Finding Aid of the Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union, North Carolina Division, 1912 - 1928, ORG.48
Abstract
The Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union was first organized at Point, Rains County, Texas in 1902 as an effort to improve the economic, educational, political, and social life of the American farmer of the South. Eventually, the organization on the national level became known as the National Farmers Union, with divisions in various states. The organization records of the Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union, North Carolina Division, document sixteen years of the group's activities, from 1912 to 1928.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union, North Carolina Division Records
- Call Number
- ORG.48
- Creator
- Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union. North Carolina Division.
- Date
- 1912 - 1928
- Extent
- 11.00 boxes, 20.00 volumes
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Org.48, Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union, North Carolina Division, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Arrangement Note
This collection is arranged chronologically within each series.
Finding Aid prepare by: Michele A. Justice on 16 April 1990.
bioghist
S. H. Colwick, a native Texan and member of the Texas Farmers' Union, moved to the Tarheel State and organized the first local union in North Carolina in 1905 at his new hometown of Boiling Springs, Cleveland County. Early in 1906 the eleven local unions chartered in Cleveland County formed the first county union in North Carolina. The Cleveland County Union sent S. L. Carter to the 1907 national convention in Little Rock, Arkansas. There, he requested that National Union organizers be sent to North Carolina, and in April of 1908 the North Carolina State Union was organized at Charlotte.
The Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union's political influence was shown by the letters sent to the legislative candidates and by the lobbyists in Washington and Raleigh. The chief influence was educational legislation. In 1911 the Union was instrumental in the creation of farm life schools. It strongly advocated the rural credit system. The Union in its cooperative nature got necessary equipment for the farmer at cheaper rates. Rallies, picnics, and regular monthly meetings were part of the Union's social activities. The state organization aided the locals in securing speakers for these occasions. The state Union held an annual convention every fall or winter and frequently held summer sessions, if there were extra business to be transacted. The official organ of the Farmers' Union in North Carolina was the until the bought the in 1913 and agreed to continue to publish Farmers' Union material and news.
The Farmers' Union of North Carolina reached a zenith in 1912. It had a membership of over thirty-three thousand, but thereafter began a slow, gradual decline. A membership drive in 1917 served to strengthen the union somewhat, and the early twenties was a period of much union activity. However, dues were not being paid regularly, and the treasury steadily grew more and more depleted. In 1919 the North Carolina Division had withdrawn from the National Union because it felt that the benefit derived was out of line with the one hundred dollars paid for national dues by a local. But even when national fees were no longer required, locals still had difficulty in obtaining state and local dues from members. The union began to decline steadily after 1925 when unpaid dues, failing cooperative enterprises, competition from other cooperative organizations, and arguments between the locals and the state organization caused membership to weaken. The Union finally began to disappear in North Carolina around 1929.
Contents of the Collection
1. Minutes of Annual Meetings,, n.d., 1917-1927
scopecontent:
Minutes of Annual Meeting (1917-1927) includes the minutes from annual state conventions and summer sessions. Also contains supporting documents in the form of bills, committee reports, resolutions, and speeches. Arranged chronologically, items with no date compose the final file. This series is part of the state records subgroup because it concerns the Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union in North Carolina as a whole.
2. Correspondence,, n.d., 1912-1928
scopecontent:
Correspondence includes letters from county and local unions to state officers, copies of letters from state officers to county and local unions, letters to the North, Carolina Division from the National Union, and letters to the North Carolina Union from businesses and organizations related to the farming industry. All correspondence is of a business nature. Arranged chronologically, items with no date compose the final file in box number three. This series is part of the state records subgroup because it concerns the Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union in North Carolina as a whole.
3. Miscellaneous, n.d.
scopecontent:
Miscellaneous includes various materials which do not properly belong in any other series and which are too few to compose their own series. Files are not arranged in any particular order and are labeled as follows: News Releases; Printed Matter; Constitution, By-laws, and Rituals; Local Charters; Questionnaires; Fertilizer; Charts; Convention Buttons; Picture of R. W. H. Stone; Randolph Co. Treasurer, 1924-25. This series is part of the State Division.
4. Financial Records,1912-1927
scopecontent:
Financial Records of the state division are divided into two subseries: Journals and Disbursements. The fiscal year always appears to begin in December for all financial accounts.
5. Annual Reports of Local Unions,1916-1928
scopecontent:
The Annual Reports of Local Unions Series includes annual membership and fees from local secretaries to the state secretary-treasurer. Brief notes concerning membership and dues in local areas often accompany reports. Arranged chronologically by year, then alphabetically by county. Within each county documents are filed numerically by charter number, then chronologically by date. Items with no date or no charter number are filed behind all other items for that county. Items without county identifications are filed in the back of the last file for each year. This series is part of the county records subgroup because the reports reflect conditions of the local unions in each county.
6. Financial Records,1912-1928
scopecontent:
Financial Records of the County Division consists of two subseries: Dues and Dues and Fees of Locals.
The Dues and Fees of Locals subseries includes three volumes, numbered twentyseven through twenty-nine, encompassing the years 1912-1913; 1922-1928. Each volume reports the dues and fees received from each local union. The county secretaries are listed as well as the local union number and name. Arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by county within each year.
Note: The fiscal year always appears to begin in December for all financial records.
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
Deposited in State Archives of North Carolina by Edgar Long of Graham, North Carolina and J. C. Cox of Ramseur, North Carolina on June 30, 1930. (Long was formerly President and Cox was formerly Secretary-Treasurer of the North Carolina Farmers' Union).