​Looking Back: The Depression in Grain Valley

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society
 
Hearing people talk about “the Depression” is becoming more and more unusual. When you hear them, you want to question “just how old” they are. After all, historians generally agree that the "Great Depression” began with Black Friday, September 29, 1929 and ended when the United States entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. One must be at least 94 years old to have even been born when the depression began and 84 years old to have even been alive at the end. But, certainly many people in their 80s may undoubtedly remember the long-term effect of the Depression on their lives. Luckily,  as a post- World War II baby, I was born in a period or relative prosperity!

Fortunately for Grain Valley, we had Sni-A-Bar Farms. Over the years, many folks have shared that their fathers and/or their grandfathers’ employment at Sni-A-Bar kept their families afloat during the Depression.  While some local businesses struggled or closed their doors, the farm was literally in its’ heyday. During most of the 1930s, the United States Department of Agriculture maintained two residences on the farm and numerous livestock and crop experiments were conducted.

Did you know creep feeding (a way to feed baby calves without giving their mothers access to the food) and a vaccine for Bangs Disease, also known as brucellosis (contagious abortion of calves) were discovered in Grain Valley? The USDA also experimented on mules, swine and sheep. Crops like Korean Lespedeza (a form of clover) and several hybrid corns were first grown at Sni-A-Bar. And, of course, the famous Shorthorn Show Cattle were making a name for themselves across the United States and Canada.

Many Grain Valley men, not employed at the farm, worked for one of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration, or the Public Works Administration; building everything from roads and bridges to public swimming pools and football stadiums. I wonder if these programs were also responsible for the completion of the Empire State Building (1931)  and the Golden Gate Bridge (1937). In Jackson County the many roads were built by government workers.

While there were some highlights of the 1930s such as Clarence Birdseye’s development of frozen food and the discovery of the dwarf planet Pluto, the Depression years were depressing! In addition to the stock market crash, there were tornados, and the Dust Bowl of 1934, followed by a drought that destroyed many a farmer’s crops and caused them to lose their farms.

1931 U.S. Flag with 48 Stars
There is one event that I personally believe was a highlight of the decade. On March 3, 1931, the United States Congress made The Star-Spangled Banner the United States National Anthem. It was a four-stanza poem written on September 14, 1814, by Francis Scott Key, a Georgetown lawyer and poet, after he witnessed the failed bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British in the War of 1812. Some Americans opposed the song because the popular tune used with Key’s lyrics was" Anacreon in Heaven" by English composer John Stafford Smith. It was originally a British pub tune!  Perhaps that is way we all cheer after we sing!
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