Rural Routes/Margot Ford McMillen

What Good Did COVID Do?

Dear old grandmother, when remembering the Great Depression, always reminded us that there were some good things that happened during those years. Rich people had gotten too rich, she maintained, and needed to be reminded that we’re all made of dust and to dust will return. Yes, she was a Bible thumper.

But, here on Earth, regarding the Depression, she pointed to the works of the Civilian Conservation Corps, which built marvelous stone cabins on federal park lands we use today. They planted millions of trees—maybe as many as three billion — and put unemployed young men, mostly skilled in rural arts like farming, forestry, crafts and building, to work at a time when there wasn’t work in the private sector. While the money to run the projects was federal, the administrations were local, so projects were tailored to the needs of communities that wanted them. If you live in a rural place, there may be structures, campgrounds, access roads for park visitors and more near you built by the CCC.

The CCC unrolled quickly after its establishment in April 1933. Within three months, the US Army had transported 300,000 young men to camps all over the nation. The fellows made $30 a month, and were required to send $22 of that home to help their families.

At peak enrollment, there were more than 500,000 men in 2,900 camps. Altogether, an estimated 5% of the US male population worked in the camps. In those days, the camps were segregated, with camps for African-Americans and Native Americans, so the nation missed a chance for groups to know one another. Nothing for women, but no surprise there.

A few years later, a second agency—the Works Progress Administration—cranked up, providing “white-collar” opportunities that included women. Using skills as homemakers, they sewed, cooked, quilted and helped as nurses. If a husband was away at a CCC camp and a mom needed help, these trained neighbors could step in. Ellen Woodward, an administrator in the Women’s Projects, summed up the goals well: “Every time a man is taken from the demoralizing ranks of the jobless, every time a woman is removed from the humiliation of a breadline, and given work to do, a home somewhere becomes more secure.”

The WPA also hired artists and writers to tell the stories of America. Historians still use the records they left. Another program hired musicians to entertain and write new music, and another program kept theatres going.

Now, you probably think this column will move into a rant about how the US should once again build a public works administration to re-build infrastructure, pay the unskilled and the skilled for projects that will stand for decades. Or you might think the writer will blast politicians that want to de-fund Social Security, another Great Depression program that has stood for us since the 1930s.

But, my Grandmommy was as interested in what people did for themselves as she was in what the government did. And that’s what I think is important right now. About three months into the COVID era, I started asking people “what have you learned?” and the answers were deep. Besides learning to Zoom, to cook, to garden, I had friends learning to play new musical instruments, speak new languages, pivot their businesses in new directions.

Now I’m asking, “What do you want to keep from 2020?” It’s a harder question, because we’re conditioned to think that everything was bad last year. Some people, however, are calling 2020 “the first year of COVID,” suggesting there’s more to come.

For me, the forced at-home time has been good. I made a little office in the corner of the bedroom, and I face a window looking out on the pasture and woods. I had no idea how many critters live in the barn, coming and going at all hours. And my car, which usually racks up 12,000 miles a year, barely needed an oil change this year. Eventually, the environment may be a beneficiary of our social isolation. And my farm, which usually sells to restaurants, is learning to use our ample wild spaces for foraging and hunting. Nettles, anyone?

One friend wants to keep conferences virtual. He maintains that people concentrate better if they’re not trapped in a conference room, thinking about how long until they go to the lounge and hang out. I’m not completely convinced that he’s right, but I will agree that when folks suggest that we meet twice as often on Zoom to work on something, I’ll say yes if I don’t have to drive to the meeting.

I can even convince myself that, with the election of a guy that wants to pull out of Afghanistan, the pandemic has moved us all to a saner place, where we think about the future.

OK. That’s too much to ask. But, still ...

Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. She also is a co-founder of CAFOZone.com, a website for people who are affected by concentrated animal feeding operations. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History”. Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, May 15, 2021

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