1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910735298503321

Autore

Allen J. C (John Calvin), <1881-1976, >

Titolo

Memories of Life on the Farm : Through the Lens of Pioneer Photographer J. C. Allen / / Frederick Whitford and Neal Harmeyer

Pubbl/distr/stampa

[Ashland, Oregon] : , : Purdue University Press, , 2019

Baltimore, Md. : , : Project MUSE, , 2021

©2019

ISBN

1-55753-909-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (ix, 398 pages) : illustrations

Collana

Founders series

Disciplina

338.10973

Soggetti

PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Historical

Photographers

Farm life

Family farms

Agriculture

Photographers - United States

Farm life - United States - History

Agriculture - United States - History - 20th century

Farm life - United States - History - 20th century

Family farms - United States - History - 20th century

Biographies.

Illustrated works.

Sources.

Pictorial works.

History

United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Sommario/riassunto

John Calvin Allen, professionally known as J.C., worked as a photographer for Purdue University from 1909-1952, and operated his own photography business until his death in 1976. The J.C. Allen



photographs represent a historical account of the transition from pioneer practices to scientific methodologies in agriculture and rural communities. During this major transitional period for agriculture, tractors replaced horses, hybrid corn supplanted open-pollinated corn, and soybeans changed from a novelty crop to regular rotation on most farms. During this time, purebred animals with better genetic pedigrees replaced run-of-the-mill livestock, and systematic disease prevention in cattle, swine, and poultry took place. Allen's photographs also document clothing styles, home furnishings, and the items people thought important as they went about their daily lives. Looking closely at tractors, livestock, wagons, planters, sprayers, harvesting equipment, and crops gives one a sense of the changing and fast-paced world of agriculture at that time. This volume contains over 900 picturesque images, most never-before-seen, of men, women, and children working on the farm, which remain powerful reminders of life in rural America at the turn of the twentieth century. As old farmhouses and barns fall victim to age, Allen photographs are all that remain. While those people and times no longer exist today, they do remain "alive" because of the preservation of that history on film. A camera in his hands and an eye for photography allowed Allen to create indelible visual histories that continue to tell the story of agriculture and rural life from long ago.