User:Cjr100B/Mark Burton (tobacco farmer)

Mark Burton was a farmer from Wilson, North Carolina. Coming from a rural background, he spent most of his life in a tobacco farm until economic hardships in the early 20th century compelled him to sell his land and work in a a tobacco manufacturing plant in town. His story and tribulations were documented as a part of the Federal Writers' Project, a project by President Roosevelt to serve as records of “regional folklife and memoirs of ordinary lives” across the United States in 1939.

Early life
Mark Burton was raised in a tobacco farm in Wilson, North Carolina for most of his childhood. The area was known for its extensive production of tobacco, making it the “world’s leading producer of bright leaf tobacco”. He spent most of his time in the rural part of town helping his family on their land. Aside from farm work, Mark attended a local school. He was not fond of his education, and lost trust in his school after some of the students he attended class with became his teachers. He explained the multitude of errors that these teachers made, which convinced him to drop out in the 7th grade, with the permission of his parents. The poor education he received was indicative of many rural schools in North Carolina, an issue the state’s General Assembly tried to solve through the Machinery Act. This act transferred some of the public education requirement that counties assumed to the state, which would now be responsible for covering a number of things such as “textbooks, school supplies, and other necessities”. After dropping out, Mark continued to work in a tenant farm along with most of his family.

Farm work
While working in the tenant farm, Mark began courting a woman named Martha, who also dropped out from his school early in the 6th grade. Two years later, they married around their early 20s, and moved to rent their own land for a tenant tobacco farm. They used the land to live comfortably while starting their own family of several children. They were able to pay their expenses through the land by growing food for the family and selling a portion of the crops for other expenses such as rent. As economic hardships began to arise, mainly through the Great Depression, he was forced to sell his land to make ends meet. These farm foreclosures became very common, as they were so widely documented in the countryside that they became a “disturbingly routine feature of rural life” as “farmers defaulted on loans and made fewer deposits”.

Manufacturing work
Afterwards, he sought a job at a local tobacco manufacturing plant. This move from agricultural to factory work was common at the time, especially after reports showed that “every county in North Carolina lost farms” during this time period. However, this work was not lucrative, and he was only able to make $600 a year because he was employed for only 8 out of 12 months. This was due to the trend of “wage growth [falling] behind […] potential productivity” during this time. Mark Burton also noted that his family would need to make “twice that” in order to live comfortably. He was therefore forced to look into other sources of income, notably his social security pensions that added $100 more yearly. Aside from this, he also depended on one of his son’s $10 a week salary at a poolroom in town. Yet, this income was still not enough to always make ends meet. He expressed concern in not being able to supply his daughter Marie with new glasses that cost $22, which he tried to obtain for her to help her keep excelling in school. He also couldn’t supply his family with well-conditioned church clothing, and feared that his family’s poor clothing might expose them to economic discrimination from other people in the community. After these mounting economic concerns, he began to “deplore” the large size of his family, which was likely larger than most families in this time period due the reports of “declines in growth rates” of families during much of the early 20th century.

After expressing concern due to all of his trials and tribulations, Mark Burton claimed that he did not see much stored in the future “for a poor man like [himself]” but sees hope in the untainted future of his children. He sees their work ethics and potential, and is certain that they can one day fix these problems. He even notes “one of them might be president some day”.

History
The Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) was one of several arts initiatives in the New Deal. It was created in 1935 as an opportunity to give artists and writers an opportunity for employment. Former journalist Henry Alsberg led it. After a number of debates on what the writers should focus on, the consensus was that the publications would be non-fiction. The writers produced a collection of “guidebooks” from a number of cities and states on the lives of many average individuals as well as the culture and customs of those areas. The Federal Writers’ Project ended after military budget needs created funding shortages for the program by 1943.

Issues of voice & historical production
The Federal Writers’ Project Began to develop a reputation for being biased and ambiguous. It was often “criticized for pedestrian work”. Furthermore, many of the writers employed had little experience. A number of them were not creative writers, and created sub-par work to simply meet deadlines. This resulted in a number of the publications to be dull and/or subjective.