The Resettlement Administration (RA) was a

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

U.S. federal agency created May 1, 1935. It relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government. On September 1, 1937, it was succeeded by the Farm Security Administration.

History

The RA was the brainchild of

Rexford G. Tugwell Rexford Guy Tugwell (July 10, 1891 – July 21, 1979) was an American economist who became part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first "Brain Trust", a group of Columbia University academics who helped develop policy recommendations leading up to R ...

, an economics professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

who became an advisor to Franklin D. Roosevelt during the latter's successful campaign for the presidency in 1932 and then held positions in the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

. Roosevelt established the RA under

Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of ...

7027, as one of the New Deal's "

alphabet agencies The alphabet agencies, or New Deal agencies, were the U.S. federal government agencies created as part of the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The earliest agencies were created to combat the Great Depression in the United States an ...

", and Tugwell became its head. The divisions of the new organization included Rural Rehabilitation, Rural Resettlement, Land Utilization, and Suburban Resettlement. Roosevelt transferred the

Federal Emergency Relief Administration The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was a program established by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, building on the Hoover administration's Emergency Relief and Construction Act. It was replaced in 1935 by the Works Progress Ad ...

land program to the Resettlement Administration under Executive Order 7028 on May 1, 1935. However, Tugwell's goal of moving 650,000 people from of agriculturally exhausted, worn-out land was unpopular among the majority in Congress.Farm Security Administration
/ref> This goal seemed socialistic to some and threatened to deprive influential farm owners of their tenant workforce. The RA was thus left with enough resources to relocate only a few thousand people from and build several greenbelt cities, which planners admired as models for a cooperative future that never arrived.

Relief camps for migrant workers

The main focus of the RA was to now build relief camps in California for

migratory workers A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

, especially refugees from the drought-struck

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...

of the Southwest. This move was resisted by a large share of Californians, who did not want destitute migrants to settle in their midst. The RA managed to construct 95 camps that gave migrants unaccustomed clean quarters with running water and other amenities, but the 75,000 people who had the benefit of the camps were a small share of those in need and even they could stay only temporarily. Tugwell resigned in 1936, wanting to prevent a red-baiting campaign against him from affecting the agency. On January 1, 1937,Records of the Farmers Home Administration
/ref> with hopes of making the RA more effective, the Resettlement Administration was transferred to the Department of Agriculture through executive order 7530. In the face of Congressional criticism, in September 1937 the Resettlement Administration was folded into a new body, the Farm Security Administration (FSA), which operated until 1946.

Communities and greenbelt cities

The RA worked with nearly 200 communities on its projects, notably including: * Tillery, North Carolina * Farmstead / Jasper, Alabama, this development, began by the WPA, included 40 homes, churches, a civic center, and a school. *

Arthurdale, West Virginia Arthurdale is an unincorporated community in Preston County, West Virginia, United States. It was built in 1933, at the height of the Depression as a social experiment to provide opportunities for unemployed local miners and farmers. Arthurdale ...

, (first community begun by Subsistence Homesteads and pet project of

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

) * Cahaba Village in Trussville, Alabama (begun by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, in ...

) * Palmerdale in Pinson, Alabama (parts built by the

) *

Jersey Homesteads Roosevelt is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 882,Cumberland Homesteads near Crossville, Tennessee (begun by the Division of Subsistence Homesteads) * Christian-Trigg Farms near

Hopkinsville, Kentucky Hopkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 31,577. History Early years The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 b ...

(built by the RA and Farm Security Administration) * Greenbelt, Maryland, completely planned and constructed by the RA outside Washington, D.C. * Greendale, Wisconsin, another new town built by the RA, outside

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

* Greenhills, Ohio, the third of the RA's new towns, built outside

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

* Hickory Ridge, Virginia (now Prince William Forest Park) * Caney Lakes Recreation Area in Webster Parish,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

* Greenbrook, New Jersey (planned by the RA but never built) * Matanuska Valley Colony, Alaska (near what is now Palmer, Alaska) * Aksarben, Nebraska * Mileston, Mississippi, one of thirteen resettlement communities that were entirely African-American The Weedpatch Camp (also known as the Arvin Federal Government Camp and the Sunset Labor Camp), now on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

, was built in 1936 south of Bakersfield, California — not by the Resettlement Administration but by the

. The camp inspired John Steinbeck's 1939 novel, '' The Grapes of Wrath''.

Photography, film, and folk song projects

The RA also funded projects recording aspects of its work and context, including: * The Photography Project, which documented the

rural poverty Rural poverty refers to poverty in rural areas, including factors of rural society, rural economy, and political systems that give rise to the poverty found there.Janvry, A. de, E. Sadoulet, and R. Murgai. 2002“Rural Development and Rural Po ...

of the Great Depression and produced thousands of images that are now stored and available at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

, was headed up by

Roy Stryker Roy Emerson Stryker (November 5, 1893 – September 27, 1975) was an American economist, government official, and photographer. He headed the Information Division of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during the Great Depression, and launch ...

. * The Film Project, which produced two documentaries directed by Pare Lorentz and scored by Virgil Thomson, The Plow That Broke the Plains and

The River The River may refer to: Films * ''The River'' (1929 film), an American film by Frank Borzage * ''The River'' (1933 film), a Czech film by Josef Rovenský * ''The River'' (1938 film), an American film by Pare Lorentz * ''The River'' (1951 fi ...

; * Sidney Robertson Cowell's recordings of folk songs, conducted during the summer of 1937, sponsored by the RA's Special Skills Division, and now stored at the University of Wisconsin.

References

;Citations ;Sources * Meriam; Lewis. ''Relief and Social Security'' The Brookings Institution. 1946 (analysis and statistical summary of all the New Deal relief programs)

External links

Wisconsin Folksong Collection, 1937-1946
Presented by th
University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center
an
Mills Music Library Special Collections

Ohio History Central on Resettlement Administration

Oklahoma History on Resettlement Administration

of the Resettlement Administration, the Division of Subsistence Homesteads, and the