Talk:National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry

Removing hoax paragraph
Removed bit about "Battle of Grange Farm" - see outline history of English suffragettes. HJMG 18:41, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

needs a section on political implications of the movement
I'm not the one to write it, but this article obviously needs some political-economic context for the rise of the grangers: populist farmers' rights/interests movement in the context of 1870s Great Depression, etc...

Rewrite
I rewrote this article and added a lot of information. What do you think about changing the title from "The Granger Movement," which refers to a specific period of time, to "The Grange," which refers to the organization?

sounds good! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.164.230.17 (talk) 19:04, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

-HISTORY-

What about the Grange being the first organization to allow women and with voting rights?

What about the Grange being the first organization to allow African Americans and with voting rights?

What about the Grange saving the Postal Service from collapse around 1900 and being honored for it at the Smithsonian?

What about the Grange being responsible for off-shoots like 4-H Club and FFA- Future Farmers of America?

I can't recall all the details of these things, but it would be nice to include the history of these items as well.

99.204.172.37 (talk) 19:24, 10 March 2009 (UTC)S. Hamilton, Branch Mills Grange, Palermo, ME

-COMMENTS ABOUT HISTORY-

Some of this stuff is legit, but some of this is Grange propaganda...

Granges have always required women members for maintaining a charter. (Only recently a requirement was added stating men members are necessary due to the appearance of all women Granges.)

In the North, African American farmers were organized into Granges. Even today a few Northern Granges are predominantly African American. In the South, many of the early Grange leaders were officers in the Confederate Army. Oliver Kelley, the Grange's founder, wrote several letters discussing at length the involvement of African Americans in the Southern Grange. During reconstruction, the issue of race was not well handled in the South. Today, in both the North and the South, some of the finest members in the Grange are African Americans.

Technically the Grange did not regulate the railroads. The Grange was involved in legal battles resulting in the breaking the railroad monopoly.. When the railroads came in the famers were hurt in three ways. (1) They raised the farmers taxes to pay for the railroad. (2) They cut through the farmers land. (3) They brought in cheaper produce lowering the amount farmers could charge for their produce. One old Granger told me a story about the railroads charging a toll to cross the tracks, though I have yet to verify that rumor as true. Anyway, part of the Granges rapid growth came from this issue.

Another thing which attracted individuals to the early Grange was the leadership ability of the first National Master, the Irish immigrant Dr. William Saunders. Dr. Saunders, through his work with the government -- not the Grange --, discovered the Bahia fruit, which shipped well by rail and grew well in California. This discovery made many farmers near the city of Riverside California wealthy. The people living in these cities did not know the proper botanical name of a Bahia fruit so they called it a Navel Orange. ---This material can be found in Dr. Saunder's Journal. With the leader who set the gold standard for agriculture research in the United States at the helm, the Grange grew rapidly.

The Grange was NOT responsible for the FFA. Only 3 of the FFA founders were in the Grange while all of the FFA founders belonged to a different organization.

The Grange was not responsible for the 4-H. The 4-H was given its start when researchers figured out it was easier to get kids to adopt new farming practices than it was to get adults to adopt the practices. When adults saw their kids getting higher yields, then they would switch practices.

The Grange is set up to have officers as young as fourteen. The theory was these young officers would gain political experience with the Grange then move on to influence the nation in a positive way. Sadly, young officers with senior Grange experience these days are rare.

- Jerry (from the defunct SC State Grange) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1004:B003:737E:A13A:D0DC:607D:63C8 (talk) 04:13, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Seeming Contradiction
I noticed the following statement in this article: "In addition, every position of elected leadership is open to all members, and several can only be held by women." It seems to me that the second part of this sentence contradicts the first. Can someone who knows the answer clarify whether every position is open to all members or whether, on the contrary, some are open only to women. Thanks Richquaker (talk) 19:00, 11 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Good point. I've rewritten this sentence so it makes more sense. Compuandy (talk) 07:25, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Removing Redundant Information
The decline of the Grange is mentioned 3 times in this article. This is a waste of space I am removing two of the mentions.

American has been changed to US to make text adhere to international standards.

The Grange is not the oldest agricultural advocacy group. It is the oldest national one. There are many local ones that predate the revolutionary war.

Not all teens (13 year olds) were allowed to join the Grange.

Added more cross references

The cooperative extension service was not formalized in the 1870's.

Added additional information from the text, the origins of the patrons of husbandry. Especially information pertaining to the tour in the south.

JMfor2001 (talk) 19:00, 7 July 2012 (EST)

Removing this line..

During the Progressive Era of the 1890s to the 1920s political parties took up Grange causes. As a consequence, local Granges focused more on community service, although the State and National Granges remain a political force.

This is what really happened.... The 1890s to 1920s the National Grange was in decline. For the first time the Grange had to compete with a similar organization, the farmers alliance. As the farmers alliance grew, many Granges closed and converted into sub-alliances. A grave mistake was made in 1897 when the state master from Wisconsin made allegations against and pushed for an investigation into actions of the state secretary from South Carolina. Though the allegations were false, the damage was done and the already troubled southern Grange states fell into rapid decline. This action contradicted the Grange as the great experiment which brought the North and South together and even Oliver Kelley is noted to have said this is not what the Grange was supposed to be. The only southern state to successfully maintain any Grange presence throughout these years was the state of North Carolina. In the 1930s the Grange made a rebound to again become the dominant agriculture organization as the Grange successfully organized farmers adversely impacted by the Great depression. During the 1940s many leaders within the Grange left to go fight the war, upon their return other, less qualified, officers had taken up positions in the Grange. After returning from the war many farmer veterans and leaders left the Grange and joined the Farm Bureau.

The Grange as a community service organization is a contentious stance which is often pushed when someone outside of agriculture gets elected into a leadership position in the Grange, or if a local Grange becomes surrounded by urban encroachment. The Grange is much better known for its agriculture fairs and other agriculturally related events. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1004:B05A:CBE7:4933:87D7:466C:8A8D (talk) 01:40, 19 August 2017 (UTC)

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