Edna L. Gossage Blue manuscripts

Content Description

Accession includes manuscript text for the publication for "A People Dared, God Cared," interviews with homesteaders, the completed publication, correspondence regarding the publication, and a resume of the author. Edna L. Gossage Blue lived in Crossville, Tennessee. She graduated from Harriman High in 1926. She married a man who worked for the railroad but he lost his job. They fell on hard times, but were eventually admitted to the Cumberland Homesteads. She had a son and foster daughter. After the death of her first husband, she married. She wrote for the Cumberland Homesteader newspaper and the Crossville Chronicle. The Cumberland Homesteads were stablished in 1935 by Frank Delano Roosevelt’s Resettlement Administration, established under Executive Order No. 7027. It was created to assist white “lowest income third of the nation.” African Americans were mostly excluded from receiving these benefits based on openly racist application processes. This was also the case for the Cumberland Homesteads. Over 2,500 applications were received for the planned 350 homesteads. Applicants from Cumberland, Fentress, Putnam, and Morgan counties were screened by government workers for abilities and desirability. The average homesteaders were thirty-four years, married, and with children. Cumberland Homestead had 251 Farm Homesteads on 27,802 acres (300 to 400 were planned).

Acquisition Type

Gift

Restrictions Apply

No