Fertile Ground, Narrow Choices: Women on Texas Cotton Farms, 1900-1940

Studies in Rural Culture

by Rebecca Sharpless

A moving account of women's lives on Texas cotton farms during the first half of the 20th-century, this book reveals their substantial contributions to the southern agricultural economy and to family life.

Genres: History, American History

318 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

Rebecca Sharpless teaches courses in American history, focusing on women, labor, food, and Texas. Sharpless has published articles in the Journal of Southern History, Southern Cultures, and the Florida Historical Quarterly as well as a variety of edited volumes. She is past president of the Southern Association for Women Historians, past president of the Oral History Association, and on the executive council of the Texas State Historical Association.

Reviews

[Mary Havens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-researched and drawing on oral histories conducted across four counties of the Blackland Prairie, Sharpless really captures the voice of the women that lived during these time periods.
I currently live in a Blackland Prairie home that is 100 years old and it was easy to imagine a woman living here, struggling to get food on the table every day while children play and help. The Blackland clay dirt is terribly difficult to dig in, wet or dry, and I've been struggling myself to get out some stubborn Turk's Cap. But that was one afternoon with plenty of breaks. I couldn't imagine day in and day out. AND: I don't think my house was even part of the cotton farm (but some outbuildings were used for hog-killing) and we live "in town."
If you are interested in Texas history, women, rural/agricultural living, you will enjoy this book! It's easy to read and I put off everything else because this book was incredibly engrossing too.

[Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very insightful read about the lives of women in Texas in the early 20th century. Sometimes it is crazy to hear about how foreign some peoples lives seem, even though they lived where you live less than a hundred years before you. Anyone interested in Texas history should check this out!