“Land of Cotton – King Cotton’s Slaves” (1936) is a black-and-white short newsreel film originally made as part of the “March of Time” newsreel program. This particular episode of the series takes an in depth look at the struggles of Black and white tenant sharecroppers and the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU) in Arkansas during the New Deal Years. During this time, cotton production was heavily impacted by the New Deal’s one-crop policy enforced by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) which lead to even more poor working conditions for tenant sharecroppers and a rebellion that saw violence between sharecroppers and landlords.
Film opens, opening credits and “March of Time” newsreel program opening sequence (0:09). Black and white men, women, children sharecroppers/ laborers tend to crop of cotton in cotton field (0:28). Living conditions: Wooden cabins/ shacks with tin roofs; Laborer family sits on decrepit mismatched furniture on porch, woman tends to food on stove while young children gather around (0:55). Three men (planter-landlords) wearing 1930s-era boater hats, suits talk together (1:08). Well-dressed planter-landlord speaks to laborer while he sits on his decrepit porch (1:12). About six young children share beds, quilts in cramped room (1:27). Text page discusses economic impact of Great Depression on cotton pricing/ sales (1:35). Bales of processed cotton sitting in warehouse (1:42). Aerial view of cotton field; black laborer operates horse pulled plow through field of crop (1:47). Sharecroppers gathered at canteen, in front of post office (2:00). Facade of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) building, Washington, D.C. (2:12). Officials meet at USDA, among them councilor Gardner Jackson of AAA and discuss sharecropper benefits (2:16). Text page discusses Planter-Cropper struggles in Eastern Arkansas 1936 (2:52). Montage sharecroppers gathering at rallies, discussing rebellion over unfair payment and treatment (3:00). Memphis, Tennessee skyline seen along banks of Mississippi River; Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU) headquarters – tenant sharecroppers meet at HQ and collect fliers, joining union (3:37). Tenant sharecropper families sit with belongings in tents, temporary housing along dirt road after losing work (3:58). Close-up STFU flier calling for general strike (4:14). Tenant sharecroppers gather outside schoolhouse and sing protest songs, other sharecroppers joining protestors as they walk through fields (4:32). Planter-landlords gather in meeting outside grocer, wear boater hats, ties, suspenders, plan counter attack – shot of landlords holding bats and hanging off of perhaps 1932 Ford Model B Standard Tudor Sedans (4:58). Text page discusses wrongful death of black sharecropper Frank Weems who had been flogged to death in Earle, Arkansas by unidentified vigilantes – Union organizers Willie Sue Blagden and Rev. Claude Williams travel to Arkansas to investigate (5:30). Actor playing “Williams” drives perhaps 1936 Plymouth Sedan before being bombarded by hooligan landowners who beat him up in the woods (5:41). Front page newspapers announcing mob attack on Williams: Daily Times Chicago, New York World-Telegraph, The Milwaukee Sentinel (6:25). Arkansas State Capitol building in Little Rock (6:36). Arkansas Governor Junius Marion Futrell speaks out from office in defense of planters (6:38). Bales of cotton unloaded from ship at port (6:53). One-crop system impact on cotton economy; Side-by-side graph of domestic vs. foreign cotton production (7:04). Map of United States outlines “The Old South’s Cotton Land,” new cotton farming in Oklahoma and Texas (7:17). Tenant sharecropper families attend small church in wooded area, sing hymnals (7:36). Last shot of tenant sharecroppers tending to cotton in field, narrator closing words (8:00). Closing credits, film ends (8:09).
The Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU) (1934–1970) was founded to organize tenant farmers in the Southern USA. Many were Black descendants of former slaves.The STFU was founded to help sharecroppers and tenant farmers get better arrangements from landowners.
The Southern Tenant Farmers Union was one of few unions in the 1930s that was open to all races. They promoted non-violent protest to gain their fair share of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) money. The Southern Tenant Farmers Union leaders were often harassed, attacked and many were killed.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
