RURAL ELECTRIFICATION: THE
MODERNIZATION OF RURAL AMERICA
By Dr. D. Clayton Brown, Professor of History,
Texas Christian University
The REA
 Until
the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) went into
operation in 1935, responsibility for extending electricity
into rural areas rested with privately owned power companies
because providing electrical service was considered a prerogative
of private enterprise. They avoided the rural market because
it was not profitable, a condition wrought by the sparse
population there. On a per square mile basis, the use of
electricity was too low to entice private investment. In
cities where population density was greater, the revenue
justified the capital investment. Only farmers living near
a power line, such as alongside a road, could get service.
By the 1930s the technical and engineering barriers had
been surmounted, but the question of funding the construction
and operation of rural lines remained. It was this question
that Morris L. Cooke of Pennsylvania determined to resolve.
Known as the 'father of rural
electrification," Cooke had devoted much of his professional
career to solving the puzzle of rural electric costs. In
1933 he became President Franklin D. Roosevelt's advisor
on issues pertaining to public power, and in 1935 when the
President created the REA by executive order, he made Cooke
the Director. Cooke went to work on establishing a system
for dispersing REA funds to the local level via specially
created farmer cooperatives. This plan of action was underway
when in 1936 Congress gave the REA statutory authority with
regular funding. The number of electric cooperatives then
increased rapidly as rural inhabitants eagerly sought to
get electricity into their home. By the end of 1941, thanks
mostly to the REA, the percentage of farms with service
had climbed to 30 percent of the U. S. total. World War
II slowed down the construction of lines as the resources
were needed for war mobilization. At the end of the war,
however, Congress launched a construction program for the
REA, sometimes appropriating more funding than the agency
requested. Construction zoomed forward.
New Appliances
 As
electric lines traveled down the roadsides and across fields
and prairies, farmers and ranchers moved quickly to acquire
appliances. Typically, families installed incandescent lighting
first, then bought an electric iron and radio. Refrigerators
were the next popular item, followed by an electric cook
stove. Usually an indoor bathroom and running water came
last, owing to larger costs, but once those conveniences
went into the house, further steps came more slowly. Washing
machines, however, ranked high on the list.
A Fuller Life
 When
it first came into use radio provided badly needed entertainment,
but over time it had a broader effect. It broadened the
general knowledge of listeners not only in respect to popular
shows they could share with others, but educational programs
for farmers and housekeepers became available as more rural
stations went on the air. The cultural and social impact
of radio could not be measured, but its impact was nonetheless
real. News events reached into the remote areas of the United
States and enabled the people there to keep abreast of current
events. Youth would no longer be shunned at school by their
urban friends for not being aware of trends and fads. Thanks
to radio, and the electrification of the home, the cultural
gap between rural and urban America began to fade. One farm
wife represented the feelings of many when she stated, 'I
am enjoying life more because I have more time to spend
visiting my friends, studying and reading, and doing the
things that make life richer and fuller."
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