My name is Fred Hilbig, and I am a farmer in the 1930s. I live in Rockne, Texas, and I sell my crops to those who live in my town. I also own my own grocery store in downtown, Rockne, where I also sell my crops. I work for the WPA by leasing two dump trucks I own. I live at home with my wife, Lena, and my daughter, Rose. I, among other farmers, had a rough time during the Great Depression. 

Before the Great Depression, my family and I had a hard time making enough money off our crop. Many farmers around us actually lost all of their money due to debt and had to give up their farm. Others like mine had trouble making enough profit for it to be worth our time working. The town smelled of popcorn because many farmers burned corn in their stoves because it was cheaper than coal. In Iowa a mob of angry farmers threatened the judge so that he wouldn’t take anymore farms away. The National Guard had to round them up and put them in jail. Us farmers however where better off than city folks. We could grow our own foods, we could make our own supplies, we also got milk from our cattle to make cheese and chickens supplied eggs and meat. Many people relied on us for their food and supplies, and that is how we made the little money that we had. We learned how to get by with very little money. 

During the Great Depression, we suffered many difficulties. The Dust Bowl was one thing my family and other farmers faced. The Dust Bowl was a series of dust storms that hit manily in the eastern part of the U.S. These dust storms were mostly caused by the drought. The drought first hit the eastern part of the country in 1930. There was no rain for many years and high temperatures and fast winds wiped out many of our crops. Many or our neighboring farmers moved west, away from the drought, in search of work. 

Also during the Great Depression, we had to put up with many forms of crime. One time, I had a group of gangsters come in my store and rob me of most all my money and products. Others I heard had people using illegal fishing techniques in private ponds and lakes. 

Being a farmer and all, I relized that I wasn’t very far up on the social bracket. We were part of the lower class and many business people looked down on us in shame. We were also not worried much about by government officials. They didnt seem to care about taking our farms from us. 

Shortly after the Depression, FDR was elected president. He came up with a prgram called The New Deal which changed the lives of everyone. The New Deal consisted of many projects to help get the economy back on track. The first steps of the deal banking reform laws, emergency relief programs, work relief programs, and agricultural programs. It later came out with the Social Security Act, which helped reform us farmers. The WPA was a project that helped find young men jobs, it help me find a job building roads and bridges.  

By 1940, normal rainfall returned which meant no more dust storms, and and federal programs helped to boost farm prices and improve soil. About that same time, a new government program started to hook up farmhouses to electricity, making farm life much eaiser and safer. My family now had an electric oven which made cooking much faster and eaiser. We also now had electric powered lighting was safer than candles. We also got an indoor bathroom installed, which also made life easier. Neighbors around all put money together to buy a tractor, which we all used. It made picking crops and other jobs on the farm go much faster. I sold my shop to a white business man who got it started right back up. Even though the Great Depression was a terrible time for me and my family, it was also a learning expirence. I now live without using much money.