Show r L e nn GOOD leadership AND PLANNING ARE MAIN FACTORS IN A REVISED RURAL ECONOMY SMALL TOWNS USA hural 1 planning a ulu must s E emphasize m lesto Ile stored rod soil lew new employment emis in oy arment by EARL HITCH released by features restoration of the soil and introduction of new types of employment are major factors in revitalizing rural economy to meet the challenge of the changing times the growing necessity for sound rural economic planning is apparent in small town and agricultural america faced as they are by revolutionary changes in the pattern of living the times brings evidence that most rural liv 0 ing problems can be solved hap this evidence which has been accumulating for several years shows the solutions can be accod by simple home devised plans rural economic problems rily come from limitations on earn ing opportunities the earn get rural america lean when the at stake land is allowed to wear out and oth er employment in no 3 the neighborhood in a series is limited there I 1 fore the solution lies in restoring productivity of the soil and in pro viding new kinds of employment both these things can be done with good leadership and good planning extension of rural electric lines the trend toward cecen industry new methods of farm production and land use all are making easier the task of reviving the country communities and small towns much valuable community work has been done some of the pioneer ing dates back 20 years and longer the successes of some communities provide examples for others to fol low one of the earl est and most highly regarded small community developments is in the southern mountains at brasstown Brass town N C there the soil has been saved and returned to fertility and some small industries have been introduced to provide the needed opportunities to earn model rural community brasstown Brass town is a model in the rural life movement it has shown that the home and the home s surround ings are the most important things in happy living high wages are not essential it if there are better campen lations happiness cannot be bought with wages all ali is well when there are jobs for all if the work is pleas ant and the home is secure brasstown Brass town is a folk center it is the home of a school of rural living which has become the influence that shapes and guides the life of the entire community this is the john C can fobell folk sch school 1001 es to be a permanent and useful memorial to a devoted work er who spent his life as a teacher of mountain people the school is the life work of mrs olive D camp bell widow of the man tor for whom it was named this school is like nothing else in the U S its pattern was the folk schools of denmark and danish rural school ideas have been adapt ed to the needs of the brasstown Brass town community the school has more than classes and teachers it is the voice and spirit of the comma anity since it was founded the living standards and the outlook of the whole people have been uplifted and given a solid rooting it has succeeded in making the present bright and the future hopeful the school is a place for demon practise study and decre atlon it is the stimulus not only of the culture but of the commerce of the whole countryside all ali ages may go to its classes everything having to do with local living is part pirt of its program farming and forestry folk dancing and games health and nursing home industries and house keeping and the marketing of the things the people make and grow the school has a demonstration farm a forge for iron work looms for weavers and benches for wood carvers develop few new skills brasstown Brass town wood carvings are known wherever there is a market for southern mountain wares five of the best carvers taught in the school have earned as much as 1300 1 in one year by their spare time skills but the land is first and the people are taught to protect and preserve it do not neglect your farm carving is for spare time and for pleasure that is advice that the school people give often and with emphasis it should be made clear that the john C campbell program is more than the teaching of skills and methods it is a pro gram of ideas and attitudes the school has made brasstown Brass town and that means the coves ana the ridges tor for miles around proud of its culture and its homes and proud of the land it has given the people an appreciation of what they have and are moreover it has made them com coin conscious with some very practical results through study and leadership the school has de a keen response to compera tive ideas this has grown into a thriving producers consumers co operative store operating a retail business and a producing milk plant work of individual for this example of how to organ ize and guide a community living program not only brasstown Brass town but the entire rural life movement is under a last ng obligation to mrs campbell she did her work largely unaided and with only the eppen ence of the danes to go by the re suits achieved have been the prod act of her vision personality and determination A part of the school s support comes from the home mis of the presbyterian church north and the american mission ary association but the greatest share of the going expenses is raised by mrs campbell campbells s own efforts the next article will tell of community projects managed by rural pastors i |