Jackson Bullitt

In the rural South over half of all farmers were tenant farmers. Tenant farmers didn't own any land. They rented a portion of land to farm in exchange for a share of their harvest. Many landowners exploited their tenants and took advantage of them. In the following WPA interview, Jackson Bullitt, a small landowner in North Carolina, discusses the tenant system and the government's attempts to control prices with subsidies.

Iwas born over near Juniper, Virginia, where I worked on my father's farm till I was free. Then I moved to Deer Run in North Carolina and rented a small farm for three years. From there I moved to the old Anson place four miles from Hilton, buyin' the house and little farm the next year. I soon met Miss Della Huges, who lived in...