Diary of A Sharecropper
Mrs. Ford’s 8th Grade Social Studies
Class
2008-2009
Directions
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After our study of the sharecropping and tenant
farming systems, and our trip to the farm, the students
were asked to write a journal entry as if they were
sharecropping during this time in American history.
They were to use the information they learned in class
and on the field trip to write their own “personal
story.”
The following are examples of …
A Day in the Life of a Sharecropper…
A Day in Life of a Sharecropper
May 30, 1928
Today was a very bad day on the farm. When I woke up this
morning, I went out to the fields and the mule was gone. The
farmer is going to be upset with me for letting the mule get
out. I had to walk to the store today to get some more supplies.
That was going to take all day, until another fellow from a
farm down the road carried me back home in his wagon. When
I got back the farmer told me that the mule was found down
the road and I finally got some work done today. That mule
getting loose cost me .25 cents of my .50 cents for the day. I
bet he won’t get loose again.
-Quay
A Day in the Life of a Sharecropper
June 18, 1918
This was a good day. I got up this morning and got the
mules ready. We went out to the field to turn the dirt
and get the weeds out of the field. The cotton looks
like its going to be good this year. The farmer says
that the price is good this year and that the crop looks
to be bigger than usual. Working out in these fields is
hard work, tiring, and hot, but I got my family and we
are all getting fed and everybody’s healthy, so I can’t
complain. Fifty cents a day ain’t too bad and if we do
have a good crop this year, I might make a little extra.
-Juan
A Day in the Life of a Sharecropper
June 27, 1932
I have to wake up at 5 in the morning to go out and pick cotton.
Sometimes I would get cut by the bowls. I live in an old
wooden house. There are a lot of problems I have with it, but
me and my two kids makes it work. My husband was the
owner of a farm like this before the Depression, now we
sharecrop on someone else’s farm. We grow corn, wheat,
beans, and pumpkins, too. I only get paid .50 cents a day, and
if I work a whole week without getting sick, I can make $3.00.
My life is hard and you never get much sleep unless you sleep
on Sunday. But that is when I clean up around here and do
some cooking. It is hard and tiring, but we have somewhere to
live and a job. We are luckier than some others.
-Shonda
A Day in the Life of a Sharecropper
October 12, 1929
I am so tired. Today was a very rough day. It is cottonpicking time and we are harvesting cotton from dawn
to dusk. The crop was not the best this year, so we
won’t be making a lot of money. We didn’t get a lot
of rain this year and the boll weevils were horrible.
We are struggling to make ends meet. The kids
haven’t had new shoes all year and I need some new
tools. The farmer is a nice guy but he can’t pay us
what he don’t have for himself. So, we will just have
to struggle through the best we can. It’s going to be a
lean Christmas this year.
-Robert