The Southern Tenant Farmers' Union (STFU) was founded in 1934 as a civil farmer's union to further organize the tenant farmers in the Southern United States[1].
Originally set up during the Great Depression in the United States, the reasons for the establishment of the STFU are numerous, although they are all largely centered upon money and working conditions. Predominantly, the STFU was established as a result of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). The AAA itself was designed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to help revive the United States' agricultural industry and to recharge the depressed economy.
The AAA called for a reduction in food production, which would, through a controlled shortage of food, raise the price for any given food item through supply and demand. The desired effect was that the agricultural industry would once again prosper due to the increased value and produce more income for farmers. In order to decrease food production, the AAA would pay farmers not to farm and the money would go to the landowners. The landowners were expected to share this money with the tenant farmers. While a small percentage of the landowners did share the income, the majority did not. This led to the formation of the STFU, whose existence serves historically as evidence that such a problem existed. The Southern Tenant Farmers' Union was one of few unions in the 1930s that was open to all races. Promoting not only nonviolent protest for their fair share of the AAA money, they also promoted the idea that blacks and whites could work efficiently together. Because these ideas were highly controversial at the time, the Farmers' Union met with harsh resistance from the landowners and local public officials. The Southern Tenant Farmers' Union leaders were often harassed and ignored.
In the 1930s the union was active in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas[2]. It later spread into the southeastern states and to California, sometimes affiliating with larger national labor federations. Its headquarters was mainly at Memphis, Tennessee, or, from 1948 to 1960, at Washington, D.C.. It was later known as the National Agricultural Workers Union and the Agricultural and Allied Workers Union[2].
References [link]
- ^ Mark Naison. "About Sharecropping - Southern Tenant Farmers Union". University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. https://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brown/sharecropping.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
- ^ a b "Inventory of the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union Records, 1934-1991". Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill. https://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/s/Southern_Tenant_Farmers_Union.html. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
Bibliography [link]
- Auerbach, Jerold S. "Southern Tenant Farmers: Socialist Critics of the New Deal." Labor History 7 (1966): 3–18.
- Cobb, William H. "The Southern Tenant Farmers' Union." The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=35
- Dyson, Lowell K. "The Southern Tenant Farmers Union and Depression Politics." Political Science Quarterly 88 (1973): 230–252.
- Grubbs, Donald H. Cry from the Cotton: The Southern Tenant Farmers' Union and the New Deal. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971.
- Kester, Howard. Revolt among the Sharecroppers. New York: Covici-Frede, 1936.
- Mitchell, H. L. "The Founding and Early History of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union." Arkansas Historical Quarterly 32 (1973): 342–369.
- Naison, Mark D. "The Southern Tenants' Farmers' Union and the CIO." In "We Are All Leaders": The Alternative Unionism of the Early 1930s. Edited by Staughton Lynd. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.
- Ross Jr., James D. "I ain’t got no home in this world": The Rise and Fall of the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union in Arkansas. Ph.D. diss., Auburn University, 2004.
External Links [link]
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Roadkill
Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by motor vehicles driven by humans on highways. It is important because of the loss of wild animals, road safety, and the economic impact on both drivers and road management. For this reason it has increasingly become the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mitigated. Some roadkill can also be eaten.
History
During the early 20th century, roadkill or "flat meats" (or "highway pizza") became a common sight in most industrialized First World nations, as they adopted the internal combustion engine and the automobile. One of the earliest observers of roadkill was the naturalist Joseph Grinnell, who noted in 1920: "This [roadkill] is a relatively new source of fatality; and if one were to estimate the entire mileage of such roads in the state [California], the mortality must mount into the hundreds and perhaps thousands every 24 hours."
In Europe and North America, deer are the animal most likely to cause vehicle damage. In Australia, specific actions taken to protect against the variety of animals that can damage vehicles – such as bullbars (usually known in Australia as 'roo bars', in reference to kangaroos) – indicate the Australian experience has some unique features with road kill.
Roadkill (wrestler)
Michael DePoli (born August 10, 1976) is a retired professional wrestler best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling. He worked for World Wrestling Entertainment in its Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory. He is best known as Roadkill, where his wrestling gear was traditional Amish dress and he was billed as being from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, an area of large Amish population.
Professional wrestling career
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996-2001)
Roadkill was trained by Taz and Perry Saturn at the ECW House of Hardcore in 1996. Once his training was complete, he joined the ECW roster, and had his first professional match on October 18, 1996 in LuLu Temple in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania against Taz.
In December 1997, Roadkill formed an unlikely tag team with his fellow House of Hardcore graduate, Danny Doring. They were managed by Miss Congeniality until she left ECW in 1999 to join the World Wrestling Federation, and then by Elektra until she turned on them in 2000.
Joy Ride (2001 film)
Joy Ride, also known as Roadkill, is a 2001 American mystery thriller horror road film. The film was written by J. J. Abrams and Clay Tarver and directed by John Dahl and starring Steve Zahn, Paul Walker, and Leelee Sobieski.
Although not a strong commercial hit, the film received enthusiastic reviews by critics and it was followed by two direct-to-video sequels, Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead and Joy Ride 3.
Plot
University students Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) and Venna Wilcox (Leelee Sobieski), Lewis' childhood friend and crush, prepare to go home for the summer holiday. Lewis offers to come by Venna's campus (they go to different universities) to drive her home instead of both of them flying back; Venna happily agrees. Lewis calls his parents to announce the change of plan and learns that his older brother Fuller (Steve Zahn), the family's black sheep, has been arrested once again. Lewis drives to Salt Lake city and bails out Fuller, who then tags along for the trip.
At a gas station, Fuller has a CB radio installed on Lewis' car, and the two begin listening on truckers' chatters. Fuller coaxes Lewis into playing a prank on a truck driver nicknamed 'Rusty Nail' (voiced by Ted Levine (uncredited)). Lewis pretends to be a woman named Candy Cane and sets up a meeting with Rusty Nail in the motel where Lewis and Fuller will be spending the night. Lewis gives him the number of the room next door. The room's occupant is an irritable businessman. When Rusty Nail arrives at the man's room, arguments and sounds of a scuffle are briefly heard. The next morning, Sheriff Ritter announces to Lewis and Fuller that they found the businessman on the highway, still alive with his lower jaw ripped off. Ritter figures out the two are involved in the incident, but lets them go as he's already had his hands full and they don't know anything other than the man's nickname.
