My cousin Scott just sent me some transcripts from our great Aunt Dick’s diaries, which I’m planning to make a project out of sometime soon. Just as a little sample, here is the entry for September 1, 1931:
Markie [Markham] raved about the depression, and how terrible times are; they’re going to have a special session of legislature this month to forbid the planting of cotton this fall*, and all the state employees salaries will be cut 15% or more. Ruthy is simply sick about it, but she’s lucky to have a job at all, as it’s getting to where they just can’t be had.
Markie is a family friend and Ruthy is her sister. They were living in Austin at the time and Ruth worked at the Capitol.
*UPDATE: The Handbook of Texas Online says that the Texas Cotton Acreage Control Act of 1931-32 was an effort to control the falling prices of cotton, due to overproduction, by limiting the amount of acreage being cultivated for cotton (not a complete ban) as well as to institute some soil conservation measures. This command-and-control-type measure was struck down in the courts in 1932. I doubt the Texas Legislature of today would never do something like that!
