{"id":420,"date":"2024-12-03T21:07:55","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T02:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/?page_id=420"},"modified":"2024-12-16T18:38:36","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T23:38:36","slug":"data-and-analysis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/historical-geographies-student-projects\/historical-geographies-of-childhood-student-projects-2024\/us-school-garden-army-anna-h\/data-and-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Digging into the US School Garden Army:  Data and Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2526d585d756f3b72f8db81df5ebcd60\" style=\"color:#c44424\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/historical-geographies-student-projects\/historical-geographies-of-childhood-student-projects-2024\/us-school-garden-army-anna-h\/\">Home<\/a><mark style=\"background-color:#fff\" class=\"has-inline-color has-dark-gray-color\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/historical-geographies-student-projects\/historical-geographies-of-childhood-student-projects-2024\/us-school-garden-army-anna-h\/\"> | <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/historical-geographies-student-projects\/historical-geographies-of-childhood-student-projects-2024\/us-school-garden-army-anna-h\/introduction\/\">Introduction<\/a> |<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/historical-geographies-student-projects\/historical-geographies-of-childhood-student-projects-2024\/us-school-garden-army-anna-h\/literature-review\/\"> Literature Review<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/historical-geographies-student-projects\/historical-geographies-of-childhood-student-projects-2024\/us-school-garden-army-anna-h\/data-and-analysis\/\">Data Analysis<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/historical-geographies-student-projects\/historical-geographies-of-childhood-student-projects-2024\/us-school-garden-army-anna-h\/conclusion\/\">Conclusion<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/historical-geographies-student-projects\/historical-geographies-of-childhood-student-projects-2024\/us-school-garden-army-anna-h\/sources\/\">Sources<\/a><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-760699cc899c6c1c6495ead2becbaa5a\" style=\"color:#191e55\">Digging into the USGA: A Story Map<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-knight-lab wp-block-embed-knight-lab\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src='https:\/\/uploads.knightlab.com\/storymapjs\/2b67bb9dd8fc44beb80837ae9d81b748\/soldiers-of-the-soil-the-united-states-garden-army\/index.html#?secret=YxaBvDUYsL' data-secret='YxaBvDUYsL' width='625' height='700' frameborder='0'><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This story map shows the story of the USGA through visuals and text, tracing its origins from the start of school gardens in the US and going through the end of the program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-dd91536a34bc68dde2067b64fe970b67\" style=\"color:#191e55\">Nationalism and the US School Garden Army<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The USGA was structured similarly to the military, with an explicit intention of establishing nationalistic views in the participating children: \u201cOne and one-half million children were given something to do\u2026 that helped them to build character, and something that appealed to and developed their patriotism,\u201d\u00a0a 1919 bulletin from the Bureau of Education stated about the USGA (Bureau of Education, 1919). While Gagen explored the ways in which physical work itself was used to establish nationalistic ideals in children, the USGA used more obvious tools, too, like badges (Gagen, 2004).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"829\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Helping_Hoover_bigger.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-944\" style=\"width:1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Helping_Hoover_bigger.jpg 829w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Helping_Hoover_bigger-243x300.jpg 243w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Helping_Hoover_bigger-768x949.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Helping_Hoover_bigger-624x771.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 829px) 100vw, 829px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Badges feature prominently on this recruitment poster. Source: Library of Congress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the 1919 bulletin, privates received &#8220;a service bar with U. S. S. G. in red letters on a white background on a border of blue,&#8221; using the colors of the flag to again emphasize patriotism (Bureau of Education, 1919). Lieutenants and captains received different badges, likely as a way to incentivize students to comply and work hard as well as reinforce the hierarchy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The physical word of gardening not only morally prepared children to be nationalistic citizens, as Gagen described, it also prepared them to be good soldiers. Not &#8220;soldiers of the soil&#8221; as youth, but actual soldiers (Gagen, 2004). A pamphlet published by the US Bureau of Education in 1918 titled &#8220;Health Education&#8221; sought to recruit teachers to enlist in the &#8220;child health service&#8221; (Bureau of Education, 1918). This program helped teachers improve child health through nutrition education, exercise, and more. It describes the program as a response to the poor physical health of young American soldiers in WWI (Bureau of Education, 1918). This reveals an assumption that children should be given resources in order to be good soldiers. The pamphlet also has a poster for the USGA and describes the health benefits of the program, showing that this connection between the USGA and the military was made at the time, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p>Finally, as described in the literature review, the pioneer ideal was still very relevant to nationalistic ideas and imagery. This is evident in the similarities between the painting on the right, which is often cited as a prime visual of Manifest Destiny, the idea that Americans had a duty to expand across the continent, and the war poster on the left. The USGA perpetuated this ideal by involving children, especially urban children, in farming and celebrating their work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"818\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Liberty_sowing_bigger.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-946\" style=\"width:1200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Liberty_sowing_bigger.jpg 818w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Liberty_sowing_bigger-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Liberty_sowing_bigger-768x961.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Liberty_sowing_bigger-624x781.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 818px) 100vw, 818px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">1917 poster from the National War Garden Commission        Source: The Library of Congress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"787\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/American_progress_bigger.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-947\" style=\"width:1200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/American_progress_bigger.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/American_progress_bigger-300x231.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/American_progress_bigger-768x590.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/American_progress_bigger-624x480.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;American Progress&#8221; by John Gast. Source: Library of Congress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-bd69ffef1623d2b7a97e63a4d1bfe1ac\" style=\"color:#191e55\">Bringing Farm Values to an Urbanizing Populace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The United States was an urbanizing nation around the time period of the USGA. By 1920, the US became a majority-urban nation, according to the pre-1950 US Census definition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8cf370e7 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"574\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-2-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-768\" style=\"width:440px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-2-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-2-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-2-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-2-624x350.png 624w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-2.png 1034w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">1890 Census: Percent of population that&#8217;s urban (lives in a city with &gt;25,000 people).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"358\" height=\"652\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/legend.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-769\" style=\"width:135px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/legend.png 358w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/legend-165x300.png 165w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 358px) 100vw, 358px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-3-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-770\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-3-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-3-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-3-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-3-624x350.png 624w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-3.png 1026w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">1920 Census: Percent of population that&#8217;s urban (lives in a city with &gt;25,000 people).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>These maps show an increase in urban counties across the US, especially in the eastern half of the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because American identity was grounded in the pioneer ideal, urbanization presented an identity crisis. As Hayden-Smith described, this led to a shift in agriculture programming from being oriented to rural youth to becoming viewed as important for urban youth in order to homogenize values and experiences in-line with traditional American identity. As the US&#8217;s first federal curriculum, the USGA was a key way that this nationalization of identity formation took place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-4-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-771\" style=\"width:446px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-4-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-4-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-4-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-4-624x350.png 624w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-4.png 1176w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">1890 census: total farms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"314\" height=\"344\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/legend-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/legend-1.png 314w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/legend-1-274x300.png 274w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 314px) 100vw, 314px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-5-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-5-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-5-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-5-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-5-624x350.png 624w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/map-5.png 1176w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">1920 census: total farms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The USGA was partially motivated by fears about urbanization and its results: demasculinization and loss of the &#8220;producer ethic&#8221; that Hayden-Smith described (Hayden-Smith, 2007). Since masculinity and strength was key to the pioneer ideal, boys in the USGA, willingly or not, worked to support that national identity. Finally, while the US was urbanizing at this time, the total number of farms was still increasing, especially across the midwest, as shown by the maps above. This shows that fears about a loss of agrarian knowledge may have been exaggerated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-80cbbab84a504581a5e8c5f895f1c4f9\" style=\"color:#191e55\">Gardens and Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As demonstrated in the literature review, the USGA was influenced by multiple education movements and was related the first national curriculum (Trelstad, 1997; Kohlstedt, 2008; Hayden-Smith, 2007). The decision to implement a nationally standardized curriculum reveals that education was viewed as important. Therefore, attending school and being instructed, morally and technically, could be seen as part of children&#8217;s civic duty and right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-27e412f5da6a0c2c976b88c6d882e336\" style=\"color:#191e55\">Children: Producers or Consumers? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Hayden-Smith described how children were recruited with slogans like &#8220;he who produces is a patriot&#8221; (Hayden-Smith, 2007, pp. 21) This envisions children as producers, giving them agency and putting them in a role we would now describe as adult. However, other wartime propaganda, at the same time, used children in a fundamentally different manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"910\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Daddy_liberty_bond_poster-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-917\" style=\"width:1200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Daddy_liberty_bond_poster-edited.jpg 512w, https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/files\/2024\/12\/Daddy_liberty_bond_poster-edited-169x300.jpg 169w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Government bond advertisement poster from 1917. Source: Library of Congress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This poster is both directly and indirectly targeted to parents. It envisions parents as the ones who will take action (buying a government bond), not the children, as opposed to USGA posters that recruit children to take action themselves. It also draws upon the view of children that was emerging at the time as a result of consumerism, as Chudacoff described (Chudacoff, 2007). In this view, children are innocent, but also consumers and manipulators of their parents. This poster relies upon the assumption that children will be able to successfully convince their parents to purchase something. The roles of producer and consumer are very different, but they could both be viewed as civic roles of children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9c0b4d7b63e666fd87fcb6f35ec6c30e\" style=\"color:#191e55\">Overall Impact of the USGA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table is-style-regular\"><table class=\"has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-fixed-layout\" style=\"color:#191e55;background-color:#e3dea7\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>  1,500,000<\/strong> <strong>children<\/strong> enlisted<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>  <strong>20,000 acres<\/strong> of \u201cunproductive\u201d land was used<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>  <strong>50,000 teachers<\/strong> received gardening instruction from the Bureau of Education<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>  <strong>1,500,000 leaflets<\/strong> were distributed by the Bureau of Education<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>  In Salt Lake City alone, <strong>5,200 mothers<\/strong> \u201cactively supported food production in the schools\u201d through 62 parental associations<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Results of the USGA by July, 1918, according to a 1919 bulletin from the Bureau of Education<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While the USGA impacted 1.5 million children, it ended in 1919. Like how the USGA focused on improving conditions in urban areas, so too did the contemporaneous Progressive Movement. As conditions improved, this helped drive urbanization. By 1920, 51.2% of the US population lived in urban areas according to the pre-1950 urban definition in the US Census. This long-term demographic shift probably led to an increased framing of children as consumers, overwhelming the impact of the USGA on the nation&#8217;s understanding of children&#8217;s civic roles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home | Introduction | Literature Review | Data Analysis | Conclusion | Sources Digging into the USGA: A Story Map This story map shows the story of the USGA through visuals and text, tracing its origins from the start of school gardens in the US and going through the end of the program. Nationalism and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8969,"featured_media":0,"parent":336,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-420","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8969"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1898,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/420\/revisions\/1898"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/mcope-childhoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}