the state

the sum of $250 ,000'"00
2

$50 ,000 .00

for relfef purposes and an additional ·sum of

for the employment .of limited personnel and expenses of

admi nistratfono
By fall,
general,

reco gnition o-f the public

and on October 4, 1933,

extraordinary

session of

General Assembly,-

calamity then existing was

the Governor issued a call for an
In his message · to the

the legislature.

which convened that month,

mended passage of a sales tax for

the Executive

recom-

relief purposes and submission of

a constitutional amendment to the voters permitting the issuance of
$10,000,000.00 in bonds with which to finance a public works program
of improvement to the
A sales
legis lature

state's penal and

tax of one-half

of one per

appropriated $5,000,000.00

l Senate Bill 167 (1933)
2 C.S.HoB ■ 661 (1933)
3 S.H.B. 127 (1933-34 Ex. Ses.) Sec. 12-L.

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eleemosynary institutions.
cent was enacted
chargeable

to the

and the
general

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

revenue fund,
nor,

or as much thereof as might

be ordered by the Gover-

to be used in t he manner aut horized and directed by t he Gover-

nor together with
any f unds advanced through
. .
.

eral Government f or

any agency of t he Fed-

t he rel ief of needy citizens of Missouri .

The

act stipulated that not more than $4 , 090,000. 00 of the appropri at i on
could be
failure

expended during
of

the

sales

$2 , 286,936 . 22 was made

the year ending 1934,
tax

yield

but,

sufficient

owing to the

revenue ,

only

available to the Commission that year.

same appropriation bill provided

The

$26 , 714.00 for general administra-

tive expenses .
The Governor

in his charge

convened in January, 1935,

to the 58th General

urged the passage

that would provide additional revenues;
priations

Leaders of

for relief.

Assembly that

of a higher sales tax

he also asked larger appro-

the

legislature were

asked by

field representatives of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
to increase

the state's proportion

ployment relief .
mands for

of the cost of

financing unem-

In the troubled session 4 that followed these

increased expenditure on

crises were averted twice by the

the part of the state,

de-

general

expedi ent of forcing t hrough reso-

lutions appropriating $500,000 . 00 each for immediate use-5
:

Fi nally, a one per cent sales tax was passed , and appropri ations
of $6,000,000.00 for

relief and $105,000.00

pense were made, including $1,000,000.00

for administrative ex-

previously made by resolu-

tions and $20,450.6ladministrative expense previously paid by script.

Second longest in Missouri history, las~ing 147 days.

5 s.c.R. 13 and s.c.R. 14 (1935)
6 S.H.B. 198 (1936)
7 S.H.B. 541 (1936)

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411ol1nt;nls to Counlit;s
State and federal funds were
tees on the basis

allotted to county relief commit-

of the number of relief cas9s and the capacity of

the counties to aid in caring

for their own unemployed.

federal funds

disbursed

Jackson County,

were centrally

State and

except at Kansas

St. Louis City and St. Louis County,

City and

where special

disbursing offices were located.
Counties were not required to
sources before
the Social

exhaust completely thei r own re-

receiving federal funds.

Service

Division

Prior to the formation of

and its expansion

satisfactory investigation of county resources
allocations of state

and federal funds were

tions by various county and other
need of their locality.

to a point

where

could be undertaken,
made after representa-

public officials as to the relief

Allotments are now given to the counties on

the basis of estimates submitted by the District Representatives and
Case Work Supervisors who take into
sources and general

consideration the available re-

financial condition

of the locality,

load and other pertinent data.

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.· \
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the case

WORK RELIEF -I~ MISSOURI

Change~ in 0.-ganizalion
A number of significant changes in the administrative organization and structure
1934,

of the Corrrrnission have occurred

since March 31,

the last date covered by the formal report on the Civil Works

Administration in Missouri! Some of these changes resulted directly
from recommendations of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration;
others resulted from

the unprecedented drought

that closed in upon

the state in July, 1934; and still other changes were made necessary
by the Work Program that was undertaken following Civil Works.
Organization changes may be divided

as follows:

roughly into three periods

first, changes necessary for the conduct of a work pro-

gram on a relief basis;
gency of the drought,
re-districting

second, changes necessary to meet the emerand third,

changes recommended following the

the states in regional

areas and the

assumption of

duties by the new staff of federal regional advisers!
The Work Program

inaugurated in April,

important respects from Civil Works:
requisite to employment;
client on

and, second, work was allocated the relief

strengthening of

budgetary deficiency.

the Social Service

1 Civil Works Administration of llissouri: A Review - (June 28., 1934)
2 December 1., 1934.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

differed in two

first, relief status was pre-

the basis of his individual

necessitated the

1934,

- 23-

This

Division and

its extension

Efforts were made to organize

throughout the state.

every county with trained or semi-trained personnel in charge of relief giving and to unify standards and procedures
tion of relief.
vision,

in the detennina-

It also necessitated the creation of a Project Di-

responsible for the planning and approval

of work projects

and for the placing at work of those persons certified by the Social
Service

Division as

eli gible for work relief.

partments introduced by the drought,

Except for the de-

the organization and personnel

were art out-growth of, and very similar to, the Civil Works Administration organization.

Divisions were sub-divided

into departments

which had both state office and field staffs; direct lines of administrative responsibility

and service

were carried

into the county

organizations.
The rapid development
necessitated
quently,

the establishment

and the

1934,

of a Live Stock Division and subse-

a Feed and Seed Division.

Corrrrnodity Department
ment,

of drought conditions after July,

Other departments, notably the

Garden and Food Conservation

expanded operations primarily to

Depart-

process beef made available

in connection with the drought relief activities of the Agricultural
Adjustnent Administration.
Originally, Missouri had been in a regional area comprising also the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and
South Dakota,

under charge of Sherrard

when T. J. Edmonds

Ewing until October,

became Field Representative;

1933,

the new territory,

in addition, embraced the states of Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan,
with

regional

offices

Field Representative,
poses of

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

in Chicago.

Howard

Hunter,

made several visits to Missouri

modifying relief administration and

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Regional

for the pur-

subsequently assigned

Peter Kasius,

General Manager

of the St. Louis

Provident Associa-

tion, as an Assistant Field Representative in Missouri.
Many changes were

made in the administrative

Relief Cormnission in January,

1935,

structure of the

shortly after the new staff of

regional advisers was assigned to Missouri.

These changes included

the consolidation of many activities, the establishment of a Personnel Bureau with uniform procedures,

and the strengthening of admin-

istrative control in county relief offices and the further up-building of the Social Service Division.
The changes

in organization are

three accompanying charts.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

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graphically depicted

in the

ORG4~1Z4 TIO~

4UMl~ISTlt4 TIO~

F'£0ERAL
CIVIL WORKS
ADMINISTRATION

UIJRl~G

CW4

rEOERAL
EMERGENCY RELIEr
ADMl!IISTRATION

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CHIEr ENGINEER

rlELD DIRECTOR

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PURCHASING

ASST. STATE
ENGINEER
1N r 1no
DISTRICT
ENG INt:ERS

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

ASST. STATE
ENGINEER
IN

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I I I
MATERIALS
ENGINEER

orr1cE
PERSONNEL

c.w.A.
ALO ITOR

STATISTICIAN

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AUDITOR

STATISTICt'..AJl

TRANSIENT
BUREAU

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SURPLUS

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ACCOUNT I NG '
_ PERS()NN[L

CERTlrYI
l)rr!CERS

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R[Ll[r AND RE[MPLOYMENT

AND
LOCAL c.w.A. C<MIITT[ES

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- --- --- - - - - - ___J

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MISSOURI RELIEF AND
RECONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

STATE ADMINISTRATOR

I DMSION DIREtTOR I
I

JIANAGEMENT
DMSION

I DMSION DIRECTOR j

' DIVISION DIRECfOR

SOCIAL SERVICE
DIVISION

OPERATIONS
DMSION

WORKS
DIVISION

KlJKAL
REHABILITATION
.DIVISION

A£L1Er POLICIES l PRQ(EDURES

TRANSIENT CARE
PLA.NNIIG Att> CO-ORDINATING

sues ISTENCE GARDENS

ENQINCERING

rooo CONSERVATION

FINANCIAL
DIVISION

PUBLIC RELATIONS

IUCHASING

LEGAL ADV ISER
PERSOK'IEL BUREMJ

AUDITING

II.ITRITION & rooo BU>GETS

SURPLUS COM«X> IT IES

MEDICAL, NURSING AP«>

CONTACTS lo/ 1TH
DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES

WOMEN'S WORK

rEEO rOR LIVE STOCK

COUNTY ~£L 1Er OIRECTOQS

SArETY AP«> toMP[NSATION

SEED rOR F' IELD CROPS

L IBRA RY & PUBLI CAT IOHS
CENTRAL rl LES

OISllURSING

OOOAL C~RE

INCOMING l OUTGOING "'-'IL

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

SUPPLIES

STATISTICS & .RESEARCH

TRAINIIG

ALLOMNTS TO COUNTIES

COM'LAINTS

MIMEOGRAPH ING

BU I LO ING "'-' INTENENCE

COUNTY COMMITTtES

TOOLS AP«> "'-'TERIAL

C,C,C, ENROLLMENTS

EMERGENCY Eoucn10N

REHABILITATION PROJECTS

TELEl'tiONE;S
r!ELO AUDITING

INTER-STATE CORRESPOll>ENCE

MESSENGER S(RV IC(

SUGG~TIVE ORGANIZATION CHART
MISSOURI RELIEF COMMISSION

RUlAL REHABILITATION
CORPORAtlON

County · Com-illEES
In each colillty a conmittee of local

leaders 1s responsible

ror

the county program with general administrative responsibility vested
in an administrative employee responsible to the state office and to
whom the personnel

the

county relie.f

office is

responsib'l.e.

These committees originally were set up under the joint jur1sd1ct1on
of the Relief Adm1n1strat1on and the National
to serve both organizations.

Reemployment Service

They also acted as

local Civil Works

Administrations.
After a year

of dual respons1b111ty,

relief and

reemployment

functions were separated and the connn1ttees became solely responsible to the

Relief Administration.

At that time

quate public welfare adm.1n1strat1on
were disbursed direct
sponsible relief agent.

the

outside

With the growth

the direct handling

personnel and

coordinate the entire

county connn1ttee men were

of funds and the

re.sponslb111t1es

They came to act in a supervisory relationship to

the whole program and to advise
matters relating

of trained

to manage and

relief program in their respective areas,
incident thereto.

the cities and funds

committee whose chairman was the re-

selection of competent persons
relieved of

there was no ade-

with county relief employees In all

to fiscal affairs,

s:e lection of work projects and

policy and, in addition, to sponsor and Interpret the relief program
in their

connnunit1es.

The SJ)lend1d

loyalty and

devotion of the.

county committeemen, frequently at great personal sacrifice, contributed greatly to the success

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

the program.

-Z9-

At the inception of relief there was a very
sonnel;

in fact,

limited field per-

the whole matter of actual relief giving was left

more or less to local cormnunities.

With the growth of relief rolls

and the establishment by federal authorities of regulations relating
_ to accounting and reporting, as well as to investigation and distribution of relief, field supervision became necessary.
District administration

finally evolved,

and for this purpose

the state was divided into 11 regions, in each of which a field representative

was responsible

These

field.

committees,
uals

for all

representatives

county courts,
directly

made personal contacts

in the

with county

and other public officials and individ-

concerned with relief

They reported

Cormnission activities

problems.

to the admin-

istrator and to his assistant, Proctor
Carter,

and acted in the

coordinators
grams.

of all

capacity of

the various pro-

They were responsible for the

effective enforcement

of· regulations,

both of the Cormnission and of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.
While

the

field

representative

was the chief agent of the Conrrnission,
other district field personnel was responsible

not

only

to the

district

representative but to the state office

PROCTER CARTER

department innnediately concerned also.

Administrative Assistant

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 30-

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ADMINISTRATIVE

rhus,

DISTRICTS

district case work supervisors were responsible to the Social

Service Division,

district auditors

to the Finance

Division,

and

district eng ineers to the Work Division.
Administrative districts are shown on the accompanying map, and
the names of the district field representatives follow:

District 1,

O. A. Doyle; District 2, V. H. Bradshaw; District 3, Lewis Patterson;
District 4,

H. H. Baker;

District 5,

c. Howard Hill;

District 6,

Mrs. Geraldine Parker; District 7, J.M. Mccann; District 8, William
G. Eckhardt; District 9, A.H. Harrison;
District 11, George F. McKim.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 31 -

District 10, D.

Carter;

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Director of the Work Div1s1on ••• state
Geologist since 1908 ••• Member: Missouri Relief Comm1ss1on • .M1ss-our1 Resources Cormnission •••• state H~ghway
Commission, ex-officio ••• President of
the American Institute of Mining and
Metallurgical Engineers.

At the close of the Civil

Works Administration, the Work Divi-

sion was established to finish projects left in a state of incompletion.

Headed by Dr. H. A. Buehler;

were lent to the Commission

state geologist, whose services

by Governor Park just

after the begin-

ning of CWA, this division was a continuation of the engineering and
project department that had been
Under Doctor Buehler's
and supervision

set up during the earlier program.

jurisdiction was

of all projects and

viding work for t hos e persons

the general

planning

activities concerned with pro-

whose eligibility for relief was cer-

tified by the Social Service Division,

including transients.

Prbj-

ects comprised all types of public construction, including buildings,
roads, bridges,

sanitary works,

and other types of construction.

recreational facilities,

schools,

Also under the supervision of t hi s

department were the so-called white-collar projects for professional
and technical workers.

Women's Work,

comprising many

production-

for-use projects, such as mattress factories and sewing rooms, was a
department under t his division.
grams that

In fact,

utilized work relief labor,

all departments and pro-

such as canning factories,

commodity distribution, safety engineering , education, water conservation and development,

t he r ural

and production projects

rehabilitation

were int i mately

program - all

in connection with

t hese manifold

related and coordinated through

activities

the Work Division.

Admini s tration of the Division fell under two general headings:
project planning and technical details,

handled by engineers i n the

state office under t he direction of Fred

State Engineer;

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

and

f i eld

supervision

- 33-

(Mike) Horan,

and counse l,

Assistant

handled by a

staff of district field
Field Engineer,

engineers headed by

George Eo Hill,

State

with a direct line of responsibility extending into

each county where work supervisors and county engineers were responsible for actual

construction practice and

district engineering
Stanley Hansen ,
Sam Po Grahan;
District

Cas s elman ,
:May-ne;

personnel follows:

Assistant;

District 2,

District 4 , A. V. Ferry;

work performance.

The

District 1,

O. A. Doyle;

H.P. Phelan;

District 3,

District 5, Stephen Kenny;

s. M. Burke, Jr.; District 7, J.M. McCann; L. O.
Assistant;

District 10,

District 8,
R. M.

Paul Upton;

Bristol and

District 9,

Fred Wolffe;

unde r the jurisdi ction of State Field Engine er,

C. D.

District 11,

G. E. Hill,

Kansas

C1 Jtv, A. Jo Rector; Jackson County, E. M. Basye.

As l1as been

noted earlier in

this report,

the Social Service

Div:ision came into being in compliance with rules and re gulations of
t he Federal Emergency
eac h local

Relief Administration,

r elief administration

which stipulated that

should 1-.iave at least

and experienced investi gator on its staff;

one trained

but its principal growth

has been sin ce April, 1934, after which the need for trained service
in the count ies became more and more evident.
Executive responsibility changed hands on March 15,

1935, when

Miss Lucile Bruner £ucceeded A. R. Gephart as Acting Director.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The fi ve-fold objective of the Social Service Division follows:
1.

To see that needy families shall receive sufficient relief to prevent physical suffering
maintain minimum living standards.

- 34 -

and

To see that
less

no relief is give_n

they are

eligible

to persons un-

for relief,

such relief as allowed 1s

and that

adjusted to the bud-

getary needs of the individual or family.
3.

To develop maximum efficiency and
furnishing of relief,

economy in

with a minimum of

delay

in providing relief to those in distress.
4.

Development

of connnunity llllderstand1ng of the

FERA program of relief.
5.

Development of better social work program, recognizing that in selected cases individualization, rather than mass treatment,

The Social
sponsible for the

Service Division,

is the goal.

during the ERA program,

was re-

establishment of eligibility for relief,

for the

distribution ot direct relief,

for the determination of

budgetary

needs of families assigned work relief, for the allocation of relief
commodtties to the counties,

for the transient service, and for the

evaluation of complaints or abuses ot funds.

WILl..IAM HlfflIG

FRED C. HORAN

GIDRGE BLOWERS

Business Man.ager

Assistant .State Engineer

. Purchasing_

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 35 -

In addition to its own staff personnel,
under the Work Program to
Visitors' aides,

home

projects were approved

provide additional

economists,

help in the counties.

and nurses,

working

under the

county social workers, assisted in the relief program .
In order to meet the demand for

trained and intelligent super-

visory personnel, not only for the immediate program but as a public
welfare service in the state,
training in

t he administration

ter's work at the
most of these

selected students were

given special

of public welfare.

After a semes-

University and supervised

persons found

employment

training in the field,

in county

relief offices.

The di s trict case work personnel during the principal period of t his
re port is as follows:

District 1,

Miss Janet O'Rear;

Mrs. Doris Brown;

District 3,

Miss Alice Taylor;

Margaret Roberts;

District 5,

Mi ss Claudine

Miss Gertrude Munsell;
Heber Hi xson;

District 7,

and District 9,

City, Miss Caroline Bedford;
Kansas City,

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

District 2,

District 4, Miss

Rodgers;

District 6,

Miss Emily Ferris;

District 8 ,

Mrs. El la May
St. Louis County,

Wentworth;

St. Louis

Miss Lois Phillips;

Charles J. Guild; Jackson County, Mrs. Ida Etzenhauser.

FRANK C. OLDHAM

J.Alfill E. MAXWELL

ERIC ORF

Per sonnel

Transients

Garo.en

- 36 -

ROY FE_RGUSON

E. V. LOWELL

C. R. DYCK

Educati on

Finance

Commodi ties

Financ~ Ui~ision
The Finance Division,
t istical reporting,
auditing as a project

embracing auditing, accounting, and sta-

was established

in January,

1934,

with field

under the Civil Works Administration.

Prior

to this time the reporting from counties was not completely controlled;

especially

1s this true with

regard to

expenditure of local

public funds by local agencies and with further respect to statistical accounting of cases aided with these funds.
The Finance Division was directly responsible. for the disbursement of funds and for the preparation

Of proper accounts and audits

and for the obtaining of social statistics on the many varied phases
of the civil works and relief programs.
Numerous changes
division were made.

in personnel and direction

of this important

Originally headed by George W.

Baughman,

division successively was directed by Walter J. Cummins
Lowell.

In succeeding Mr. Cummins,

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-37 -

the

and E. V.

Mr. Lowell also took over the

duties of

H. A.

Lilla as ERA auditor,

been held ~y A.H. Monk.
District 1,

The district auditing

Ralph P. McMillan;

Pierce Jo Cahill;

District 3,

Cormack, Assistants;

a post that

personnel follows:

Karr, Assistant;

Sanford N. Gash;

District 5, John

previously had

Distr 1 ct 2

C. E. York,

H. E.

o. Eylar; Charles H. Bostic;

Di3trict 6, Louis Thomas; Russell W. Preston, Assistant; District 7,
Harley E. Miller;

Paul J. Moore, H. C. Spaunhorst, Assistants; Dis-

trict 8 ,

Bufe;

Otte E.

Jos.

Nonnan,

Assistant;

District 9,

Delmont E. Gasche ; H. Co Claudy, Assistant .

l)t;pa.-lmt;nlal 0.-ganiialion
NuJne rous mi nor departments were

or ganized t o f acili t ate a dmi ~-

istrati on and to complete the administrative machinery necessary for
carr yi ng on

t he huge programo

Or i ginally

these departments

were

directly responsible to the Administrator's office, but, as organization evolved , became responsible to one of the three divisions.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

l
l

MRS. CHARLEY TIDD COLE

LUCILE BRUNER

Women's Work

Social Service

-38-

The Statistical Department,
was directed by Roberts.

a aection of the Finance Division,

Waylandfromits inception in 1933.

department was responsible

for statistical surveys

This

and for monthly

reports to t he Federal Emergency Relief Administration atWashington.
The Purchasing Department, organized under Civil Works Administration by George Blowers, remained continuously under his direction
except for a

few months during

the Transient

Bureau,

which he was

during which

Associate Director of

time the

Purchasing Agent was

R. F. Minogue.
The Personnel Department was organized in January, 1935, at the
insti gati on of federal author i t ies,

with Frank C. Oldham in charge.

There resulted

immediately improved

per sonnel and,

for the

first

control of the

time since

administrative

the organization

of the

Commiss ion , adequate records were available on more than 4,000 individuals employed in the ramified relief activities.
The Garden
January , 1934,

and Food

Conservation Department

under the direction of Eric Orf to stimulate garden-

ing by r el i ef cli ents and to provide adequate
gardeners.

was organized in

supervision of relief

Conservation of surplus garden produce

was also under-

taken on a large scale.
The Safety Department, developed during the Civil Works program
under the direction of Herbert J. Brarmneier,
out the work pro gram

was conducted through-

in order to lower accident frequency rates and

to provi de for state-wide safety instruction and supervision.
The Women's Work Department,
had direct supervision

headed by Mrs. Charley Tidd Cole,

of work projects to employ women.

part ment was responsible to t he Work Division.
cussed elsewhere i n t hi s re port.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 39-

This de-

Its progr am is dis-

The Department

of Business

Management was

created i n 1934 to

tie together miscellaneous department s and act ivities such as Building Management, Supply Department,
related

In addition to

functionso

Manager, William Huttig,
sibilities

to the

Mimeograph Department, and other
these activities

the Business

acted for the Administrator in his respon-

Department of

Labor _in the

selection of junior

enrollees in the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The Information Department,
sponsible for special reports,
concerning the

headea by William Garrrrnon,

was re-

and the dissemination of information

Relief Conrrnission and its activities.

This depart-

ment maintained a library.
The Relief Commodity

Department

headed by C.R. Dyck was re-

sponsible for the procurement and distribution of relief coimnodities
throughout the state.
Relief fue~ was handled by the Coal Department under the direction of Sam Dalton.
state,

Coal was distributed

although in the wood burning areas

generally throughout the
projects were

sponsored by educational institutions,

welfare organiza-

tions and scientific organizations.*
F3.

Only one

art project was carried on.

This was sponsored

by the Public Works of Art Committee in St. Louis.
F4.

The majority of clerical projects were for the compilation

of occupational classification

records and for supplying clerks for

offices of the National Reemployment Service.
F5.

Missouri had

Kansas City,

four music projects,

and Independence.

These

located in

St. Louis,

provided hundreds

of public

concerts.
F6.

A project for the

production of plays at city playgrounds

was sponsored by the St. Louis Department of Public Welfare and Recreation.
F7.

Several libraries which were unable to employ an adequate

staff were given assistance through library projects,and thes~ projects were also

used as a

means for the

repairt ng and rebinqing of

books.
H.

Two large

tool projec ts

for the

inventory,

repair,

and

issuance of tools were maintaine d in St. Louis and in Jefferson City.

• A special report of these research projects has been made to the FERA,
Division of Research and Statistics.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Engineering Ser~ice
The engineering section of the Work Division rendered technical
services

to some

of the other

departments

Houses and buildings were designed for
vision and building
bureau.
stances.

special

the rural rehabilitation di-

and camp plats were prepared for

A drafting room was maintained and graphs, charts, plans,

plans for buildings, bridges,
work project

applications,

recommendations

showing existing

were checked

for modification.

power lines

Open Sewer at Brentwood, St. Louis County,
Before and After Construction.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Specifications and

and other structures,

submitted with

and approved or
A series

was prepared in
rural

the transient

Assistance in the actual construction was given in many in-

and blue prints were made for other departments.

with

programs.

rejected

of county maps

anticipation of

electrification

the

survey.

These services

facilitated ad-

ministration

generally,

contributed to

the smoothe op-

eration of the

entire program.

and

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

St. Louts Street, Improvement

Reuer Workers D1gg1ng Moat Around

Antelope Pen, Forest Park, St. Lo~s.

Pictures opposite showing
Liberty Memorial P~rk Beautit1cat1on
Pr ojects,

Kansas City,

After Construction.

Before

and

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Underground Elect r ical Conduit Construc t ion , St . Loui s .

Ri ght - A Lagoon , Hyde Park, St. J oseph .

Pictures opposite showing
Liberty Memorial Park Beautification
Projects ,

Kansas City,

Af t er Construction .

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Before

and

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Custom yields slowly in out-of-the-way places in the Ozark Highlands . The Wimbledons
still depend on the spinning wheel and the muzzle loaded rifle that provided their
ancestors with food and clothing in the days of Daniel Boone.

WORK RELIEF I~ MISSOIJRI

Worn01's Work
About ten per cent of
were women.

the persons engaged in

By far the largest activity in which they participated

was sewing,

but many other

activities fell within

the Women's Work Department.
ects operated
gram over

the work program

The following

the province of

list of types of proj-

during the year illustrates the diversity of the pro-

which the Women's

Work Department

wielded a sponsoring,

guiding, and administrative hand.
Projects under
1.

the jurisdiction of this department were

Sewing rooms, Type I,

for making garments for

relief distribution.
2.

Sewing for the Transient Department, for state
institutions,

for visiting nurse program, and

for nursery schools.
3.

Manufacturing beef canning garments.

Comforter making.

Household linens and pillow making .

Sewing rooms, Type II, for supervising work on
client-owned garments.

Mattress making.

Wool processing, weaving ,
handicraft.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 67 -

basket making,

and

for:

The Women's Work Department Sponsored Many
Community Parties for Children.

Dyeing of ticking.

10.

Soap making.

11.

Laundries for

aged and sick

relief

clients,

canni ng plants and nursery schools.
12.

Visiting

nurses,

visiting housekeepers

and

home aids.
13.

Preparation of

lunches in schools,

nurseries

and relief work rooms.
14.

Health centers.

15.

Day nurseries.

16.

Certain research and clerical projects.

17.

Certain recreational and educational projects.

Sewing rooms

were set up

buildings, with li ght,

generally in public

heat and equipment being furnished

Generous cooperation was accorded

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

or quasi-public

by churches,

- 68 -

locally.

civic associations,

and local governmental units.

Rooms varied in size from small rural

centers to large c1 ty centers devoted· to many phases of ·t he wome11
work program.
sewing rooms

Type I

operated as small

Relief clients were assigned a

schools.
each week.

factories

and sewing

certain number of ho11rs

A supervisor or foreman laid out the work, assisted when

advice or instruction-was needed,

and. finally

turned over the fin-

ished garments to the Relief Connnodity Department for allocation and
distribution.
Department,

Some materials were furnished by the- Relief Connnodity
from stores of goods granted by the Federal Surplus Re-

lief Corporation.

Other materials were purchased within the state.
Allocations to
were

made

sewing rooms
the Women's

Work Department.

Under this

procedure almost half a million articles were produced.
There were
ects

about

operating

135 proj-

simultane-

ously with from one to five
rooms in a county.
At times,

these sewing

rooms were

operated for the

production

of articles

for

some

particular

program.

Thus,

40 counties

produced

shorts for transients, 22,000
pairs being made, while oth-

A Happy Corner 1n a Nursery School.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

er rooms

- 69-

made

shirts and

overalls;

obstetrteal ktts and nurses'

nursing program;

equipment wex-e made ror the

ten counties made layettes; quilts, towels, linens

and curtains were made for the nursery schools; and special garments
~re made tor indigent crippled children.
The beer canning centers required un1torma,

butchers' aprons,-

gloves and caps; and these were furnished by 18 work projects.
The sewing rooms produced also a large number or comforters and
household linens from materials rurn1shed through the FSRC.

These

and other household supplies- were the products or women's work projeots.
The Type
ure,

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

sewing room was sponsored as an experimental meas-

and its success exceeded exp-e ctations.

Only a supervisor was

Lunch Rooma Were Operated 1n Some or the Important
Work Centers Such as

Spr1ng!1eld,

- 70-

shown above.

paid.

The workers were

selves,
time

relief families,

were not eli gi ble for work relief.

and worked on

mending ,

repairing,

contributed materialo
and remaking of

families were partially
rooms.

people from

But the sociological

physical ones.

benefits

The sewing rooms

them-

They came on their own
The supervisors

clothes and the

alleviated by the

who,

taught

needs of the

products of these sewing

were far

excess of the

be came civic centers which helped

Seen& 1n the Flat River Mattress Factory . ·

in the rehabilitation of families whose circumstances precluded many
of the ordinary socializing influences.

For the supervisors, social

service problems were often greater than domestic science ones;

but

reports from the counties indicate the value of this type of work in
a relief program.

Attributing the change largely to the sewing cen-

ter, one case worker reported that, "What was last year a problem of
community,

***is this year

a section of

even a measure of pride in their community.n

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 71 -

contented people

with

making was

Mattress

ticking were furnished as

Cotton and

federal surplus commodities,

and special

made on work projects.

Twenty-two

equipment were

work tables and
work rooms

larger programs.

one of the

80,000 fifty-pound

produced almost

Both men and women were employed

cotton mattresses.

cot-size

and 3,759

on this pro-

gram.
spinning of wool

The carding and

these projects,

gained under

through the

A few women,

a few counties.

fostered in

and the art · of weavi.ng were
experience

have become self-supporting.

Basket

making and handicraft were also demonstrated.
An excess of ticking over

that required in mattress making was dyed for use in making
overalls.
Soap making served a double purpose: first, it offered
an opportunity to give work to
to sew,

women who were unable
and

secondly,

opening

for the

offered an
teaching

Much of the soap

cleanliness.

done

making was

colored

women.
There

were

laundry projects.
t hese were in
beef

few

Most

only

connection with

canneries

nursery

schools,however, in some cases

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Woman's Work Did Much to Foster a Revi val of Nat ive

- 72 -

!t'.t-

~ innin~ _in a Springfield Wor k Cent er.

Rag Rugs
and
Coverlets of Fine Old Pattern
Were Woven
On Hand Looms
at the
Springfield Work Center

where such services was recommended by the social service caseJJork-

ers, larmdr1es were operated for relief families because of sickness
or disability that prevented their caring for tha.lr own linen.
The Women's Work Department encouraged projects for nursing,
home aids,

home eeonomtats and visiting housekeepers,

the soc1al good
the abilities

they could do.,

but al.Bo beeause

or many or the relief clients.

BllCh

not

only

for

projects met

Not only did

these

women :minister unto the sick c:nd needy, but carried a program or rehab1li tatlon which tended

to raise the

standard or living

In many

destitute and forlorn homes.
School lunches were furnished by cooperation with parent-teacher asaoelationa, school boards and civic organizations, who furnished

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-73-

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Women Found Much Employment in Canning Centers
Such as the St. Joseph

Cannery

shown

above.

Negr o Women Were Employed in the Independence Laundry
That Served a Large Canning Center.

Supplementary f ood was supplied
from reli ef

commodities.

lief women prepared

Re-

and served

the meals.
Similar meals

were

also

served in two of the larger work rooms.
Health centers, day nurseries, library projects, certain clerical,

research,

and recreational activities completed the long list

of projects sponsored by the Women's Work Department.
Close contact

and cooperation was

maintained between the Wom-

en's Work and the Educational Departments, and the former also served in an advisory capacity to the Rural Rehabilitation Program.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 75 -

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOIJRI

In September,

the program

1934,

for building

farm-to-market

roads in cooperation with the State Highway Department was formulated.

At this time, owing to the poli cy of allowing relief clients to

liquidate feed

and seed

loans by work rel1ef,

there was a

great

amount of labor and teams available.
Although this

labor was

projects no arrangement

work on

had been made to provide

vi sory force s necessary to
This created a

available for

approved work

additional super-

the proper handling of additional labor.

difficult situation

had to be paid from counties'

in counties,

since supervision

regular work allotment.

To have em-

ployed the available labor would have doubled supervisory cost.
I t was t his situation
of the Highway

that was met by the

Department.

The Highway

cooperative program

Department could

utilize

practically all the labor available without penalizing the Work Program by doubling non-relief supervisory expenditures.
It

was agreed with the

Highway

Department

that all

common

labor, time keepers, and such teams as were available, would be furnished by the Relief Commission.
ment would

furnish the engineering

right-of-way,
equipment.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

For its part, the Highway Depart-

provide supervision,

and planning personnel,
skilled labor,

obtain

materials,

and

On completion the roads were to be taken into the state

- 76 -

Permanent Imp~ovement s Were Made Under t he
Hi ghway Cooperat ive Plan.

Ind ian Cr eek , Hi ghway H.

highway system and put under permanent maintenance.
called of all division

meeting was

engineers of the Highway Department at which

arrangements were macte to abandon the
of farn. to market construction in

Highway Department's schedule

order that worK projects couid be

undertaken in areas where the relief load was sufficient to carry on
the work.
Expansion of the
placed in operation.
struction.

program was rapid and numerous proJects ware
The winter season was fairly favorable to con-

Progress was marked until the third week in March, 1935,

when the method

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

of liquidating feed

- 77 -

and seed loans was changed and

This cut

clients were no longer permitted to work out their loans.

in half the available labor supply and eliminated entirely the teams
supplied by the Commission.
The physical accomplishments of the program were varied.
accounts kept

by the Highway

Department showed

that relief

could be used effectively when handled with competent

Cost
labor

and adequate

supervision.
Approximately 266 miles of right-of-way were cleared and grubbed, 348 miles of grading was completed, and 219 miles of gravel and
crushed stone surfac ing was laid.
gat ing 123 miles ,

was surveyed.

on in 72 counties; in addition,
were

operated and the

some

of its

Additional right-of-way,

Maintenance projects were carried
several projects for crushing stone

Highway Department absorbed

landscaping

aggre-

program setting out

relief labor in

shrubbery

and trees

along rlght-of-way.
The State Highway Department expenditures on the program totaled $1,171,457.86 while expenditures by the Relief Commission totaled
$669.649.46.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 78 -

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOIJRI

Safel}' l>rograrn
The Safety Program,

which had

its inception with the

Civil

Works Administration,

was continued throughout the work relief pro-

gram for the purposes

of eliminating hazards

in construction proj-

ects and to educate workers in safety practices.
A continuous

check-up

more hazardous ones,
struction,

et cetera,

on all

work

such as quarries,

projects,
crushers,

was made by safety engineers

the director of the Safety Program.
were corrected in the field;

especially the
excavation, conresponsible to

Hazardous and unsafe practices

on many occasions a brief safety meet-

ing was held at the site where workers were instructed in safe practices.

All buildings used by the Relief

state were

inspected

periodically.

Commission throughout the

Special

precaution was taken

with regard to buildings used as major warehouses,
domiciles for transients.
tified as not

work plants, and

In a number of cases buildings were cer-

fit for occupancy

due to unsafe or

hazardous condi-

tions and arrangements were made to secure other quarters.
Monthly inspections were made of all transient shelters, treatment centers,

rooming

houses,

safety regulations required
ects

employing

transient

and camps.

In addition,

on work projects were extended to projworkers, and educational

meetings

held where transient cases .received safety instructions.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

the same

- 79 -

were

Preparation and i ssuance of safety bulletins deali ng with sound
pra ctices in various phases -of the work program was the respons ibility of

this department .

Thirty different general

bulletins

were

distributed throughout the state relat ing to safety measures and, in
addition, bulletins dealing with special hazards and situations were
prepared and distributed.
Posters, graphically

portraying safety lessons

were posted in

conspicuous places throughout the state in an effort to make workers
safety-minded.

These were supplemented with posters issued by the

Safety Department of the FERA.
as well

as relief

workers,

Project supervisors
were given courses

and engineers,

of instruction

first aid training as recommended by the American Red Cross ..
aid kits

ane. supplies

were placed in

First

the hands of persons experi-

enced in first aid.
Special attention was

given to production-for-use centers such

as mattress factories,

feed mills, canning centers,

fodder cu-c-c1ng

and seed corn projects,

and other small industries.

In each case a

special study was made of the work done and a safe~y program was developed to

fit the specific

needs of the project.

Special safety

-education was provided.
Goggles were
hazards.

furnished to all workers who were

subject to eye

Various types of respirators were furnished to workers in

occupations where

air was dust

or lint laden.

Fire extinguishers

were furnished buildings and offices as a further safeguard.
In June, 1935, a state wide program of foremen training was inaugurated and nearly 4,000 supervisors, engineers, and county relief
offic ials
program.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

attended the 247 conferences

this

The two main topics discussed during the conferences

were

- 80-

conducted as part

occasions of accidents and the responsibil1tiea or foremen.

Theim-

portance of supervision as a medium to better and safer work was emphasized.

Many

other important matters dealing w1 th the work relief

program were presented and discussed at these meetings.
Weekly reports

of accident

compiled in the state office.

counties were

experience from the

Individual reports were submitted on

all cases requiring medical attention or involving loss or time.
thorough investigation was made of

every serious and fatal accident

and steps taken to prevent a recurrence.

From this statistical in-

formation accident experience reports were prepared by counties and
districts and disseminated regularly

throughout the entire

The reports were interpolated with explanatory matter
assist officials

state.

in order to

in each county in eliminating hazardous

practice

and so better their safety record.
In compliance with requirements of the Federal Emergency Relief
Administration a thorough study of various phases
and injury relief was made.

of compensation

This resulted in the formulation

detailed and comprehensive injury relief program
by federal and state authorities.

However,

of a

that was approved

due to difficulties in

financing the plan it was never put into effect.
As part

of its

program of safety education,

this department

sponsored a 15-minute weekly broadcast over station KFRU,
Electrically transcribed

programs of high

Columbia.

character were furnished

by the National Safety Council to augment this program during the 13
weekly broadcasts.
The average

accident frequency

rate for the state

period April 1, 1934, to July 1, 1935, was 8.38
time

injuries per million man hours worked).

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 81-

during the

(the number of lost
Missouri's average

accident frequency rate for tl1e CWA program was approxi:11.ately 33000.
However, the two figures should not be compared because of different
factors

involved sucll

as compensation,

ules - both of which have

difference in

work: sched-

naturally had a favorable reaction on the

proGram just ended.
Four Tiorkers were f atally injured during the work relief period
as compared with

nine durin~ CWA.

Approximately 23

per cent more

1:1an hours were norlrnd durinc the wo rl<: pro c_Tam t han during CWA.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Retaining Wall, Hyde Park,
St. Joseph, Missouri.

- 82 -

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOIJRI

In late July, 1934, M1asour1,
states,

was gripped 1n the

prospects

along with dozens of mid-western

toils of unprecedented drought.

declined progressively.

Crop

Week after week Department of

Agriculture toreca.ats showed the effects ot the dry hot weather and
the scorching winds.
Missouri's prospect tor corn,

one ot ·her chief crops, dwindled

from 151,000,000 bushels to 10 1 000,000 bushels.
The hay crop of leas

than 1,000,000 tons,

as compared with

normal crop of 5 ,000.1.0 00 tons, was the smallest since- 1876 ~
Pastures were the poorest

w1 thin

the memory of man.

The oat crop was the smallest since 1908.•
Farm losses reached into the millions of dollars, and 1n thousands of Missouri's 250 ,ooo farm homes there

Tra.-B

human tragedy,...

Whole communities were without water.
Some water sources were
lowland malarial districts,
suffering and

polluted and typhoid spread.

however,

high waters

In the

aggravated hl.ml8ll

increased the normal incidence of malaria.

In a fe,r

areas, live stock died of lack of food and water.
Through the Federal Emergency Relief Administrat1.on and other
agencies the

government undertook to meet

the rescue work of disaster.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-83-

these problems.

It was

Wells were

drilled to

provide water 1n many counties.

lines were borrowed from gasoline
other drought sections.
to suppress disease.

companies to

Pipe

transport water to

Typhoid antitoxin and quinine were -provided

Emergency teed and seed loans were made avail-

able through the Farm Credit Administration~
ture crops was provided also by the

and seed for late pasFeed was

Relief Commission.

made available to destitute farmers in order that foundation stock
could be carried through the winter.

In cooperation with the Agri~

cultural Adjustment Administration and the State Agricultural Extens i on Service approximately

one-third of Missouri's 2,700,000 cattle

were removed from drought stricken pastures.
Dr. Will iam

Etheridge, Professor of Field Crops,

College of

Agriculture, Columbia, Missouri, in SlilIIID.1ng up drought relief activi t i es of t he

Commission issued

the last six months,
s ion has

the following

statement: 1

"Within

the Misso~i Relief and Reconstruction Commis-

rendered vital service to Missouri agriculture.

t ribut 1on of soy bean seed last sunnner;

cooperation in

The disthe cattle

buying pr ogram beginning tn the drought and continuing to the present
t ime; the distribution of winter barley and rye seed in late August;
the

fodder

buying program;

and the

conservation of our native

strai ns of corn through the direct purchase of seed:
a tremendous

benefit to our farmers.

all constitute

These are excellent examples

of prompt and practical relief in .a situation demanding constructive
action.

Their value in terms of money or morale is inestimable.

all of these activities,

the Rel1e-t Commission has acted with the

Bmergenoy Relief in lliaaouri Vol.I,p.14 (Jan.7,1936).

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 84-

advice and help of the Missouri College of Agriculture,

and the two

institutions have worked together toward the repatr of the terrific
damage wrought by the drought."
Among the more Important programs made ne·c essary by the drought
and vitally affecting the work program, and d!scuased in the following pages, were: (1) water conservation and development; (2) hay and
pasturage development;

(3) removal of

drought cattl.e; (4) BUbsist-

enee livestock feed; (5) feed conservation and distribution; (6) seed
corn conservation.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Drought Cattle 1n Fast St. Louis Yards • .

-85 -

This Scene is Typical of Millions of A.cres of the
Finest Farm Lands in the Middlewest

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

as the 1934

Drought Closed Upon · the United States
,::;ee Map on page 107)

In the following section the history of the drought , is
graphically portrayed in a series of maps presented through
the courtesy of the Missouri Geological Survey. The drought
map opposite

shows the normal

the end of the year 19B4o

precipitation

1n inches to

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MISSOURI
CONTOUR MAP SH™ING
NORMAL PRECIPITATION
IN INCHES
TOE~ Of YEAR 1934
CONTOUR INTERVAL 2 INCHES

-CM•
.3f7

.--t::::-~

,M•.

0
C/)

Ill

DADE

- -·

wEa~,i

REENE

-·· "t 17~r· ' r---~
L. i .:J. .
:~--~-~-o

BAIUIY

a!"r

~\>:
\

...L . __ _

_._

_____ ____ _
,.

DATA COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED
RECORDS OF U.S. WEATHER BUREAU

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOURI

Water Cons.e .-~ation and l)e~elopment
The lack of precip1 tation
ticularly during the first
in an acute
Missouri.

of the' past several ye:a rs,

seven months

and unprecedented
The counties first

and par-

of the year 1934, resulted

shortage of water in the
affected

were those

State

located in the

west c·entral portion of the state but in late July the situation became general and urgent demands were made upon the Relief Commission
for assistance in obtaining supplies of potable water for human consmnption and for the watering

of stock.

These calls

for aid came

from nearly every part of the state.
A project in cooperation with the Missouri Geological Survey at
Rolla was set up as a special drought

relief program

obtaining immediate supplies of water and
b_a sed upon geological

supplies

Investigations

of a permanent

H. S. McQueen,

nature.

to assist in

to furnish locally advice

that would

The Assistant

and the State Field Engineer,

lead to obtaining

State

Geologist,

George E. Hill, main-

tained close liaison in carrying on field operations.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The lack of

precipitation

began to be

parts of M1.asour1 as early as June, 1934.

felt in many
The rpap

site shows the early deyelopment of critical areas.

-88-

oppo-

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

.,.

MISSOUR I
ACCUMULATED DEPARTURE
FROM
PREC IP Ii AT ION
IN INCHES

NORl-4AL

F'OR THE PER I00
JAN. 1, rn JUNE 30,

1934

LEGEND

AB0VE N0Rt-4AL
NORMAL

E3 0 T0
4./Z

., IIIIIll 3 T0
r-rrr,

3 BELr,,.J NrRM.AL

rn 9

~ 91/'\ 12

I1ffl 12

Tn l'j"

DATA COMPILED }.,ROM PUBLISHED
RECORDS OF U.S. WEATHER BUREAU

Early in July the Administrator reque sted the Geological Survey
to make field surveys in Jackson,
tant dairying

Cass, and Bates Counties - impor-

centers supplying

supply - to determine

a larg3 part of Kansas City's milk

whether or not

The results were positive,

a shortage

and a few days later authority was given

to place additional geologists in the field.
staff of the Missouri
of the Relief
_gency in

Cormnission and served

during the period of the emer-

supervisory work and in

the services of

with a limited number of
of those

field examinations,

worked

of the Work Division.

In addi-

unemployed geologists were . obtained together
untechnical office employees.

water supply were investigated
exception

rhe entire geological

Geological Survey was placed at the disposal

close liaison with field engineers
tion,

of water e)qisted.

Sources of

in practically every county with the

located in

the extreme

southeast part

of the

state which were outside the drought area.
The

investigations made

covered practically

every problem related to surface and
possibility of obtaining

supplies- from test holes,

drilled wells were investigated.
instances were cleaned out.
ed in

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

localities where

The state-wide

ground water

every phase and
supplies.

The

dug wells,

and

Springs were examined and in many

The construction bf dams was recommend-

well water supplies

lack of

could not be

rainfall during June,

and early August resulted in a great emergency.

obtained.

July,

The areas

most critically affecteo as the result of the lack of precipitation are shown on the map opposite.

-90-

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

'1-

MISS OU RI
C,f.N lP tl IZU) W.F SW',.'ING
D[, ICin,C:C.- •p r ,M ~;0f.? Ml-l PPECIPITATl tit;
IN

IN(.HE5

Fr:R iHE PER 11"1{)
JANUAF.Y 1S1 1() /.UGU ST 1ST ,
LrGEND

'i.05

T()

5.0

[[ill 5.0 r0 9.0
~

3,0 TO 1~.0

; 3. o rr, 17. 70

Ill

.
>:

___.ICIIOOit,itNMca1A1MlD MICN
■ l\,0Ul11UlLt-1,a OJ'60lO<;'f

V.W•U\

DATA COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED
RECORDS OF U.S. WEATHER BUREAU

19) 4

R1prapp1ng the River Des Peres.

Pipe lines

to exi sting

water supplies

were

r e corrrrnended

and con-

structed.

Water depots were set up and projects for shipping water

in t ank cars and by trucks were put in operation.
In many instances field
j_ng ade quate

work by geologists resulted in obtain-

supplies of water from

shallow auger holes

In many

localities supplies of this nature had not been known to exist previously and
vised the

had never been utilized.
drilling

wells in the

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

and casing

Field geolo gists also super-

of a number of

rock formations of South Missouri

Local rainfall

comparatively

and the drilling or

in the latter part of August,

and to

some extent in September,

1934, resulted in certain areas

having a

normal

rainfall

above

for the

first

time in

months.
The drought continued unabated, however, particularly
in several of the western counties, a condition strikingly
shown on t he map opposite.

- 92 -

deep

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MISSOU RI
ACCUMULATED DEPARTURE
F"ROM

NORMAL PRECIPITATION
IN INCHES
FOR THE PER I 00
JAN. 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1934
LEGEND

ABOVE NORMAL
NORMAL

~ 0 TO

BELOW NORMAL

OIIIl] 3 TO 6
~ 6 Tn 9
~ 9 TO 12

ffl

12 TO 15 "

15 TO 18 "

18 TO 21 "

►:

DATA COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED
RECORDS OF U.S. WEATHER BUREAU

digging of shallow wells in the glacial

deposits of North Missouri.

In this work they had the cooperation of Field Engineers.
During the period

of the drought the majority

service were made direct to the

of requests for

Relief Commission at Jefferson City

and were immediately transmitted to the field geologist and engineer
in whose distri~t the request originated.
The results

of the investigations that were necessary to cope

with the conditions resulting from
of 1,429 test holes,

the drought included the sinking

160 dug wells, 19 drilled wells,

of two dams, the laying of seven pipe lines,

construction

the installation of 39

pumps, and 35 water depots, and 11 water pumping stations.
age of

An aver-

867,093 gallons of water was shipped each week for the dura-

tion of the drought.
utilized in

Every source of supply that was, or had been,

the past was investigated

situations were

critical.

in those counties where the

In many counties

the character

of the

supply was questionable with respect to the quality of the water and
202 chemical analyses were made in order to determine whether or not
the supply was satisfactory for hum.an and stock consumption.
ple analysis
County,

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

of water from

is included

the well

developed

Asam-

at Ashland,

to indicate the thoroughness with which these

Although rainfall had been

experienced in many coun-

ties, the end of the year 1934 was marked by a general def iciency in rainfall.
posite

A comparison of the map on the OP-

page with the map on page

ci p1taticn,

Boone

showing the annual pre-

gives a vivid picture of the

- 94-

affected areas.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MISSOURI
ACCUMULATED DEPARTURE
FROM
NORMAL PRECIPITATION
IN INCHES
fOR THE YEAR 1934
LEGEND

AB0VE NORMAL
NORMAL

g
8.ZS

OTO 3 BELO,,/ NORMAL

lIIill 3 TO

■T. ~ 6 TO 9
I

9 TO 12

mffl 12

TO 15 "

15 TO 18 "

1/1

i\>:
\

DATA COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED
RECORDS OF U.S. WEATHER BUREAU

I".

L ..

analyses

were made.

As these

wells were

developed as

permanent

water sources, these analyses not only determined the potabil ity fo r
emergency purposes, but as a safeguard for public health, determined
mineral content, such as iodine.
During the
lines,

most severe

period

with an a ggregate length

with convenient taps where farmers

of the emergency,

of 117,964,feet,

seven

pipe

were constructed

and stock raisers could draw wa-

ter and haul it to their farms.
The drought

resulted

in an acute

shortage

towns in the northern half of the state.
general,

of water

in many

This area is underlain, in

by deposits of glacial drift which consist largely of clay

with interbedded sand and gravel,
intervening between

clay and bed rock below.

CWA project supervised by
this portion

or of deposits of sand and gravel
In connection with a

the Missouri Geological Survey,

of the state had been made from available

well drillings and showed the pattern of
age channels which

later were filled

a map of
records of

the pre-glacial age drain-

up with deposits

of sand and

gravel.
In order to determine the possibilities of obtaining water supplies from such sources,
and prospect

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

a portable,

holes were drilled

rotary drill rig was obtained

in the vicinity

of various

The lack of precipitation, as shown by the map on the
opposite page,
1935,

continued throughout

and with few

the first quarter of

exceptions the counties

of the state

continued to experience a deficiency in rainfall.

- 96 -

towns

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

.,.

·----....

mtt

!II
·•;1fl!'Y.-PM:ll::"-e

·11

.
~~

- . • s:
- ,..... I. '....g;

.. ~i-U

KA- '

, ....,. '111

.-.~:.:
,~UIS
Pi
D

CITY

lfflffi=

-:rf-

"ti

~II)

> I

...

•·
N

CtlAtJ1111c. ~

• M IL ;t. "111111

,~4l.l
... M . . . .

·~

~
;',

-'""""'

~
j

s -2.38

~tan;

....

:.5J....
--!
,=-=±.

0 TO

3 TO 6

BELOW tllRMAL

~
~-

Ill

ta.9 ! -i""- 2
%··-··>:

NORW.L ------

.1.

g !llllllif ·m~g
:ll
:i=
ol

ABOVE NORMAL

LEGEND

1--

-~E=A

ACCUMULATED DEPARTURE
FROM NORMAL PRECIPITATION
IN INCHES
FOR THE PER I00
JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1935

I~- ;.s,t 'I

TI7.........,;;;.,

MISSOUR I

..N

~ i~

~-.il._-£_6

..U.~JJl,,,U,.~J~1J~
A
K
R

~i..&.1...1..1.1....._...

:::lJ!

DATA COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED
RECORDS OF U.S. WEATHER BUREAU

\\
y

'~--'
;2L ~. ll!I

~✓. ,.rr?

KENTUCKY
TENNES9EI:

where shortages

of water existed.

field geologist was assigned
logs and

this work a

to accompany the rig and keep accurate

to obtain samples in order that the character

cial deposits and the water
detail.

In connection with

supplies therefrom

of the gla-

could be studied in

The total footage drilled in these different areas is given

in the accompanying tables.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Areas drilled in North Missouri.
Total
County
Holes
Drilled

Area

Total No .
of feet

Cameron

Clinton

793

Maysville

DeKalb

586

King City

Gentry

101

Maryville

Nodaway

975

Parnell

Nodaway

143

Burlington Junction

Nodaway

140

Tarkio

Atchison

676

3414

TOTAL

The accumulated
for the

departure from

period January 1,

1934,

shown on the opposite map .

- 98 ..

normal precipitation

to March 31,

1935,

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MISSO URI
AC.CUt-l.lLA TEO OE PARTURE
f'ROM NORMA'. PRECIPITATION
IN INCHES
f'OR THE PER I 00
JANUARY 1, 1934 TO MARCH 31,

1935

LEGEND

D
<

ABOVE NORMAL

------NORMAL-----~

~ BELOW NORMAL

O TO

,. IlIIlJ 3 TO

~.07

rzzl 6 TO 9
~

9 TO

.12 TO

&J '15

TO
Ill

~~ ,V ~ ! C.

•1:1 q1

$\,.I
\

DATA COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED
RECORDS OF U.S. WEATHER BUREAU

,;._

15"

18"

The tabulation

given below shows

the cost of drilling to Jan-

uary 31, 1935, and the average cost per foot:
Total
Dals

Month

Table showing cost of drillin~
Cost per
Total No.
Total
Total
Cost foot Of drilling
Footage
of holes

November

679

$194.38

$0.297

December

1257

381.,42

0.303

January

1478

303.40

0.206

TOTAL

3414

$879.20

$0.267

In connection with the

office studies of field work,

together

with other information regarding water supplies that had been accumulated during the past 30 years, a great many valuable maps pertaining to the ground water resources of Missouri were compiled.

A list

of the maps accompanies this section.
The work of the

field geologists resulted in 1:nu:nediate benefit

to the drought stricken areas.
stances,

The examinations have,

in many in-

resulted in Indicating sources of water which had not been

theretofore utilized and the investigations also pointed out sources
of supply that may

be developed in the future.

rock will continue to benefit

Wells drilled into

adjacent localities for years..

other sources of water supply were demonstrated.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Rainfall occurring generally throughout Missouri during the month of May, 1935,

prevented a repetition ot the

critical drought that developed during 1934.
pos1te indicates the extent of precipitation.

-100-

The map OP-

Many

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

"t-

MISSOURI
CONTOUR MAP SHrMING
PRECIPITATION •~ INCHES
FOR MAY,

1935

CONTCUR INTERVI-L 1 INCH
LEGEND
~

UNDER 6 INCHES

[[Il 6 TO 7
~ 7 rn 8
... ~ 8 TO 9
ST.

lffl

LOUIS~

TO 10

10 TO 11

~ 11 TO 12

OVER 12
Ill

r
>
X

i\>:

DATA COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED
RECORDS OF U.S. WEATHER BUREAU

CHFlHCAL ANALYSIS OF WATER FROM F .E. R.A., WELL AT ASHLAND,
BOONE COUNTY, MISSOURI
MISSOURI GEOLOGICAL SURVEYAND WATER RESOURCES
County:
Owner

L-ocation:
Source:

Analysis No.:
Date analyzed:
Analyst:
Collector:

Boone
Citr

Ashland

NE • ..,, NW.-¼, Sec. 15.,, T,, 46N.~ R.. 12 W.,

Well

Total Depth 475land No.2931

1358
2-2-35

R. T. Roluts

Norman,Hinchey

CONSTITUENTS:

In ~arts perM1111on.

Turb 1di ty. • .. • • • • .. • • •. . .• • • •.• • .. • • • • • • • • •.. •.• .• .. • • • • Turbid-Bailer sample
Co l ·o r ............... .., . . . ~ ............. , .- ,. ~ . . .. ~ ... . None
Odor ..................... ~·•··•····•••·••••••·•······ None

Total Suspended Solids ....................... ,. •••
Total Dissolved Solids ....................... . 580.0
Loss on Ign.1 t1 on •••• """ ........................... . 147.0
Chloride Rad1cle (Cl) ••• n . . . . . . . •.· . • •.. . . . . . .. . . ". 12.4
Nitrate Rad1cle (N03) •• " .......... • .............. .
.26
SUlphate . (S04) _••·•••••"'••~••••• .. .••.· ............ . 68.7

Bl-Carbonate Radicle (HC03) ,, •••.•••• ..- •
Carbonate Rad1cle (C03). .........•. ., ................... .
Sodium (Na) Potaas1um (K) as Na ................. .
Magnesium (Mg) • ., .... ~ ~., ...... .,. " • .,- • .- •••••• oi: . . . ,...
Iron (Fe) , ............ , •• ~••••··•••··. •••·•···• .. .
Man.ganea.e ~Mrt) .. ............................. .. ... ..
Silica (S102) ................... .............. .. . ....... .
Calcium (Ca) .................. ., ••-•• .,.... " ........... .
Total Hardness •••• ~ ....... ., ............ . ........... .
Carbonate Hardness ........................... .
Alkalinity ••.••• ., ••••..•••.•••••••• ,,....... ,, •.•••• .•
Precipated iron (Pp t t Fe) q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .
Temporary hardness ................. ,. ............ .
Al203 •.•••••• • •. " .•• • ... ·• ... •·., • • • . • •• • •.• • •••• • • •
It; • • • • •

Remarks:

E.R.A. Wall

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Bailer Hample

- 102.:

569.5

00
44.7
58.7
.10

12.8
94.7
477.4
467.0
45·1 .o

N.D. Bailer Sample

326.6
.26

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

A St . Louis County Corn .Field.

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOIJRI

Subsistence Li•estock Feed
The Subsistence Livestock Feed Program was started August 19 as
a means of making

available feed

for subsistence poultry

stock in emergency drought counties.
for needy farmers whose available

and live

Feed relief was to be provided

resources were inadequate to pro-

vide for the necessary subsistence for stock.
Subsistence feed

committees were set up in each drought county

comprising the chairman of the county relief committee together with
two

representative

agent,

farmers and

to determine

the county a griculture

subsistence needs

extension

and to aid in distribution.

More than 60,000 Missouri farm people, having neither money nor
credit to buy feed,
mission.

were provided feed and notes taken by the

Com-

The notes were liquidated by the clients working on desig-

nated relief projects.
With the inception
program,

of the feed

conservation

corrnnonly known as corn fodder program,

ence feed agents

in the counties

more than 1,800 local feed dealers

and distribution
duties of subsist-

became more and more complex,

were approved and bonded to dis-

tribute relief processed feeds on consignment.
In March of 1935 the subsistence

feed clients were transferred

to the Missouri Rural Rehabilitation Corporation.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-104 -

WORK RELIEF I ~ MISSOURI

Ha-,, and l)asluragt; l)t;~t;loprnt;nl
The advance of the drought,

as seen from the foregoing section

on water conservation, was rapid; in fact, the period between July 1
a nd July 15 reversed the farm outlook and climaxed the economic difficulties of Missouri farmers

among which had been a serious chinch

bug infestation earlier in the year.
After
late

conferences

Coll ege of Agriculture,

seed for

in the drought

distributed

was purchased and

fall pasturage

stricken coun ties.

with the

The Relief Commodity Division purchased and dis-

tributed t he followi ng quantities of seed:
Quantity

Value

Barley

120,526 bushels

$121 , 357.75

Rye

178,225

191,307.65

Wheat

143,165

159 , 667 . 75

Soy beans

87 ,098-

195 , 970.50

Cow peas

16 , 484

34,616.40

Cane seed

34,285

47,999.00

Item

1,500 pounds

Sudan grass
This

program not

only resulted

fall and spring pasturage,
r ye that were s own,

in providing

an abundance of

especially from the wheat,

but suppli ed i mmediate fe ed relief,

pasture planting generally,

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1,275.00

and reestablished

- 105 -

barley,

and

stimulated

burned-ou~ pastures.

Nearly Half a Million Acres of Fine Fal l a nd Wi nt er Pasturage ,
Were Developed

Farmers extended feed
ted to

liquidate the

labor.

and seed under this program were permit-

loans by work on approved

This naturally led to the
rural

areas and to the
It was, in fact,

extension of work relief

setting up of

relief projects.
into

strictly

projects to employ available

largely due to this program that the CooP-

erat1ve Highway Program was established.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Like That Shown Above

As .a Rasul t of the Pasturage Program.

-106 -

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

GENERAL CROP CONDITIONS
U. S. CROP REPORT. AUGUST 10, 1934
,Y--

:..?

,r~~

~'
'

' \ \\ .\~

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
. AGRICULTURE
BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

An,
N-

')'tJ

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOIJRI

~emo~al of Urought Cattle
So general throughout the western United States was the drought
that the federal government, through the Agricultural Adjustment Administrat ion,

made plans to remove cattle from the burned-out pas-

tures and so relieve the
during the winter
drought proceeded,
for want

severe feed shortage that was

of 1934-35.

In fact,

that hundreds of

lt became

thousands or

anticipated

evident as the
cattle would die

of feed and water unless removed to areas -where teed was

available, and since such areas were limited it became apl)8.rent: ·that
to slaughter

and process

cattle was the only method by .which out-

right loss might be prevented.
In Missouri drought livestock buying operations were started by
the Drought Reller Service (AAA) on July 30, 1934-, and ended January
.5 , 1935.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-108-

During the program,

a total of 513,044 head of cattle was pur-

chased by the government from 92,276 Missouri farmers who received
$7,474,698.00.

Of the cattle

purchased,

18,631 were condemned as

unfit for hum.an consumption and were disposed of upon

order of the

Bureau of Animal Industry.
In addition to the

purchase

of cattle,

approximately 7,600

sheep and goats were purchased by the Drought Relier . Service from
597

producers in· 38

drought .c ounties.

These were slaughtered and

the meat distributed to persons on relief.
Approximately 6,200

drought cows were

transferred to the Mis-

souri Rural Rehabilitation Corporation, to be used in its program ot
rehabilitating, on a self-supporting basis, rural farm families.
the remainder,

approximately 163,~9 were slaughtered in commercial

abattoirs.
Cattle· that were

not needed by the Missouri Rural Rehabilita-

.tion Corporation or were surplus to the needs of the Relief Commodity d1v1s1on were loaded on cars for shipment,

at the accollllt of th&

Federal Sm-plus Relief Corporation, to other- states for pasturage or
slaughter~

More than 333,000 cattle and calves were shipped by rail

tor· the account or the FSRC,

moving largely Into Kansas City,

East

St. Louis, St. Joseph,, and Chicago.
The cattle population or the state January 1, 1934,

.t o estimates -o f the College of Agriculture, was 2,770,000.

according
Thus the

·-c attle program resulted in the disposal of approximately 18 per cent
· of the total cattle population and helped
between remaining cattle and the
Since the cattle

to bring about· a balance

limited supply of available feeds.

selected for purchase by the Agricultural Ad-

. justment Administration were classified by the -Bureau of Animal

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 109 - _

Industry,

the whole program was a boon to cattle interests since it
every effort was made

was, in effect, a culling of Missouri herds:

to preserve and maintain through the winter the best stock for dairy
and beef purposes

and thus assure preservation of

the better breed

strains.
Work relief projects

were set up

loading and handling cattle.
ties the drought

in many of the

counties for

County garden supervisors,

had rendered almost negligible,

whose du-

acted as shipping

agents to concentrate and load animals purchased by the Agricultural
Adjus tment Administration .

Additional shipping agents were provided

on work pro j ect s .
The Reiief Commodity department controlled the operation of all
comme r cial slaughter houses , numbering 64, which prepared beeves for
canning purpose s in

12 commercial canneries and

8 work relief can-

ner ies ..
In addition to processing more than 16,000,000 pounds of canned
beef and 7,000,000 pounds
f r esh

beef stock,

thousands of

beef wer e distributed to counties where

it could be properly

handl ed prior to d i stribution to relief families.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 110 -

pounds of

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOIJRI

FEEd Con~Er.,alion and l)i~tribution
The Feed Conservation and Distribution Program,
known as

the Corn Fodder program,

drought relief activities,
$3,000,000.00.
resentatives

was one

with expenditures

more generally

of the largest

of the

aggregating more than

This program was started after conferences with rePof the

Department

of Agriculture,

as an emergency

measure to provide Missouri farmers with feed to carry their live
stock through the Winter months.

It served also to establish a mar-

ket for fodder and stimulated conservation of the thousands of acres
of corn stover along the Missouri and M1ss1ss1pp1 Rivers.

The pro-

gram generally had a salutary effect on business.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Scenes Like This and the One on
the Following Page Were- Common
Along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

During

the

Fodder Progran.

-111 -

Corn

More than 166,000 acres of corn fodder was processed by the Relief Commission,

resulting in appreciable benefit

to farmers whose

crops otherwise would have been a total loss.
Immediately after approval of the corn fodder conservation program projects were written to cover the harvesting and processing of
stover into a palatable cattle feed.
for the

preparation of ensilage

Corn fodder processing, except

was forei gn to

local usuage,

and

neither equipment , technique , nor experience were readily available.
The program was largely one of pioneering.
The fodder conservation came under two general headings,
processing and milling.

In the field,

fodder was

field

cut and shocked

and, as machinery became available, was bundled or shredded and baled o Bundling the
was t he

EJ.mplest process and

.t a.:J l:.1.o:n; howe ver,
'"':n.d

1Nc.

of 100 to 150

a large tonnage

pounds wei ght

was handled

in this

t his method had the disadvantage of loose packing

t:rrn :· <ncn es were too

.f~~_,-~ t ory

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

stocks into sheaves

bulky for economic shipment

s s hredde d and baled fodder,

- 112 -

More sa tis-

but scarcity of power balers

Fine Cattle Thrived on an Emergency Ration of
Louisiana Blackstrap Molasses

avai lab l e

Through the Relief Commission.

held down the quantities

conserved in this manner.

Baled and bun-

dled fodder was either shipped direct to consumers or to mills where
it was processed into mixed feeds containing additional proteins and
mineral salts.
Milling was carried on
plants,

and,

erected.
tankage,

in addition,

under contract

in several

commercial

eight work project fodder mills

were

Shredded corn fodder was ground and mixed with molasses,
ground limestone,

salt

well balanced live stock ration.
distributed

through commercial

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

and other

ingredients

to make a

It was sacked in burlap bags and
feed dealers

- 113 -

who handled it for

Eight thousand car loads of molasses-mixed

nominal service charge.

feed were manufactured, a large quantity of which was shipped to the
drought stricken areas of adjacent states.
Two kinds of

mixed feed

were produced from

formulae approxi-

mately as follows:

Ingredients
Ground Corn Fodder
Cane Molasses
Cottonseed Meal
Soybean Meal
Tankage
Ground Soybean Hay
Cracked Corn
Pulverized Limestone
Salt

Cattle Feed

Horse Feed

50 Percent
II
40
II

30 Percent
30
"II

"
"If

2
1

100

Feed Components
Crude Protein, not less than
Crude Fat
"
"
"
N.F.E .
"II
"
"
Crude Fibre
more
"
Operating

control in

the plants was

100

the following limits:

Cattle Feed
8 Percent
50
50

20
10
2

of the feeds were held between

Analyses

samples

2
2

"
"
II

Horse Feed
9 Percent
1

facilitated by frequent

which were tested in the laboratories of

the State Highway

Department 1n cooperation with the University of Missouri,

College

of Agriculture.
Weather conditions,

which were

a vital

fac tor in corn fodder

operations,

were decidedly unfavorable to the program.

six months

following

greater than normal,

the drought

the rain

fall was

During the
7.36 inches

and the winter temperature 2.13 degrees warmer

than normal with an unusual predominance of cloudy weather.
normal hmnidity and warmth

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The ab-

induced wet rot in the field and souring

- 114 -

Molasses Mi xed Feed and Shredded Fodder
Were Found t o be Palatabl e Rations .

or the mixed feed.

Moreover,

during the early part of the season,

the program was in an experimental
moisture content and

stage in which such factors as

control of decay were

indeterminable factors.

However, loss by spoilage was reasonably low.
The net
there

value of the program is a matter of

is no means of

would have

estimating the

resulted from a

speculation since /

calamity and disaster which

feed famine.

Doubtless the connnercial

feeds, because of their scarcity, would have soared to prices beyond
the means of drought stricken farmers.

Moreover,

the program fur-

nished employment for relief clients, income for farmers with fodder
acreage, and provided a satisfactory substitute for hay and grain as
feed.

It also laid a scientific ground work for the manufacture of

mixed molasses feed with corn fodder as a roughage carrier.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-115 -

WORK RELIEF I ~ MISSOIJRI

The virtually complete failure of the 1934 corn crop threatened
Missouri farmers with a seed corn famine that caused the agricultural leaders of the state to foresee
lamity in the spring of 1935
preserve all the corn
ed.

a situation little short of ca-

unless drastic

measures were taken to

in the state from which seed could be select-

Such measures were taken.
After

conferences

Agriculture and the

with representatives

College of Agriculture,

of the

Department of

arrangements were made

to purchase such cribbed corn from the crops of 1932 and 1933 as was
available.
Although the

financial

program were handled

arrangements

by the Missouri Rural

in connection with this
Rehabilitation Corpora-

tion, work projects were organized fqr the selection;

hand-picking,

inspecting, ~ubbing and grading of corn.
More than 400,000 bushels of cribbed corn, with high productive
record, was bought outright and held for inspection.
Since corn

ls Missouri's

this program were more

largest

than transitory:

cash crop,

the benefits of

the distribution

of high

grade seed is expected by crop experts to increase the state's annual corn yield about 10 per cent, and thus bring about a more economic land use.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 116 -

The purchase program was started in November,
northwest and

southeast Missouri,

1934, largely in

after which sorting

and testing

was started.
Each ear of corn was sorted,

nubbins,

undesirable for seed were discarded.

damaged ears and others

Later, corn was resorted over

a nubbing table, butt and tip kernels were shelled.

Thus mold, en-

countered in the 1933 corn, resulted . in dis.carding many ears.
Each seed ear was rechecked before shelling .
was graded with rotary graders,
capacity of 30

hand ,operated,

bushels every eight hours.

bushel burlap bags and

The shelled corn
with an approximate

Seed was sacked in two-

germination tests were made from

composites

of all project contract lots of seed.
The corn

unsuitable for seed was

disposed of largely

vators, merchants or feeders at current market prices.
a large quantity was shipped

to ele-

In addition,

to fodder mills for use in preparation

of molasses mixed feed.
Of

the 400,000

bushels of

corn purchased

70,000 bushels

. excellent seed ·were obtained and distributed through bonded dealers.
The ·work projects, carried on in 20 counties,
they offered
because

indoor employment during winter months to clients who

of their age

strenuous

outdoor

competent

seed

or condition

labor.

judges

of life were unable

All work was

employed

carefully

by the Rural

poration.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

were ideal since

-117 -

to do more

supervised

Rehabilitation Cor-

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

This St. Louis Community Garde ~ Provided Vegetables

for Table

Use and a Large Surpl us for Conservation.

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOURI

Garden and Food Consenration
The State Garden Program had !ts 1ncept1on 1n February,
The principal
subsistence

function

of the department

gardening as a

vegetable gardens.

originally was to foster

self-help relief

possible for families on relief,

1934.

measure by making it

especially in rural areas, to have
to supplying

adequate

healthful foods for use during the summer and for canning,

was also

formulated

The program in addition

to aid in the

rehabilitation of thousands

whose mental

and physical health had been impaired by months and years of enforced idleness.

Moreover,

which the Garden

in the

administration

and Food Conservation

of other projects

Department controlled,

policy was to develop self-help programs,

the

so that the benefits from

the money spent and the labor performed would endure rather than end
with the completion of the work.
In 1934,

seeds and materials were furnished to 73,445 families

with suitable backyard, or vacant lot,

space for home gardens.

1935 the number of home gardens rose to nearly 114,000.

There was,

i n 1934,

an average investment in each home garden

of 92 cents in seeds and materials and 30 cent s i n supervision , or a
t otal of $1.22.

As the state average garden yield was $19 .72 there

was an actual profit in food

to the individual

gardener of $18.50.

The figure of $19.72 was considerably lower t han anti cipated,

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 119 -

owing

This Home Garden Produced

Ample Food .lt'or a

Family of Six With Plenty v ver for Canning.

to the searing

drought

which cut yields as much

as 90 per cent in

some counties.
County garden supervisors for the 1934 project were employed on
the

administrative payroll,

were men taken
ects.

but this year - 1935 - all supervisors

from the relief rolls and paid on work

relief proj-

average of 848 men a week worked during April,

May,

and

June, assisting home gardeners in planting and cultivating, and were
responsible for compiling garden record cards which became permanent
addenda to

the case record cards.

were assi gned to each township.

In many counties garden workers
The average wage paid was 30 cents

an hour for 24 hours a week.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 120 -

Cornrnunil}' Garden~
In cities and large towns,
live in confined areas,

where many families on relief rolls

large tracts of land were

obtained and di-

vided into individual plots for assignment to gardeners.
age size of the
one-eighth

plots in these community

of an acre.

In 1934,

The aver-

gardens was approximately

30 community tracts,

containing

1,294 plots were planted and in 1935 the number of community gardeners rose to 1;314.
The outstanding
was in St.

community garden

project in Missouri

in 1934

Louis where seven tracts containing 840 plots were

made

available to needy families, the majority of whom were almost totally ignorant of gardening practices.

It is interesting to note that

833 different families were served by the gardens at some
ing the season
season.

and that 627,

or 75 per cent,

time dur-

completed the entire

This is an unusually high percentage for relief gardens in

urban regions and is

especially noteworthy in view

of the unsatis-

factory weather conditions during the SUIIIliler.
The average plot cost for all gardens, including seeds, plants,
fertilizer,

insecticides,

Compared with the

equipment

value of the

and supervision,

average plot

was

$8.56.

yield of $46.88,

the

ratio of yield to cost was shown to be 5.5 to 1.

l>roduction T racl~
The

production

tracts were

large acreage

gardens

generally

planted in a few staple vegetables and cultivated as one unit.
labor for the

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

production tracts

came from

-121 -

All

county work projects.

With the

exception of a small

amount of the vegetables raised on the tract which was given to the workers, the bulk of
the produce was grown for canning in work relief canneries;
the canned goods to be distributed later to relief families.
The yields
production
talled

from the 1934

tracts,

which to-

2,831 acres,

due to the

drought

were low
which de-

stroyed more than 50 per cent
of the gardens.

A Battery of Retorts in the
St. Joseph Relief Cannery.

However, the

average

acre

cost of

plants,

materials,

seeds,
supervi-

sion, et cetera, was $41041 as

compared with an average acreage yield of vegetables worth $32.40.
In 1935

there were 28 production tracts projected with a total

acreage of 748.5 acres,
123 acres.

In addition,

the Garden and Food

the smallest

being 5 acres and the largest

the Transient Bureau,

Conservation Department,

in cooperation with
planted 10 production

tracts aggregating 250 acres. Spring floods and high waters destroyed approximately 70 acres of this total.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 122 -

Food Cons~r~alion
Large-acreage

gardens were planted t his y3ar

lief clients who formed self-help
prove their

organizations in an effort to im-

conditions and to eliminate the necessity of

receiving

There are four formally organized gardens of this type be-

relief.
sides

by groups of re-

number

of small

cooperative

community

gardens

planted

through the resources of the groups and with community help.

Coincident with the 1934 food production program was
conservation project,

under which surplus

the food

vegetables from home and

community gardens were canned for the gardeners, and the yields from

Production Methods With Automat ic Can
Sealing Machinery
the Larger

Wer0

Employed

Relief Canneries .

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-123 -

the large production

tracts processed in work relief

canneries for

distribution to the needy.
At the outset of the program it was

decided to not only do the

canning for relief gartieners in tin cans in community canning kitc~ens,

but t o fur ther

housewi ves

the principle

of needy families

of self-help

by educating

to can their own vegetables

the

at home.

For this purpose glass fruit jars were made available.
With the aid and advice of
Department of

the College

the officials of the Home Economics

of Agriculture,

100 trained home economists were
visors,

University of Missouri,

appointed food conservation super-

to serve in all counties of the state.

the conservation supervisors

It was the duty of

to manage the cormnunity canning kitch-

ens and to hold educati onal meetings for housewives,
.ods and procedure

of home

canning

were

at which meth-

taught and

demonstrated.

Thousands of well attended township meetings were conducted.
The state

office

purchased

glass fruit jars for home canning ;

and distributed
and,

put on by the newspapers, churches,
jars not in use.
puted,

in many towns

carloads of
drives were

and Boy Scouts for donations of

The exact number of jars donated could not be com-

but welfare visitors

that the figure ran

and conservation

into the thousands.

supervisors reported

Necessary tops and rubber

rings were supplied by the project.
Pressure cookers,
supervisors for

or retorts,

processing in

were furnished the conservation

the canning kitchens ·and for use at

the canning demonstration meetings.
cans of No . 2
sealed by

and No o 3

hand-operated

In the canning centers only tin

sizes were used ,
sealers.

In those

numbers of home gardens and large acreage

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 124 -.

and in the main were all
counties

with

large

production t racts, larger

canning centers were set
up,

equipped with large

steel

retorts and

power

driven can sealers.
During

the

early

part of the 1934 program
124 work

project commun-

ity canning kitchens were
established.

fluctuated throughout the

Shoe Shop Operated by the Flat River Coopera tive
and below - Handr.1ade Shoes Produced for Members .

season - remaining
average

months of about 90.

This number
at an

through the fall

Seventeen still operated on late fall crops and

meat as late as December 31, 1934.
Approximately

one-half million

cans of early vegetables were

canned in the community centers before the onset of the drought, and
reports from the county relief centers indicated that the glass jars
had been widely used.
During the drought,

custom,

or share-basis,

started in many counties,
since vegetables had been
practically
up.

One

all

burned

one,

the

counties responded and in
mid-September custom meat
canneries

were in opera-

tion in 34 counties.
those

centers

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

farmers

- 125 -

meat canning was

could take one or more beeves,
half the

canned products

veal,

and goats,

were returned to

for canning.

the owner of the meat -

the balance being retained for relief distribution.
centers was done

on a work relief basi s ,

heavy demands for canning
hour sh ifts daily.

One

All work in the

and some centers had such

it was necessary to operate

A total of 249,735 cans

three eight-

of beef and other meat

was canned on the share basis.
Only such centers as could meet sanitation requirements regarding slaughter
canning.

and refrigeration facilities were

approved for meat

Bureau of Animal Industry or State VeterinarJan inspection

was required of all

carcasses and the high

canned was perhaps the greatest

quality of the products

influence in obtaining

animals for

processing.
After the drought
come into

production,

broke in

September and

the canning centers

with beans, mustard, spinach, and fruits.
in the southern part of the state,

late crops began to

were taxed to

capacity

This was especially true

where much produce and fruit was

brought in fo r canning on a share basis.
To take advantage of a cheap food supply that could be purchased and eas ily

conserved,

an arrangement

was made with

the Relief

Corrnnodities Department to purchase fruits for processing in the work
pro ject canneries.

A total of 14,861 bushels of apples,

pears, and

grapes was thus purchased and canned.
Under the
stuff

food conservation

249,735 cans, meats;

These comprised:
and 654,487 cans,

The 1935 food conservation program placed special emphasis

on home canning.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

2,586,916 cans of food-

were processed in work project canneries.

1,682,694 cans, vegetables;
fruits.

program,

Work

project

canneries were

- 126 -

operated

only

connection with production

tracts and ln localities

where the ' mir-

plus amounts of vegetables and fruits above that canned in the homes
would be sufficient to warrant the

building of efficient canneries.

A comprehensive publicity and demonstration program designed to
reach as many housewives of relief families as possible was put into
effect with the
Education

cooperation of the Work Division

Division.

A total of

570 women,

rolls, were employed on work projects

and the Emergency

all from

the

as home canning workers to go

into reli ef homes and teach and assist in home canning.

These home

canning 'WOrkers were trained by a staff of 20 instructors,
on Emergency

Education projects,

home economists o

employed

under the direction of four staff

In addition to the assistance

by t he home cann ing workers,

relief

given in the homes

a series of educational and d emonstra-

tional meetings were held in nearly every county for women interested in canning.
The number of
than 25,000

relief homes visited has been estimated at more

and the number

reached through

the meetings

has been

placed at about 20,000.
More than one

and one-half million quart fruit

jars were pur-

chased for distribution to home canners.
During the surrnner of 1935,
ating,

29 as work projects,

groups or local

there were 38 canning centers oper-

the others with

organizations.

support of

self-help

All these canneries were equipped

with steam operated machinery and were capable of handling a minimum
of 1,000 cans daily.
The canneries required a work
$10,000.00

a week,

representing

relief pay roll of approximately
the labor

women.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-127 -

of some 1,300

men and

Production 1n
fact that

the canneries up to July 1 was small due to the

planting was

Reports show that

delayed by almost incessant

a total of 20,143 cans were

spring rains.

processed by the end

of June.

Sorghu01 Canning l)ro jt;cl
During the month
Corporation

of April,

the Federal

1935,

Surplus Relief

shipped to Missouri for distribution to relief families

18 carloads of sorghum syrup, packed in No. 10, or one gallon, cans.

A large portion of the syrup had developed "frothy fermentation", or
chemical decomposition.

This decomposition,

does not render the product inedible.

checked

in time,

The entire lot of 14,453 gal-

lons of sorghum was reboiled and packed .in quart cans.
The cannery at Sedalia,

which had operated as a work project

beef processing plant was altered for

th.is work and on May 16

sor-

ghum reclamation was begun.
A total of 2,902 man hours of labor was required to process the
syrup,

at a cost of $912.30.

cases, or 45,288 cans,

The labor cost per can for the 1 887

of sorghum returned to the State Relief Com-

modities Division for distribution to relief

Seven cooperatives have been
der the administration
ment.
ized by

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

families was 2 cents.

organized and are functioning un-

of the Garden and

Food Conservation Depart-

Two Work Centers for rural rehabilitation clients were organt hi s division

and later

turned over

- 128-

to the

Resettlement

Administration.
County,

The Work Centers,

and Forsyth,

located in Independence, Jackson

Taney County,

started canning

operations in

large vegetable canneries built as work relief projects.
The self-help cooperatives
Miller County;
Everton,

Naylor,

Dade County;

Flat River,

are located in Kansas City;

Ripley County;

Versailles,

Cape Girardeau, Cape

St. Francois

Morgan County;

Girardeau County;

Vegetable

County~

Eldon,

canneries

and

for these

groups were built on work projects.
Largest of the cooperatives,
laws of Missouri,

which are al l chartered under the

is the one in Flat River,

St. Francois County, a

region populated by stranded lead miners.
The Flat River cooperative,

through the operation of its vege-

table cannery, trucking service and shoe repair shop, effected a relief savings of $3,228.44 for the year endi ng May 31,

1935.

During

the month of June, 1935,

shoe repairing, valued at $73.60, was per-

formed for

which was a distinct

the members,

relief agency.

The Flat River

savings to the local

group anticipates that

the profits

from its operations will make ft possible for a majority of the mem-

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The Commissary Operated by the Southeast
Unemployed Relief League , a Kansas City
Self-Help Coopera t ive.

-129-

bers to be self-supporting and thus be taken from the relief

rolls.

One of the outstanding examples of the results accomplishe·d by selfhelp groups
League,

may be

found in

of Kansas City,

the record

of the

a group which recently

Southeast

Relief

received a Federal

grant to aid its development.
The League, comprising approximately 125 members,
than 500 persons,
more than

living on the

two years ago,

been the operation of

outskirts of Kansas City.

the principal

t o the members for

the Lea gue.

activity of

Formed

the group has

a commissary in which day-old bread and milk,

obta i ned at greatly reduced prices
is "sold "

affects more

from local bakeries and dairies,

credit slips obtained by working for

When t his project was started,

the health of the mem-

bers ' ch i l dren was threatened by malnutrition.

Recently, the Visit-

ing Nur se Association reported that there was not one under-nourished child i n the district,

and credited this fact almost entirely to

t he di s tribution of wholesome bread and milk.
Other activities of the League

include the operation of an em-

ployment service for the members, a clothing repair project, and the
cultivation of gardens
of these

enterprises

for canning crops .

Money for the operation

has been derive d f rom

pie suppers,

sales and the making and selling of qui lts.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

An Underpass Built a s a Vlork Project at St . Joseph .

benefit

WORK RELIEF I~ MISSOURI

The Work Divi sion sponsored projects for unemployed professional and

technical workerso

caliber as to
wo r k

These projects

personnel and as to work undertaken,

accomplished will be

state .

were of

Typical of

unusually high
and much of the

of permanent and lasting benefit

this classification

graphic and geological survey,

of projects was

to t he

the topo-

started under CWA and continued as a

work r elief project.
The primary purpose of the project was to make basic investigations of t he natural

wealth of the state with

to t he orderly development
resources.
without

Started

particular reference

and careful exploitation of

on April 1,

1934,

the project

interruption until the discontinuance

its mineral
was continued

of the work program.

Proj ect headquarters were at the Missourj_ Geological Survey,
and the work was under the direct
sistant State Geologist,

supervision of H.

and the members of the

Rolla,

McQueen, As-

staff of the state

survey and the cooperating engineers of the Un ited States Geological
t:>urveyo
In order to facilitate the work of the project ,
into four distinct branches:
administrationo

geologic,

it was divided

topo graphic, research, and

The work of the first three,

in sufficient detail

to indica te the scope of each, is outli ned in the following sections:

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 131 -

. G1;ologic Eranch
The work of the geologic branch was chiefly of an office nature
and consisted i n the main of the

compilation of many maps and other

data relative to the undertaking.
The first serious attempt was made, under this project, to plot
the available data relative to the possible occurence of oil and gas
resources of

the state,

a subject

in which there

creasing amoun~ of interest manifested,

has been an in-

particularly with reference

to several western Missouri counties.

In this connection,

of all known

a series of maps

wells were

subsurface structure
pared.

plotted and

on a number

of different

These maps show the regional

local folds favorable
pected to occur.

the logs

showing the

formations was pre-

structural trends

for the occurrence of oil

upon which

and gas may be ex-

Thickness maps of a number of geologic units were

also prepared in order to understand the
of this part of the state.

stratigraphy and structure

These maps have been filed in the office

of the Missouri Geological Survey, where they are available for consultation.

They can be easily kept up to date and hence will be of

permanent value.
the coal

In connection with the preparation of these maps,

beds of the state

were also considered and,

additional information has been obtained

as a result,

concerning their thiclmess

and their regional distribution.
In recent years
Missouri

Geological

currence of
in the main,

there has
Survey for

information

prompted by the

fact that in

demand upon the

relative

mineral deposits on private lands.

barren of mineral deposits,

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

been an increasing

to the

The inquiries are,

the event the lands are

taxes will no longer be paid.

-132 -

oc-

In order

to consider this subject systematically, the field note books of the
Geological

Survey were indexed in some detail,

system of that organization,
lands,

showing the mineral classification

was greatly brought up to date.

make it possible

and the card filing
of

This particular study will

to give additional information

on the subject

the occurrence of mineral deposits.
Some of the personnel of

the project was assigned to assist in

a study of the subsurface geology of Missouri.
wells

were studied in

pared.

considerable detail and well logs were pre-

In this connection,

of Missouri,

Samples from drilled

the Eminence and associated formations

which produce water throughout the Ozark Region,

the subject of a detailed microscopic investigation.
in order to determine the

were

This was done

presence of zones within these formations

and specifically to learn which zones were the most prolific sources
of water supplies.

In addition, one geologist assigned to the proj-

ect assisted materially in connection
mately 13 wells
Ozark Region.

at camps of the Civilian Conservation

ground

elevations and
water

locations.

and other unpublished

Some data

also tabulated.

pertaining to
In this

the

particular

a static water level map showing all deep wells

record was prepared.

Missouri,

in checking logs

resources were

phase of the work,
of

Corps in the

Graphic logs of all wells of record were prepared and

considerable time was spent
data for

with the drilling of approxi-

The base used was the geological map of

upon which the wells were spotted.

The elevation of the

static water level with respect to sea level datum was . indicated, as
was the fo nnational

source of the water in each well.

now available for daily use and will
with future

drilling in this state.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 133 -

This map is

serve as a guide in connection
It has attracted a great deal

of attention from those concerned with the development of well water
supplies.
During the period from April 1 to August 1, 1934,

magnetometer

surveys were carried on in the northwestern part of the state.
indicated the structure

They

of the pre-Cambrian rocks and added greatly

to the knowledge of this region, and are especially valuable because
of potential oil and gas exploration.
4,262 square
surveys
this

miles were completed.

have been com~uted

state.

which,

They have
turn,

The data

and arranged to

also been

In addition,

the standard

are difficult to

these

base for

permanent maps

thus exhibiting

the varied

determine from

areal

a great many samples of dolomites were col-

lected in the field for chemical analysis.
will be described

resulting from

transferred to

have been contoured,

structural conditions which
geology.

During the period mentioned,

The results of this work

in more detail 1n connection with the studies of

the research branch.
A new

sectionized

base map

of the state,

measuring approxi-

mately 16 by 13 feet, and suitable for the plotting of details,
practically completed.
mile.

The scale employed was one-half inch to the

The map is accurate int hat 1t was prepared

from available

United States

soil maps,

sources that had
plans for the

land office

plots

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

other

of accurate surveys.
the surveys

State Highway Department was undertaken.

for use in geological studies.

maps of the

and county maps and

of topographic profiles from

files are on a large scale and in

pantographing

Missouri Department of Agri-

been completed as the result

The preparati.on

Geological Survey maps,

United States Army Corps of Engineers,
culture

was

and

These pro-

sufficient detail to be effective

It is planned to place upon the com-

-134 -

pleted profiles the

geology along the major highways

in South Mis-

souri, and, as a result, detailed stratigraphic and structural cross
sections will be available for study.

They will add greatly to t lle

knowledge of the geology of the state.

Topographic Eranch
The work of this branch was under the

iilllllediate supervision of

the trained engineers of the United States Geological Survey,
is cooperating
state.

in the

In order

preparation of

to make

proper topographic

that control lines be established.
this project,

7,381.9 miles

pleted in 88 counties.
concrete

posts have

miles and are

an accurate base

map of the

maps it is necessary

In connection with the

of primary transit

at intervals

so established that

work of

traverse were com-

This work is of a permanent nature
been set

which

in that

of approxJ.mately three

they will not be

destroyed with

time.
Third order
lines

levels were

established during

that had been
order

along some

of the traverse

the life of this project and along

run previously.

levels was

also run

completed.

A total

of 4,063.27 miles of third

The actual sketching of

maps was undertaken at various times during
and in this phase of the work,

lines

topographic

the life of the project

1,015.7 square miles were completed.

The total number of square miles surveyed approximated four and onehalf standard quadrangles.
The topographic mapping included the Montserrat Family Vacation
Area in Johnson County,
tional Park Service.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

which was mapped at the

request of the Na-

Some mapping was done also i n the Cuivre River

- 135 -

Vacational Area in Lincoln Countyo

In the main, the topography was

fairly well scattered throughout the state o

In connection with the

field surveys of the topographic branch, work was also done in Washington County

f or the

Missouri Rural

In order to make the results
available for

the actual

puting section was
the projecto

established and

topographic maps,

maintained for the

computed 5,800 square

a com-

duration of

miles of mileage

There remains approximately 1,500 miles of uncom-

puted traverse which was,
final values

Corporationo

of the traverse and level surveys

preparation of

This section

run in the fieldo

Rehabilitation

in the main,

held up due to

the lack of

in certain arcs of triangulation or for better ties in

some localities.

The level lines

kept apace with the field work,

have likewise been

with the

computed and

possible exception of the

books which were sent in from the field when the project was closed.
Both phases of the computing section were well organized,
systematically

taken care

the office of the
Geological

of and the field

notes recorded in both

Missouri Geological Survey and

Survey at

Washington,

the books

the United States

A complete

index of all

field note books is available for ready reference and,

where possi-

ble,

the master sheets

for traverse and levels

have been prepared

and copies mimeographed for distribution.
In connection with the work of the topographic branch,
men were employed

in making

various maps

drafts-

necessary for field work

and to a considerable extent in inking the maps sketched topographically in the field.
work done

This type of drafting is very exacting but the

on some 10 quadrangles

the standards of the

in the state was in

United States Geological

Surveyo

keeping with
The work of

all sections of the topographic branch was of the highest order and

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 136 -

maintained the hi gh standards which have

prevailed in that work for

many years .

The work of t h is
materials,

branch was devoted largely

to testing of raw

with the view of their potential commercial utilizati on.

A gr eat deal of work was accomplished by t he ceramic section of t his
branch .
clay fr om

Comple t e f iring behavior tests were
Southeast Missouri.

conducted on

10 other

Drying and

samples,

not

firing tests were

but other physical

final data were not obtained due to the
Fourteen

made on 14 samples of
also

tests and

the

termination of the project.

samples have likewise been prepared but firing tests have

been madeo

In addition,

approximately 225 cone

fusion tests

were made to determine the point at which certain clays melted.

At-

tention was also given to the development of glazes to fit the various clay

bodies which

pottery,

in the main of the best grade,

developed were
that

were testedo

Approximately 1,000 pieces of

of various colors.

were produced.

As a result

it has been

certain clays in Missouri are satisfactory for use

bodies and that glazes are available for t hem.

The glazes
found

in pottery

The results may l ead

to the beg Jnning of a pottery industry in this state.
A number of chemical studies were undertaken
the project.
the

Some 69 clay samples were analyzed in connection with

work of the ceramic section.

however,

in this branch of

of t hi s

nature were

Probably the

the analyses

outstanding work,

made on 28 samples

dolomi t e, which were found to have the composition essential for t he
manufacture of rock wool.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Samples of raw rock were
- 137 -

tested and t he

final rock wool product has since proved satisfactory and commercial
development started of the rock

obtained in the vicinity of Easley,

Boone County.
During

the latter

nations of fluorine,
the results

part of

bromine,

shown on a

the life of the project,
iodine,

and manganese were made and

series of maps which

also depict the

curring in

importance in that this constituent,

excess of

approximately

water, results in the enamel
As a result of t his work,
have a

two parts

when oc-

to a million

parts

decay of the second teeth of childreno

it has been found that certain localities

water comparatively

these localities

for-

The determination

mat ions from which the waters were obtainedo
fluorine is of great

determi-

high in

may be made in

fluorine.

Investigations

order to determine

the need for a

change in the source of water supply.
The investigation of the bleaching clays occurring in Southeast
Missouri was completed and a report; was issuedo
described the
to occur

results of the study of the

in Lawrence Countyo

Another report, 2

halloysite deposit known

The clays studied,

with respect

their bleaching qualities, were, until a short time ago, undeveloped.
Exploitation has
and may

now been started,

however,

result i n small local industries.

investi gation of

halloysite,

a great

in Southeast Missouri
In connection

many limestone

with the

samples were

analyzed to determine whether or not the material was derived i n the
breakdown of that rock.

Such a determination

is of importance

connection with the finding of additional bodies of t his clay.

1
2

58th Biennial Report of the State Geologist of Missouri.
Ibid.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 138 -

Durinc: t he flood

of the :iUssouri River i n the

sprinf of 1935,

sample s of water were collected and t he quantity of silt deterni r:.ed.
The data

obtained are of interest

i n connection u it:-1 t 11e

study of

river development and eros ion o
I n connection

study the
souri.

n i th e 1is work ,

records of the flow

t n o cor:.i::-i;_ters nere

of certain svrface

They were also of assistance i n

193 5 f lood and in preparing

assi ~red to

strearrn i n

=-= is-

tabulatin~ data d~Ii n~ t ~e

statistics t hat uill be of value in t ~e

f uture development of certain strear1s.
The results

of the survey have

Geological Survey and ,
Other data

i n sone cases ,

been perr:!ane11t l y fJ_led

are a ppropriated .

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

t ile

already have been published .

will be publ i shed t~1en funds available f or

Parking Space at Hyde Park , St . Jos eph .

- 139 -

t ~1is r ~r r os e

----------------------------------WORK REL EF

The Rel i ef Commod H~1 Divi sion
II.ent and di stribut ion

was responsib le fo r t he procure-

of relief conm1odi t ie s

and f or accounting and

reporting in connect ion wi th its own pro gram.
Relief commod1.ties were obtained in six vvays :

fr om t he Federal

Surplus Relief Corpora t i on , Washi ng ton , D. C., as grants ;
purchases made under agre ement wi t h the FSRC to
sion;

by direc t dona t ion ;

istration;

by direct

rei mburse the d.ivi-

f rom the Agri cultural

Adjus tment Admin-

and f rom surpluses produced in re lief- operated canneries

and small indus tries .
Distribution of

commodities was made

tions to the 115 political
cessible case loads.
out the s tate

on the basi s

sub-divisions on the

basts of thei r ac-

Commodities were equi tably allocated

with t he

exception of

were allocated only t o those

al loca-

oi'

through-

perishable commodi t ie s

counties havi ng

which

facili t ies for proper

storage.
The department operated i t s

own transportation system for dis-

tributing commoditi es f rom conc entrat ion centers.
trucks,

five of the

were used in

refr iger ated type,

transporting

tricts geographically
ties

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

from

warehouses,

Ten lar ge trai ler

and numerous

army trucks ,

commodi ties from 12 concentrat i on

located.o
both

Shi pments were made
dry and

-140-

refrigerated,

dis-

int o the counstrategically

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

A Commun ity Distribution Office in St . Louis is Shown Above .
Belo,1 - Deliverinc Hattress e s From a St . Louis County \'/arehouse .

located withi n each regional group of
count ies.
Actual

distribution

commodities varied
out the

state ,

following

relief

somewhat through-

but in

general

system was used:

the

re l ief

commodities were distributed throughout the state to
the

counties

could redeem

sub-commissaries in

where

;. 0r.e De live r y of Corn.r:1od i t ies .\ Forward Step i.n fi.e li ef Gi vin::: .

commodities

although

in some

caseworkers and investi ga-

tors delivered commodities to clients
living in

outlying districts •

projects were
l ive r y of

clients

commodity orders issued

by social workers;
instances

reli ef

wherever possible ,

approved for truck deand in St. Louis

direct-to-the- home distribution project was operated.
f or the client's receiving relief

Work

City a

This provided

commodities just as grocerieB had

been delivered in more prosperous times.

This was both socially and

economically desirable since it was comparatively inexpensive and in
adct i tion,

re gular deli very of goods to the client;

moreover, as it

el i minated the congregating at commissaries of relief clients to redeem commodity orders,

1t tended to lessen the client's humiliation

at being on relief.
Accounting control

was maintained on each individual commodity

f rom its sourc e to its destination.
The

Comn_o(Li..t y

of service

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

/ :e

Division operated a Traffic
whole Commission

-142 -

Department which was

since this department

checked

tariffs

assuring that

other

departments

of the

Commission were

given f ul l advantage of all claim and tariff allowances.
The extension of drought relief increased the
of t he Commodity Divi s ion considerably.
ing were generally distributed.

responsibilities

Seeds for late fall plant-

These included cow peas, soy beans,

cane seed, sudan grass, rye, barley, corn and wheat.
Commercial slaughter houses were contracted
catt le pro gram to supply meat

during the drought

for canning purposes to 12 commercial

cannerie s under contract and to ei ght canneries operated by the Garden and Food Conservation Department as relief projects.
In addition to its re gular operations the Relief
partment
areas.

extended emergency
Thus,

Sout heas t

aid to counties

July,

Missouri

counties

Commodity Divi s io~
1935.

where acute

flood

during t he period

The following

suffering was reported.

of com~odities were
April 1,

handled

1934, t hrough

tabulation shows t he i tems handled and

t heir value.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

i n cyclone and

in March, 1935, trucks were rushed to flood-harassed

More than $7,000,000.00 worth
t he

Commodity De-

Community Warehouse , St . Louis.

-143 -

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOIJRI

~issou.-i Stal~ l)lannina 13oa.-d
The Missouri State

Planning Board was

created by the Governor

at the instance of the National Planning Board and a small staff was
made available as a

project under the

The work undertaken at that

Civil Works

Administrationo

time was continued throughout 1934 as a

Work Division project.
One of the principal
lection,

compilation,

state plan.

achievements of the

and analyses

of various

data bearing

on a

Numerous reports, bulletins, surveys, and other materi-

al were collected, analyzed, and interpreted.
continuously
propriate

project was the col-

from the

inception

of the Board,

This work progressed
and passage of ap-

legislation by the General Assembly assures

its continu-

ation.
An

extraordinary fund of

information has been brought together

and made available in published studies, some of which are described
briefly in the following paragraphs.
An

exhaustive study of population trends, of major significance

in planning work,

was made with a view of

forecasting future popu-

lation characteristics and trends in Missouri.
A thorough study was made in the field of transportation,

with

close liaison maintained with the Federal Coordinator of Transportati on.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Apart from its interstate phase,

- 144 -

such studies

were made of

intrastat e

transportation as

As indicated elsewhere in
un ique geology,

time and

available staff

this report,* Miss ouri,

because

presents many problems in land usage,

of which is basic to social and economic advancement.
special emphasis

permitted.
of

its

the solution
Accordingly,

was given to land use study in Missouri.

Because

of the magnitude of land use problems and the wide interest in their
s olution , many agencies co-operated with the State Planning Board in
these studies,

among which were the College of Agriculture,

States Forest Service,

and the Land Planning

United

Consultant of the Na-

tional Resources Boardo
Because of the exceptionally large amount of sub-marginal
in Missouri,

land

much time and attention was given to park and forestry

area projects proposed as a means of returning
economic and . recreational use.

sub-marginal land to

Cooperative studies with the Forest

Service and the College of Agriculture have determined that approximately eight

million acres of

Missouri land should

be returned to

ti mber practice.
The Forest Service

has approved eight

embracing some 3,313,000 acres of land.
developed

and several

these undertakings,

others have

south and

varying stag~s of completion.

recormnended the

Ozark Parkway as

project to extend from the vicinity

west through

existing

parks and

areas to the Lake of the Ozarks.

* See Physiographic Map of Missouri, page 44.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

In addition to

several soil erosion projects and one reservoir

Planning Board

sub-marginal land

Two park projects are being

been approved.

project have been approved and are in
The State

forestry project units,

- 145 -

proposed

of St. Louis
recreational

In cooperation

Board and

Resources

with the National

Public

Works Administration, the Missouri State Planning Board prepared the
Missouri section for a national inventory of public works.
A summary statement covering the first six months'
Board,

work of the

was submitted to the National Planning Board in June,

A more comprehensive work was submitted in April, 1935.
report embraced economic findings
studi e3

covering

the

principal

elements

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

I
-';!;
~

·1,,.
',.

;,_

/ "

,;/, ! ,

The latter

and recommendations together with

Mis s ouri .

1934.

{\ j ,

r
(/''✓/ .I r<
1.

-146 -

state

plan

for

WORK RELIEF I~ MISSOURI

S1Dal I lndust.-iEs
Small Industries,
activities,

given numerous

production-for-use

included furniture factories, a tannery,

leather goods,
Other

the name

harness making,

overall factories,

production-for-use ventures,

production of
and toy making.

such as sewing

rooms and

can-

limited and

that

neries, are discussed elsewhere in this volume.
It

is significant

that these projects were

production,

as well as items fabricated,

the

population.

relief

Thus,

large

storage problems, did not pile up.

was paced to the needs of
surpluses,

with attendant

In no case was a production-for-

use project set up merely to fit the skills of a particular group of
relief persons.
Factories

for the

production

Springfield and Flat River.
hold

and

office

necessities

of furniture

were

located

They produced a wide variety of houseand special

items such

as spinning

wheels, looms, loom shuttles, and nursery school equipment.
offices throughout the state were furnished with desks,
filing cabinets made in these factories.
ticularly beds,

was available

Relief

chairs, and

Household furniture,

to families

on relief.

par-

A total of

8,800 pieces of furniture was produced.
In addition

to the two factories,

there were projects at

St.

Joseph and Scopus for the production of hand-made chairs of a heavy,

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-147 -

An Office Des!<: Made in t he Flat River Furn itur e Factory .

durable t ype .

Calf and cow hides, available as a result of the re-

moval of drought cattle, were tanned at Springfield.
processed
leat her .

for the

making

of leather

jackets,

The hides were

show and

harness,

A total of 7,842 hides were processed.

Leather clothing and harness were made at Springfield.
jackets were supplied to 457 relief clients,

Leather

and a relief shoe shop

repaired 1,301 pairs of shoes and rebuilt 896 other pairs for relief
families.
clients.

Harness was

produced for

rural

Overall factories were located at St. Louis,

and Potosi, and produced

rehabilitation
Bonne Terre,

a total of 32,028 articles including over-

alls, jackets, and pants.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

use of

-148-

/·.:. ·_-:_\, .
r
_ _: :-- >--::,r ~~---~;~;:-):=--

::- --'

-=---

,j ; ; .

-'- ---✓

-- -

' .
---r-,

➔:--

), '

.---=;r.·
!~
Ji
c•j

{•

, I'

•

'ii '-~

\ A ,,;.;, . ':
\

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

An O.za.-k Fami 1.,,

WORK Rl:LIEF I~ ~ISSOURI

Ern~.-g1;nc-,, Education
The Emergency Education program,
sponsibility,

provided

emergency

while not a Work Division re-

employment for

professional and

technical persons qualified to teach.
Projects fell
literate, worker's,
and

pre-school

in seven

major divisions:

adult,

vocational,

and parent education, vocational rehabilitation

nurseries.

All

programs,

with the

exception of

nursery schools, were conducted with the specific objectives of giving employment and morale relief to the unemployed.
Adult education embraced the teaching of virtually alJ the common academic subje ctso

In addition there were

classes on farm and

home mechanics and related subjects.
Vocational education

aside from corrrrnercial subjects,

embraced

courses of a technical nature in farm subjects, mechanics, aviation,
cabinet making, cobbling,

plumbing,

concrete construction, sewing,

cooking, watch repairing, and others of like nature .
More than
vantage of

10,000

of Missouri's

classes in reading,

Enrollment of

86,000

illiterates took ad-

writing, arithmetic,

illiterates proved

difficult because of

and spelling.
their reti-

cence in coming to classes.
In the urban
cation,

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

and industrial areas,

embracing the

subjects

programs in

of social and

-150-

worker's edu-

industrial economy,

provided workerso
management,

The principal

subjects were labor

current and economic problems.

organization

Cultural subjects were

available.
Parent educati on
general adult

during the last year was

educat i on

program and

identified with the

was closely

allied with the

nursery school units.
Physically handicapped persons who,
retraining , could become
such as
provided

self-supportinG,

artificial limbs;
to others.

by means of artificial and

hospital

were aided.

treatment

Each person,

after such

Appliances

and operations were
physical

rehabili-

tation, was either placed upon a job immedia tely or given vocational
training.
Counsel and advic e,

and aid

if necessary,

were given to each

person until employment in private industr y was found.
Unemployed teachers, nurses, cooks,
ment in

connection with

schools in 12

nursery

communities each

pre-school a ge .

and janitors found employ-

school units.

Nineteen

enrolled from 30 to 40

nursery

children of

Only children from under-privileged and needy fam-

ilies were enrolled.
Special equipment

for nursery

schools was made

in the relief

furniture factories in Flat River and Springf ield and necessary garments and linens

were made in sewing rooms

operated by the Women's

Work Department.
Methods of

adult and nursery

school education

three institutes during the summer of 1935.
University of Missouri,

Columbia,

parent and worker's education,
During the same period,

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

were taught in

In cooperati on with the

specialists in adult,

conducted classes

for 478 teachers.

instruction in these subjects was

- 151 -

literacy,

given to

205 Negro teachers in connection wi th the Lincoln University at Jefferson City.
nurses,

At the

Kansas City Teachers' College

and dietitians were

trained

175

teachers,

in nursery school methods and

technique.

Specially Desi gned Surgical Devices Were Made by FERA Students

FEderal Studt;nf Aid
A special

grant of

purpose of aiding needy

federal funds

was given Missouri

college students,

for the

who otherwise would have

been unable to continue with their education.

This program was car-

ried on through 1934 as a separate administrative unit,

but in late

January, 1935, its identity was merged with the Emergency Educational program,

and responsibility

for its conduct

was transferred to

the Educational Division.
More than 3,700 students in Missouri
participated

in the program.

colleges and universities

Projects in the field

services were fostered extensively:
• For more detailed information see Federal Aid in Missouri, 1935.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 152 -

of all public

WORK RELIEF I~ MISSOURI

Coal Uist .. ibulion
Coal and other fuel requirements of relief recipients were furnished under a program

perfected by the Coal Department,

in close cooperation with the Social Service Divisiono
pended upon

thorough cooperation of coal

operating

The plan de-

producers and dealers and

the relief administration.
To local relief authorities was left the

responsibility of de-

termining the kind and quantity of coal supplied clientso

The t ype

of coal selected was usually in the lower price range and was del1.vered by the dealers from their

regular supplies on orders issued by

social workers.
The dealers were

paid a nominal charge for service,

including

use of their facilities, handling, weighing, storage, shrinkage, and
delivery.

Compensation for coal so delivered was

basis; that is,

a car of coal of

on a replacement

the same quality and size

as had ·

been furnished relief clients was sent to the dealer on his application supported by coal orders from the relief office.
A total of 189,990

tons of coal was distributed to relief cli-

ents during the period from·December 20,

1933 to November 30, 1934.

Of this amount 36,270 tons was supplied Missouri by the Federal Surplus Relief

Corporation.

During the winter

250,000 tons were distributed.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 153 -

1934-35 approximately

WORK RELIEF I~ ~ISSOIJRI

The maps and text presented
statistics of

Missouri by

the

in this section
more or less

summarize

relief

natural periods

into

which the complex history of relief seemingly breaks.

S~pt~mb~.- 193:! th.-ough Ma,- 1933

In September, 1932, at

the inception of federal relief in Mis-

souri, only six counties obtained funds.
ever, carried on unemployment relief
statistical

Many

other counties, how-

programs with local funds, but

procedures of local agencies were neither comprehensive

nor uniform, resulting in incomplete and inadequate data.
During
eight

the period September, 1932, through May, 1933,

counties received

unemployment reltef funds.

sought relief at different
lation shown on
figure.

eighty-

These counties

times, and the average per cent of popu-

the accompanying map,

addition to the

therefore, is not a complete

cases reported,

aid was

extended

county courts, township boards, and other governmental unitso
Records show that
during

this period was:

the net case 1 oad of
September,

those receiving relief

1932, 12,470; October, 41,400;

November, 50,132; December, 63,141; January, 1933, 62,238; February,
69,672; March, 84,244; April, 92,765; and May, 87,330

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 154 -

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

,.,.

•P~T

MISSOURI

■ ULLIVAI

INTENSITY OF RELIEF
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION RECEIVING RELIEF

September 1932 through May 1933

LEGEND

□

=:j;
•
I
roN
l

[[Ill

TO
Ill

r·L

-··-r
N

·- ·

U' WIIE

NEWTo;;-J

:µ

·-·
CHIUSTl~N

]

1
,...."-i
.

r----1

!
..

1r' r

i~--.
;

M:'0190~ .~

w.v••
'

I i

!!
11,
· II

If,

DO~LA

:Jc

,....

:"'\ l.
>:

TO
4.9 °/o
5

0R71

REPORT

.1---.. -

■

14.9

°/o

·/o

•

OVER

June 19JJ th.-ough llililo..-emM.- 19JJ

During the surrrrner months of 1933,
ously had received

funds to

some counties,

supplement local public

which previcontributions

fer re lief purposes, were able to care for their unemployed as caseloads were reduced by summer employment and gardens.
Also, during this period, some counties which had not previously sought

supplemental aid made requests for allocations

and sub-

stantiated their need.
In the 101

counties that

received aid through

all or part of

this pe riod, a few reported activities for very brief periods.
During this period, the net case load of those receiving relief
a s reported was:

June 1933, 76,861;

July, 61,319;

August, 56,030;

September, 55 ,995; October, 60,125; and November, 72,545.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 156 -

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

0
-,-----~7.1._,

-,. \t-T-i-l"""P"-••----~

H \ HARRISON

MISSOURI
INTENSITY OF RELIEF
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION RECEIVING RELIEF

June through November 19 3 3

LEGEND

□
[IIIl]
a

m
~~~,~.._~, :~

__ _j__~.;-1,/
DENT

.X""51 I"

4-,.-

: ITri.

1118

I}'
V

·-·
HANNO

REPORT
0

TO
4.9 °;6

;o
14.9 '1/o

TO
29.9
30

°lo

°/o

8c
OVER

>,··-··
~,
:t

0''

............
A

r·'

L ..

Th is period shows
A~~i nis t ration,

the effect and

benefits of

the Civil Works

a ma j or influence affecting relief trends.

ulati ons applying to _assi grunent of persons

As re g-

to work on CWA projects

gave pri ori ty to persons on reli ef, a large number of cases were removed f r om relief rolls;
who without doubt

additional thousands

of borderline cases,

would have been relief charges,

were employed in

thi s program and kept off reliefo
The s tandardization of records and reports, both social and economical

s tatistics,

was i mproved

during this

means of a CWA project that provided for
instruc t ion of county un its

largely by

a field auditing staff for

in the preparation of accurate reports.

Notwi t hs tanding t hi s s tandardizati on,
report direct re l ief

period

however,

14 countie s did not

activities duri ng t h is period

since their re-

lief activities were financed ent irely from local public funds.
During this period t he net case
as reported

from the

areas was:

load of those receiving relief
December

1933,

1934, 58 ,545; February, 67 ,282; and March , 82, 879.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 158 -

74,091; January

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

F[!rJr=;;nr -···.
I

MISSOURI

INTENSITY OF RELIEF
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION RECEIVING RELIEF

December 193 3 through March 1934

LEGEND

□

illil]

NO
REPORT
0
TO

4 .9

°/o

...

-~
JE
___

5
TO
14.9

°/o

15
TO

29.9

...

°lo

30 ¾
&
OVER

pt:r IIDwJc:q
....z:

t
s

"Ill
l. IY
"P=S~,~
l~·~ ·
,I!!~

~
:..__11-

L·-

lr-1
=.J(

------

A.pirU 1934 lh.-ough Jul.,, 19.14

A tremendous increase in relief followed the discontinuation of
CWA in March 1934.
With the increased load,

a concerted effort was made to obtain

complete reporting of all unemployment relief
public funds.
plete report

Accordingly,
on relief

activities from lo cal

this period represents

expenditures

from both

the first com-

federal

and local

public funds.
In June,

the work program that had been

Civil Works was terminated.

established after the

The crop outlook was bright and relief

rolls that had spurted upward with the discontinuation of CWA showed
marked decline .
Unprecedented drought caused the resumption of the work pro gram
in July

in all counties,

loads to increaseo
able to all

destitution

During this period

counties for

in rural

areas caused

case

federal aid was made avail-

work relief and

funds for

direct relief

were sent into 60 countieso
During this period the net case loa~ of those receiving relief,
either direct relief or work relief,

from public funds was:

1934, 103,687; May, 100,432; June, 89,846; and July, 120,327.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

- 160 -

April

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MISSOURI
INTENSITY OF RELIEF
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION RECEIVING RELIEF

April through Iuly

1934

LEGEND

1,.

□

D]]

\El
\\"'--

NO
REPORT
0

TO
4.9

°/o

TO
14.9

0/o

TO
29.9

°/4

30 °/4
81

OVER

~·-~•!
9

The advance of t he drought and extension of the work program in
all counties was reflected in t h is period.
seed and feed
destroyed.
pennitted to

were made available
Such persons

In August,

to persons whose

were classified as

liquidate seed and

subsistence

crops had been

relief cases and were

feed loans by work on

relief pro-

jects.
Liquidation of seed

and feed loans necessitated

of the work program into practically all townships.

the extension
The shortage of

livestock feed led to the establishment of work relief mills for the
preparation of feeds,
with harvest

seasonal employment

time was lacking

automatically associated

and contributed

to the rising

case

loado
The net case load of those
rect relief,
reported was:

receiving either work relief or di-

the latter including livestoclc feed and seed cases, as
August 1934, 123,609;

149,791; and November, 149,629 ..

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-162-

September, -129,599;

October,

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-i

MISSOURI
INTENSITY OF RELIEF
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF POrULATION RECEIVING RELIEF

August through November 1934

LEGEND

□
[III]]
-~

NO
REPORT

TO
4.9%
5

:0
14.9

m
---

°/o

TO
29.9 %
30 o/•
8c
OVE::R

►i

,L
I"~
/-

:..-.

UeceD11ffr 1934 through March 1935

This period includes the peak

in the unemployment relief rolls

in Missouri .
Seed and feed relief had assumed large proportions,

which, to-

gether with s easonal increase due to weather conditions, swelled reli ef rolls.
Many thousands
marginal

status,

of families

that had been

without relying upon public

able to

maintain a

bounty during

warm

weather, became relief cases duri ng this period.
In February

and March,

case loads

began to

drop in

a trend

local areas,

the net

whi ch continued throughout the next period.
On the basis

of reports

submitted from

case load of those receiving direct
i od wa s :

December 1934, 156,593;

or work relief during this perJanuary 1935, 170,205;

164,564; and March, 166,856.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-164-

February,

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MISSOURI
INTENSITY OF RELIEF
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION RECEIVING RELIEF

December 1934 through March 1935

LEGEND

□

[ill]

-8

---

NO
REPORT
0

°0

4.9
5

TO
14.-9

°0

1!7
TO
29.9
30

°0
0

OVER

...,...,
>:

4.p.-11 1935 th.-ough Jul,- 1935

This peri od is marked by a s teady decline in case loads .
In March ,

the cases cared

fe ed program were
tion ,

for under the

transferred to the

Rural Rehabilitation Corpora-

a pol icy that r esulted in a marked
An int ens i ve campai gn

gether with t he

subsistence seed and

reducti on in

to analyze case loads

strengt hening of the

case loads.

in all areas, to-

Social Service Division,

re-

sul ted 1n t he r emoval of thousands of cases from relief rolls.
Seasonal emplcyment , in both agricul ture a nd industry, toge t her
with i ncreased enrollment of boys from relief famil i es in the Civili an Conservation Corps ,

also contr ibuted

to the r eduction

of case

l oads.
The net case load receiving r elief , either
r eported

f rom t he

local areas

f or this

direct or work,

period was:

147,323; May, 149 ,000; June, 138,423; and July, 130,639.

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

-166 -

April 1935,

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

MISSOUR I
INTENSITY OF RELIEF
AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION RECEIVING RELIEF

April through July

1935

LEGEND

□

[IlII]

·. ■

~---

REPORT
0
TO
4.9 °/o
5
TO
14.9

d/o

15
TO
29.9 °/o

°/o

OVER

r--0
;-~
-·-··

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

.4.cknowl.e dgrnents
The Commiss ion is indebted to
the University of Missouri f or some of
the data presented in this report; to the Missouri
Geological Survey, for maps and much of the material
presented in sections relating to projects under it s d1.rect1on; and
to the State Planning Board.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

To t he heads of the

several departments who contributed to this
volume, grateful acknowledgment
is also due.

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Full text of Work Relief in Missouri : 1934-35

FRASER