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9780252044380

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A well-argued book based on impressive research and organized in a set of well-constructed chapters. It is an impressive contribution to the history of American social welfare systems and to American rural life from 1870s to 1930. --Missouri Historical Review Informative and thoroughly researched, The Fundamental Institution tells the largely unknown story of America's poor farms. Megan Birk argues persuasively that white rural poverty was commonplace, and poor farms were an essential part of localized public welfare systems until the 1930s. A valuable study. --Molly Ladd-Taylor, author of Fixing the Poor: Eugenic Sterilization and Child Welfare in the Twentieth Century

Informative and thoroughly researched, The Fundamental Institution tells the largely unknown story of America's poor farms. Megan Birk argues persuasively that white rural poverty was commonplace, and poor farms were an essential part of localized public welfare systems until the 1930s. A valuable study. --Molly Ladd-Taylor, author of Fixing the Poor: Eugenic Sterilization and Child Welfare in the Twentieth Century

"""Extends the work Birk did in her first book, Fostering on the Farm: Child Placement in the Rural Midwest (2015) . Both books critically examine the institutions and policies that sought to serve vulnerable rural populations. . . . Taken together, this scholarship is essential for anyone interested in understanding how ideas about farming and family shaped the experiences of America's rural poor and marginalized people."" --H-Net Reviews ""This well-written and researched book is a 'must read' for anyone interested in the role that the poor farm played in welfare strategies for rural Americans."" --Kansas History ""A well-argued book based on impressive research and organized in a set of well-constructed chapters. It is an impressive contribution to the history of American social welfare systems and to American rural life from 1870s to 1930."" --Missouri Historical Review ""Informative and thoroughly researched, The Fundamental Institution tells the largely unknown story of America’s poor farms. Megan Birk argues persuasively that white rural poverty was commonplace, and poor farms were an essential part of localized public welfare systems until the 1930s. A valuable study.""--Molly Ladd-Taylor, author of Fixing the Poor: Eugenic Sterilization and Child Welfare in the Twentieth Century"

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Megan Birk is a professor of history at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She is the author of Fostering on the Farm: Child Placement in the Rural Midwest.

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