Mixed Harvest - (Studies in Rural Culture) by Hal S Barron (Paperback)

About the Book

How rural northerners from New England to North Dakota met the rise of industrial society and consumer culture. Between 1870 and 1930, communities in the rural North faced a number of challenges. Author Hal S. Barron shows that by consolidating traditional rural values and agrarian fundamentalism, country people successfully created a distinct rural subculture that continued well into the 20th century. Illustrated.

Book Synopsis

Mixed Harvest explores rural responses to the transformation of the northern United States from an agricultural society into an urban and industrial one. According to Hal S. Barron, country people from New England to North Dakota negotiated the rise of large-scale organizational society and consumer culture in ways marked by both resistance and accommodation, change and continuity. Between 1870 and 1930, communities in the rural North faced a number of challenges. Reformers and professionals sought to centralize authority and diminish local control over such important aspects of rural society as schools and roads; large-scale business corporations wielded increasing market power, to the detriment of independent family farmers; and an encroaching urban-based consumer culture threatened rural beliefs in the primacy of their local communities and the superiority of country life. But, Barron argues, by reconfiguring traditional rural values of localism, independence, republicanism, and agrarian fundamentalism, country people successfully created a distinct rural subculture. Consequently, agrarian society continued to provide a counterpoint to the dominant trends in American society well into the twentieth century.

Review Quotes

ÝAn¨ excellent study.

"Agricultural History"

ÝA¨ worthwhile journey that will be anything but a mixed harvest for those who make it.

"American Historical Review"

ÝE¨xcellent survey of the complexities of rural life in the Northern United States in the period from 1870 to 1930.

"Technology and Culture"

Ambitious and masterful, an exceptional addition to the new rural history.

"Reviews in American History"

"Ambitious and masterful, an exceptional addition to the new rural history.

"Reviews in American History""

[An] excellent study.

"Agricultural History"

[A] worthwhile journey that will be anything but a mixed harvest for those who make it.

"American Historical Review"

[E]xcellent survey of the complexities of rural life in the Northern United States in the period from 1870 to 1930.

"Technology and Culture"

Barron succeeds in skillfully connecting patterns of change in rural America to their better-studied counterparts in urban America.

"Wisconsin Magazine of History"