Gleaned from the Annual Reports of County Extension Agents from 1940-1949
Contact:
Des Moines County Extension & Outreach
102 West Main Street, Mediapolis IA 52637
319-394-9433 or 800-914-1914
WE ARE AT WAR!!!
“The attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941) transformed America from a non-combatant producer of war
materials to a nation at war.” It also changed the county Extension plan of work from one of normal peacetime balance to devoting the majority of time to war efforts.
Taking up a great deal of time and effort was the response to the unwelcome news in 1940 that 20,000 acres
of farm land would be taken out of use for the Iowa Ordinance Plant (also called the Iowa Army Ammunition
Plant).
Reports from the County Extension Agents tell the impact on farm families: “One of the greatest
factors…quite disturbing to many families in the southern portion of the county was the taking of 20,000 acres
of farm land for the Iowa Ordinance Plant.” “This plant limits the expansion of several 4-H clubs in the county
namely Unity Club of Union-Concordia Township and Ever Ready Club of Danville Township.”
“Transforming, in the brief span of one year, an area of 32 sections of Des Moines County farm lands into a
site on which has been constructed a $60,000,000 Ordnance Plant is heralded by the press as an
unprecedented accomplishment. True, the erection of 600 buildings, 95 miles of railroad lines, 100 miles of
surfaced highways, 28 miles of sewage disposal and a 40 mile water system in 11 months are construction
accomplishments made possible only by American engineering ability.” But these accomplishments were
accompanied by problems never before faced in Iowa—the forced evacuation of 183 farm families in the short
space of four months from this preempted land. It was a social problem with no precedents to use as a guide.
An article in the Iowa Farm Economist August 1941 described some of the changes to expect. “If you had
visited Des Moines County a year ago, you’d have seen a typical Midwest county with a city of 27,000; a city
that had long since left behind the turbulence of a growing frontier village and settled down into a sedate
maturity…But conditions changed, almost overnight. The Federal Government decided to locate a shellloading plant at Burlington.”
The article related associated costs of the plant: Nearly a tenth of the county’s area went off the local tax
rolls when it was purchased by the Government. Farm buildings were torn down or moved away. The influx
of workmen meant new demands on the city and county for services. The sheriff reported the number of
prisoners in the county jail doubled. It was expected there would be a need for higher wages to clerks and
stenographers to keep them from seeking higher pay at the plant, plus additional expense for the county
health, police and fire departments.
A different publication painted a rosier picture: “By late 1941 the plant will be giving regular employment to
4500 to 7000 people which will be supporting 20 to 30 times as many families as it did when farms were
located there…”
Extension Agent C.C. Cotton was very involved in assisting farmers displaced by the IAAP. The 1941 Extension
report included a series of letters between Mr. Cotton and the War department, state and national Farm
Bureau, and lawyers trying to secure funds to assist farmers displaced by the building of IAAP. Assistance was
given to farmers in finding other land. Some rented or purchased a farm elsewhere or moved away or quit
farming altogether. The County Extension Director’s report listed all owners and operators of the farms taken
by the shell loading plant and recorded when each affected family found new housing.
Early in 1944, the manpower shortage became so acute that the County Extension Director, in cooperation
with US Employment Service and the Selective Service, gave temporary releases to 130 farmers to spend the
winter working in industry, returning to the farm in the spring. “The program worked nicely until spring came
when some difficulty was experienced in getting a few of those men to return to agriculture. It has been
necessary to sever some from their industrial positions…in order to get them back on the farm.”
EFFECTS OF WAR FELT BY ALL
Certificates of Necessity and Conservation of Vital Resources
Through the press, the seriousness of the situation was kept before the rural population. Conservation of vital
resources was needed in the war effort. It was apparent from the reports in 1942 that the people of Des
Moines County were involved in wartime activities and sacrifices, affecting all aspects of their lives.
To help coordinate war efforts, a War Activities Committee was set up in each township to disseminate
information. Extension staff, 4-H members and the people of the county supported the war effort by
rationing, buying and selling bonds and stamps, collecting needed materials such as scrap iron, burlap bags,
rubber, rags, and salvaging waste paper, waste fat and old clothes.
A LIFE magazine article mentioned that government even got into fashion designing when it restricted fabric
use in women’s and girls’ clothing to two inches or less in hems and belts and no cuffs on sleeves.
As part of the national rationing program Certificates of Necessity were required to justify the purchase of
certain items. Certificates of Necessity had to be approved based on demonstrated need for such items as
tires, cars, stoves, typewriters or farm transportation facilities. A committee was set up to assist farm truck
owners in applying for these Certificates. One could sense the frustration felt by the County Agent’s in his
report as he referred to “unorthodox methods of allotting mileage to farm trucks…” and wrote “In the face of
these problems, farmers are determined to meet their goals. They expect to overcome the more difficult
problems immediately, while the impossible ones may take a little more time.”
A cotton mattress making program was sponsored by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and Surplus
Marketing Association to use up surplus cotton (owned by the government) and at the same time provide
good bedding for low income families. “When the Corn Belt helps to use up the crop produced by the South,
the South can buy more Iowa products, and shall not find it necessary to produce corn and hogs there.”
Shortage of labor – women in the work force
In 1942, War Manpower Chief, Paul B. McNutt, listed Des Moines County as the only area in Iowa where a
critical shortage of labor existed due to the nearby industries engaged in defense work. Two explosions at the
Iowa Ordnance Plant, as well as the fact that the majority of farm youths were either in the armed forces or
working in the defense plants made Des Moines County farm families even more conscious of the war
emergency.
Since farm labor was scarce, women and girls took the place of brothers and sons who were in the armed
forces or working at the munition plant. Consequently, many women felt home project work could wait until
tires, gasoline and farm labor were more available. Some girls’ 4-H leaders resigned due to extra field and
other work they were called to do. Some members and parents felt that 4-H club work was an activity they
could drop to save time, travel and money during the war, which resulted in an all-time low of three girls’ 4-H
clubs.
Victory Gardens – a Patriotic Duty
Women were challenged to increase food production. A February 1943 letter from Home Demonstration
Agent Louise Topp began with: “WE ARE AT WAR!!” urging families to raise Victory gardens. “Our job is to
produce food sufficient to feed 132,000,000 people in the US, 12-15 million people in Great Britain and 7-8
million men in armed forces and other nations who might call upon us for food. Every farm family needs to
know how much will be needed for their own use…It is our patriotic duty.” The letter ended with a quote
from President Roosevelt: “Let no man say it cannot be done. It must be done and we have undertaken to do
it.”
A Victory Garden program was organized with a committee of 18 civic leaders to head up production. A Food
Preservation Aide was hired. Canning demonstrations were given and 4000 canning bulletins distributed to
Burlington residents.
“Strawberries are plentiful, but sugar is scarce,” began the article in the Hawk Eye quoting Louise Topp, Home
Demonstration Agent, on ways to save sugar. Since substitutes were not yet available for freezing foods,
Topp advised using honey or corn syrup or a thinner syrup for canning fruit and saving their sugar for freezing
fruits. She recommended using a 4:1 ratio of berries to sugar instead of a 3:1 usual ratio. Today we
recommend a 5 or 6 to 1 ratio for good health.
Family Life in War Time:
Home Demonstration Agents Marjorie Hunting and then Louise Topp served the county for a short time in the
early 40s; but the county was without one for two years until Julia Metier was hired June 15, 1944 at the
county’s request for a War Emergency Home Economist.
The “Food and Health for National Defense” program promoted better nutrition for all as a part of national
defense. The Home Demonstration Agent reported that it was difficult to make women see “…the nutrition
program is a far more important war duty than many of the things on which they insist on spending precious
time and tires. A nutrition project and food supply program does not seem to afford the glamour that other
programs have.”
Titles of Extension publications and programs offered at that time revealed the serious nature of home and
family programs: Home Care of the Sick (to meet shortage of trained nurses), Making Kitchens More Step
Saving and Convenient (to release time and energy for wartime activities), Making a Mattress, Children and
Older Youth in War Time, Wood or Coal Ranges.
With the Food for Freedom slogan in mind, youth carried the usual projects but supplemented them with
garden and potato clubs for both boys and girls. 4-H members had not been greatly interested in swine
production in the past which created a problem since increased pork production was requested by the
government. Both boys and girls were urged to feed market pigs and market litters.
World War II reports explain the need for pork: “Spam and similar processed pork products were churned out
by the millions of cans each week during the war…widely distributed among allied forces… Lard was diverted
from the domestic market to the war cause for use in making explosives. After the war, there was obviously a
lower demand by the military for explosives, and at the same time, owing to new technologies, what
explosives were being made were being made now with chemicals instead of animal fats such as lard.”
MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE FARM
The campaign to increase oat production met such a good response that the demand outpaced the supply of
seed. In order to secure maximum agricultural production as a contribution to the war efforts, much time was
spent in crop production programming.
To encourage greater use of grain-harvesting equipment, contests were held to award prizes to the men doing
the most custom work. Paul Tonkinson, Yarmouth, won the state award for the custom harvesting of
soybeans by harvesting 610 acres for others. The Kuntz Brothers of Huron Township were winners in the
county corn contest for husking corn by picking 307 acres of corn for others.
Fly control was described as one of the most successful programs ever conducted by the extension service.
This included spraying businesses handling food, cleaning up city dumps, disposal of garbage and spraying
alleys and spraying farm buildings with DDT.
In the early part of the 1940s rural electrification for farm families and the installation of running water were
projects undertaken by Extension staff and local citizens. A committee sent to Washington DC sought and
received approval and funds to build 117 miles of line to serve 252 farmers.
And Then the Flood Came
“One of the most worthwhile projects from the standpoint of good will was the assistance given 25 families
whose farms were flooded in Huron Township during the January 1946 flood.” Cleanup squads of from 8-20
men helped clean up and rebuild fences on the farms. More than 300 people from all parts of the county
assisted. The report included a list of all farms involved and their squad captains.
AFTER THE WAR
Feeding the Hungry
Howard Waters, Danville, had visited Europe with other Iowa farmers fall of 1947 and spoke many times in
southeast Iowa about the plight of the war-ravaged Europeans. This helped inspire a desire to do something
to help. Thus the I.O.W.A. project with the slogan “Iowa’s Own World Aid” originated in Des Moines County
during the Thanksgiving week to secure aid for European families. This idea was later copied statewide
though it was conducted around Christmas and called the Christian Christmas Program.
A letter from Howard Waters, co-chairman of I.O.W.A. asked Des Moines County residents to “open your
hearts and share with the hungry, the homeless, and tempest-tossed of Europe…” so we can all sit down to a
Thanksgiving meal “…without the specter of hungry, ragged people mirrored in the windows of our dining
room.” Mayor Verl McBride of Burlington was the Co-chair of the project which eventually collected 1,192
bushels of corn (later sold for $3,160.22), plus $1906.80 in cash and 20,125 pounds of clothing in a county
wide effort.
Later 40s sees return to normalcy…
In the late 40s, a certain normalcy became apparent especially for 4-H youth. In 1945 they held the first 4-H
Rally Day since the war began. A county skating party planned August 14 as a break from work done by the
club members all summer fell on V-J Day, which was referred to as a happy arrangement. By 1949, there were
12 girls’ clubs – the highest number in history to that point with the Unity 4-H Club being the oldest
continuously organized club in the county.
At the 1946 4-H Jubilee, the Hawkeye-Gazette presented a war bond to the outstanding 4-H club girl and boy.
Myron Schulz Jr and Marjorie Walker were chosen. The Unity 4-H club sponsored a county-wide barn dance
at the Burlington High school Gymnasium, attended by 175. In 1947 a special feature at the county fair was a
4-H livestock parade where the boys and their animals were presented as they passed the reviewing stand;
and girls in the home economics clubs were presented on the stage. The outstanding club boy and girl for
1948 were Marion Anderson and Genevieve Wirt; and in 1949, Lucille Woodward and Warren Gieselman.
The 1949 annual Jubilee at the Hotel Burlington was aired over KBUR, with 4-H member Ted Hutchcroft as the
master of ceremonies. That year Hutchcroft, Mediapolis 4-H club member, was sent to Europe under the Farm
Youth Exchange with 30 delegates from the United States. Ted Hutchcroft, now living in Ames, reported that
it was unusual for farm boys to travel overseas. He said this experience set the path for his life’s work.
In 1959, he became information director of the National 4-H Foundation, then served in several foreign
countries to aid development of 4-H-like rural youth groups. Recently he was inducted into the National 4-H
Hall of Fame for lifetime contributions to 4-H.
At the same time, life continued on for adults. In 1946, 125 urban families were contacted for the first time. A
rural young married folks group was organized with 40 couples participating. Music was still an important
part of rural life in the 40s with the Des Moines County Rural Women’s Chorus receiving first honors at the
District Music Contest.
Increased numbers of home freezers led to a demand for information on what can be frozen and how. (Frozen
foods were typically held in storage in ‘lockers’ in towns.) Many rural women purchased new ranges with
broiler options but didn’t know how to use them for preparing meals. Lessons were offered on how to freeze
baked products, fruits, vegetables and meats, how to prepare meals using the oven broiler.
The County Health Unit and the extension office worked together to set up the hot lunch program in Danville
and Sperry schools and assisted other rural schools. The P.T.A. (Parent-Teacher Association) of the small
schools of Park, Concordia and Eureka worked out a plan for serving hot lunches in their schools. The Huron
School P.T.A. president, Mrs. Howard Smith, secured two cooks and recruited PTA members to volunteer a
couple days a month to help to cook and serve meals.
At the first women’s Achievement Day since the war, Mrs. C.E. Pilling led the women in celebrating the Iowa
Centennial (1846-1946) by a variety of activities including Julia Metier (now called County Extension Home
Economist) reading the history of women’s extension work in Des Moines County from reports written the
past 32 years.
In 1948, nearly 4000 attended a field day on soil conservation. The next year, a tour of soils by air was an
innovative way to focus on the soils program. More practices could be seen in the 35 minutes air tour than by
a full day’s driving. 22 people made the tour – using the flying services at the Burlington airport. A later tour
by car was attended by 70 persons.
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