Resettlement Administration
The Resettlement Administration (RA) was established during the Great Depression as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal to alleviate economic hardships faced by vulnerable populations, particularly in rural areas. Spearheaded by economist Rexford Guy Tugwell, the RA aimed to address rural poverty and farmland degradation through various initiatives. Its primary responsibilities included providing economic relief, facilitating resettlement opportunities, and rehabilitating marginal farmlands for more sustainable uses.
The agency operated through a decentralized structure with multiple divisions, employing around 13,000 staff members across regional and local offices. Key divisions included the Rural Rehabilitation Division, which offered financial assistance to struggling farmers and agricultural workers, and the Suburban Resettlement Division, which focused on relocating people to urban areas for better opportunities. The RA also experimented with planned communities, resulting in the development of a few greenbelt towns.
Despite facing criticism for its administrative challenges and high construction costs, the RA's innovative designs and lasting contributions to community planning and environmental conservation left a significant legacy. The agency was dissolved in 1936, later evolving into the Farm Security Administration, which continued to champion similar projects until its disbandment during World War II. The RA's efforts have been recognized for their role in documenting and addressing the struggles of rural Americans during a pivotal period in U.S. history.
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Resettlement Administration
Identification Domestic relief and rehabilitation agency
Date Established on May 1, 1935
The Resettlement Administration (RA) was created during the New Deal to address economic and conservation problems associated specifically with poor farmers living on marginal lands in the United States. Created in 1935 under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, the agency provided loans, debt relief, and resettlement opportunities and promoted alternative uses of marginal farmlands.
The RA was created by Executive Order 7027 as part of the New Deal effort to ease the economic burdens of the Great Depression on vulnerable populations. The agency resulted from the efforts of Rexford Guy Tugwell, an academic economist and member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Brains Trust” (also known as Brain Trust), who had been pressing since 1933 for an agency that addressed the linked problems of rural poverty and farmland degradation. Tugwell was appointed as the RA’s first and only administrator. The agency’s main task was to assist poor people living on poor lands. It attempted to break the downward spiral of poverty and land degradation by providing economic relief; resettlement opportunities, including the creation of planned, experimental communities; and the rehabilitation of marginal farmlands and their conversion to more suitable uses.
The RA was complex and decentralized. It was composed of sixteen divisions operating through eleven regional offices along with smaller state and county offices. In all, the agency employed around thirteen thousand staff members. Within this structure were four main divisions that carried out the agency’s tasks. The bulk of the RA’s activities took place under its Rural Rehabilitation Division, which provided financial assistance to destitute farmers, sharecroppers, farm laborers, and others in the form of loans, grants, debt adjustments, and education. This effort included assistance to drought-stricken families in the Great Plains region.
The Suburban Resettlement Division was tasked with moving people off marginal farmlands and closer to cities, where they would find better economic opportunities. This division experimented with the construction of planned communities, including garden and greenbelt cities. While twenty-five greenbelt communities were planned, only three were actually constructed: Greenbelt, Maryland; Greenhills, Ohio; and Greendale, Wisconsin.
The Land Utilization Division pursued a combination of land retirement, land restoration, and farmer education. Retired farmland was converted to nonagricultural uses, including wildlife reserves and recreational facilities. This division also performed conservation activities on marginal lands, addressing problems such as erosion control and flooding.
The Rural Resettlement Division attempted to keep rural people on rural lands, experimenting with cooperative farming and subsistence homestead communities. Many of these projects were inherited from other agencies in varying stages of completion, often creating both practical and political liabilities for the RA.
The RA was embattled from the start, mainly because of Tugwell. While serving earlier as undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, Tugwell had become the target of red-baiting by political opponents and the press, which were critical of his advocacy of planned capitalism and his push for stronger food and drug regulations. These charges followed him through his tenure at the RA. The agency was also criticized for the high construction costs of its projects and for administrative deficiencies. On the other hand, the greenbelt towns eventually received praise for their innovative design.
The RA’s existence as a separate agency ended on December 31, 1936, the date of Tugwell’s resignation as administrator, when the agency was transferred to the authority of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On September 1, 1937, the RA’s name was changed to the Farm Security Administration, which continued to pursue RA projects and Tugwell’s vision. The Farm Security Administration was disbanded during World War II.
Impact
The RA provided relief to destitute rural populations during the Great Depression. While short-lived, the agency left an important legacy with its greenbelt cities and its creation of a number of state and federal parks, including the Camp David presidential retreat. It also funded acclaimed photo documentation of Depression-era poverty and the documentary filmThe Plow That Broke the Plains (1936), produced by Pare Lorentz.
Bibliography
Conkin, Paul K. Tomorrow a New World: The New Deal Community Program. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1959.
Rowley, William D. The Bureau of Reclamation: Origins and Growth to 1945. Vol 1. Denver, Colo.: Bureau of Reclamation, 2006.
Sternsher, Bernard. Rexford Tugwell and the New Deal. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1964.