6 minute read
life changed in ‘33
In the last issue of Home & Harvest magazine I talked about Pvt. Henry Lorang of the White Spring Ranch in Genesee serving in World War I in England and France. After seeing the original Armistice Day first hand in a French camp, Henry returned to marry his sweetheart, Marguerite Tobin. He wanted to build a little bungalow for his new wife. All while journaling the whole process of course. After his father, John Lorang passed away in 1926 and his mother Mary moved to Spokane 2 years later; Marguerite and Henry moved into the big farmhouse with their four children. Almost immediately the Great Depression hit.
People in Genesee and elsewhere bartered for goods, raised pigs, chickens and more food in gardens. Henry and Marguerite traded eggs for the children’s birthing bills. Tires on people’s autos wore out and some drove on the rims. One local person put wagon wheels on his car. It was the price of wheat and the bank closures that scared everyone. The Genesee Exchange Bank closed without any coverage for depositors. Mary Lorang, Henry’s mother, lost $100 in the Genesee Exchange just when taxes were overdue on the farm. Marguerite’s parents lost quite a bit as well. People got very good at bartering, so when the price of wheat went down to .25 because of competing farmers; Henry Lorang talked to his neighbors.
Advertisement
From the Genesee News of August 1932, a newspaper preserved here: “Henry Lorang, Genesee, pleaded with the large number of farmers in attendance to hold their wheat in an effort to obtain better prices that more money could be applied on their outstanding debts, and again put the farmer on a purchasing basis, which would relieve the number of men in the jungles from ekeing out a daily existence from door to door and from refuse barrels, as it is said that are doing in some centers. Farmers are willing to begin buying again, especially machinery, lumber and labor, said Mr. Lorang…..Charles Schooler moved that Genesee farmers organize to hold their wheat until it reached a price of 75 cents per bushel at Genesee or for a period of 60 days.”
by
Diane Conroy
C Ca ab bi in ne et ts s and More
licensed + insured in washington + idaho “Because the heart of your home deserves our custom touch! "
In April of 1933, Henry writes that the hospital room for the birth of Mary Alice was $30 per week. The delivery was $7.50 and Medicine $1.68. The total hospital bill of $60.74 for one baby was paid for by 12 cases of eggs and 80 lbs. of lard. Then Henry received a Sheriff’s letter asking for the back taxes of $11.77 or else items would have to “attached and sold.” Written by Henry on this Sheriff’s letter of Oct. 11, 1933. “I was really hard up at this time. But times got better under Franklin D. Roosevelt.”
It had gone too far. But life changed for everyone in 1933. New programs were afoot and ideas were flowing in from the top. President Roosevelt. Men were beginning to be hired for something called the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps, and started to build camps; each with a well. The “Tree Troopers” planted trees on the hilltops and repaired dirt roads and sidewalks. Around Genesee, the men cleared Cow Creek and worked on the Genesee School Gymnasium; “the roof and ceiling were strengthened and the front has been remodeled for more seating capacity.” From the Dec. 1933 Genesee News. Reading rooms were set up. Telephone lines were strung. Parks were created all over the country. It worked. Men were paid 55 cents an hour and skilled labor $1.25. A huge sum at the time. Then there was the AAA. The AAA, Agricultural Adjustment Act, was the unheard of program of paying farmers to not grow wheat. The idea was to learn how to manage the price drops from a glut on the market. Everything was an experiment and ideas were busting out all over. Henry was so excited to get his very first Agricultural Adjustment check for not growing wheat, that he hand copied it, including the designs on the check. It was a lifesaver in many ways as the White Spring Ranch farm was preserved. Mary Lorang, who was in care of her three girls, Martha, Viola and Christine up in Spokane was also relieved as the farm taxes were paid.
The Genesee News of Dec. 1933 reads: “WHEAT ADJUSTMENT CHECKS MAY ARRIVE BY CHRISTMAS”
“Wheat growers have been asked to have patience with the government in the matter of completing payments for wheat acreage reduction. The growers of wheat, like most farm commodities, will not be compelled to change their practice for they have shown patience to the nth degree for several years. However, Paul A. Eke, Moscow, chairman of the Idaho State Board of review under the Agricultural Adjustment Act; announced Saturday in Boise that, “Christmas checks of about 2 million dollars will be mailed to Idaho wheat farmers in the next 3 weeks. The checks are advance payments to farmers for wheat they will not raise next year through agreements with the government to decrease production.”
Cover photo: Henry in middle of tall wheat at the time Top photo: Henry Lorang and farm workers Photo, left: Genesee News, 1933 Photo, right: Eggs for Lois birth Photo, left, next page: Henry Lorang with some of the children Photo, top right, next page: Hand drawn wheat adjustment check AAA, by Henry Lorang Photo, bottom right, next page: Eggs for Mary Alice birth
In 1935, another chance was taken. As a part of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, the federal government hired more than 10,000 artists to create works of art all over the country— murals, theater, fine arts, music, design and writing. Henry Lorang was doing his part. He journaled the entire story and preserved letters and photographs for the next several years. Henry didn’t know it at the time, but his writings fit right in with works of art being created during the Depression. His stories are full of life and hardships. Especially since his lungs had been damaged during WWI; Henry enjoyed writing much more than farming. But he did his best with the farm and wrote in his journals.
Slowly but surely, these writing, journals and letters are being typed by U of Idaho and WSU students and thanks to grants from Idaho Humanities Council and Latah County Arts & Culture; they will be available on our website at www.WhiteSpringRanch.org and also our Facebook page.
