The Center for Rural Affairs: The First 20 Years

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12156
• Published date: 01 May 2016
• Author: Marty Strange,Don Ralston
• Date: 01 May 2016

The Center for Rural Affairs:

The First 20 Years

By DON RALSTON and MARTY STRANGE

ABSTRACT. The history of the Center for Rural Affairs, a nonprofit

advocacy organization in Nebraska,is recounted by two of its founders.

The Center began with roots in the anti-poverty movement in the

1970s. In subsequent years, the Center served as an activist research

center that was devoted to serving the interests of the public and small

farmers. For example, a Center study showed that center-pivot

irrigation was an initial step toward heavy capitalization of agriculture,

a process that increased the debt of farmers and eventually drove many

of them into bankruptcy. In other studies, the Center examined specific

policies that were indirectly depopulating rural areas by turning

farming into an industry. Joining with other groups, the Center fought

to keep Nebraska as free as possible from corporate farming. In

contrast to organizations that are located in urban areas and analyze

rural problems from a distance, the Center is located in a small town in

Nebraska, so the staff are personally aware of rural conditions. In

addition to describing the research and activism of the Center, this

account also provides information about the early obstacles an

advocacy group must overcome in terms of funding, building a strong

board, and other factors.

Introduction: The Center’s Background

The Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Nebraska was founded in 1973 by

a group of people who were dedicated to the reduction of poverty in

rural America and to other steps to improve the lives of people in rural

areas and small towns. Thisstory is instructive not only as a case history

of a small nonprofit advocacy group but also as a method of under-

standing the myriad crises faced by rural communities during the

period from 1973 to the 1990s. The place names in this account are all

in the state of Nebraska, unless otherwise specified.

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 75, No. 3 (May, 2016).

DOI: 10.1111/ajes.12156

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C2016 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.

In 1973, the authors were employed by the Goldenrod Hills Commu-

nity Action Agency (CAA), a federally funded Nebraska nonprofit cor-

poration. (Such agencies were also known as community action

programs, or CAPs.) Its purpose was to eliminate poverty in five north-

eastern Nebraska counties. Don Ralston was deputy director. Marty

Strange was a planner.

As part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” the Eco-

nomic Opportunity Act of 1964 established the Office of Economic

Opportunity (OEO). The OEO financed locally created organizations

that were constituted as CAAs. It also created programs such as Volun-

teers in Service to America (VISTA), which plays a role in the story we

tell here. One of the most controversial aspects of the OEO was that its

programs bypassed state and local governments in funding groups cre-

ated by local citizens. This procedure gave citizens leverage against

local power structures, a highly unusual procedure, even in a

democracy.

As part of a planning process involving citizen participation, Golden-

rod Hills launched an agricultural redevelopment program aimed at

stimulating alternative crop production (onions were a prime example)

and conceiving alternative food system approaches, including a small-

scale home canningcenter in Winnebago.

Advocacy efforts around agricultural issues were minimal. Our initial

staff included Laura Snake (later using her maiden name Whitewing), a

member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (part of the Ho-Chunk

Nation of Native Americans); Everett Kilzer, a long-time Walthill citizen

with deep roots in the local economic system; and Lynn Spivak, who

had been a VISTAvolunteer with Goldenrod Hills.

In January 1973, newly reelected President Richard Nixon decided to

eliminate the federal anti-poverty programs that were the central fund-

ing source for Goldenrod Hills. He appointed an angry conservative

named Howard Phillips to shut down the federal agency that distrib-

uted the funding. Phillips issued a lengthy instruction detailing how to

close out operations.

The local response was remarkable and defiant. Several members of

the Goldenrod Hills board—Art May, a community developer from

Macy; Allen Heine, a prominent farmer/feeder from St. Helena; and

Howard Swanson, a farm equipment dealer from Decatur—were

The American Journal of Economics and Sociology810