By Fallyn Cole
The Oklahoma Centennial Farm Families Oral History Project honors Oklahoma Centennial farm families by conducting an oral interview on their family history. It places emphasis on the value of keeping land within the family lineage (“Welcome”). I did not understand the true value of this honor until after completing this research project. The Archive was initially created by Henry Bellmon who served as Governor of the state of Oklahoma for two terms: 1963-1967 with the second term starting in 1987 ending in 1991. Governor Bellmon came from a family of farmers and graduated from Oklahoma A&M in 1942 with a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture (“Henry Bellmon”).
Governor Bellmon created the Oklahoma Centennial Farm Families Oral History Project to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Oklahoma land run in 1889. He wanted to honor the families who had participated in the run of 1889, along with the families who have continued to own those farms over the last 100 years (Oklahoma Centennial Farm and Ranch Program).
The Archive is a collection of oral interviews of individual farmers who still own land that was homesteaded by previous generations of their families, in 1889. Each farm family was interviewed for the purpose of recognizing their unique contribution to Oklahoma’s economy over the last 100 years (Oklahoma Centennial Farm and Ranch Program).
The researchers asked the farmers questions such as, what types of chores they had to do before school as a child, what they did in the summertime to help on the farm, what kind crops their farm grew and to describe a typical day. Along with questions about any historical structures that remained on their individual farms (Oklahoma Centennial Farm and Ranch Program).
From the encounters with the farmers the researchers put together The Oklahoma Centennial Farm Families Oral History Project, which is available online. Although most of the stories are from many years ago, the project is ongoing with families continuing to submit stories about recent events on the farm. They are required to include proof of ownership and operation. By being a part of the project the participants receive the recognition and honor of being a Centennial Farm along with a certificate signed by the Governor of Oklahoma, the Executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. The researchers indexed the oral interviews from the farmers by county (“Welcome”).
Our Family farm is in Canadian County. Growing up I knew my grandpa was a farmer and our family farm was a fun place my parents would take my sister and I on the weekends. We got to do all of the things we that we were unable to do in the city. For instance, we were allowed to run around in the front yard, shoot off fireworks and ride dirt bikes. The farm was where my dad taught me how to shoot a gun and where I learned to drive. I also have a faint memory of my great-granny Violet living there, but that’s about it… My mother has always said, “she wants to keep the farm in the family” … and tells my sister and I every chance she gets, “Girls do NOT sell that land.” But why? What is her attachment to the farm, and why does she care if I keep it?
With these questions running through my mind, when I saw the archive I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I could not grasp why people had such an emotional bond to their land, and why an entire archive was created based on this obvious attachment and ownership (Nykolaiszyn, 2009).
As I began to explain to her my archival research project, her eyes lit up. She said, “Now, Fallyn, I know you don’t understand my reasons, but this farm is everything to me.” Everything. That seemed like a strong word, but as she began to explain I began to see it as my family farm.
She continued to describe how times were different when she was growing up. There were only three channels on television and a land telephone line. When you grow up living in the middle of the country – or as I know it, the middle of nowhere – you have to find things to do, usually outside. She remembers every summer as the best time of the year because it was wheat harvest season. Living in the city I have never been a part of a harvest season. Wheat harvest season meant the smell of the diesel fuel from the wheat truck her dad would let her drive, even as a little girl. The early morning sunrises and late sunsets she was able to watch riding in combine with him learning about her ancestors and the land they were farming. I began to recognize that through these memories on the farm she developed an attachment to the land. An attachment that seems unattainable without these experiences.
She started with telling me that The Cooksey Family Farm is a farm that has been passed down in my family since the Oklahoma land run. In one of the tracts of land, Thomas Cooksey received the original land Patentee from the United States Government. When Thomas Cooksey died, he passed it to his children, one of which was Edwin Cooksey, who passed it to his sons Darrell and Wayne Cooksey (my grandfather) who left it to my mother Kecia Cooksey-Cole. This portion of land has been in our family for five (5) generations including myself. This land has been worked, maintained and managed by my ancestors for over 100 years.
Matter of fact, every story I read within the archive was not far from my family’s story. They all followed a general theme, no matter how tough times got, no matter how bad this year’s harvest was, you fix the problem and move on but selling the farm was never an option.
One of the interviews that stuck out to me was a documentation of the Acton family. While reading that story, I felt like I was reading an interview with my mother. The oral interview was conducted by Juliana Nykolaiszyn & Tanya Finchum, two researchers involved in the Oklahoma Oral Farms project. Jerry and Patsy Acton are the heirs of the Abraham H. and Melissa Acton Homestead and currently reside in Crescent, Oklahoma. Jerry Acton, still active in farming his land, began to tell the researchers where it all started. He proceeded to say, “Well, the best I can tell you is the best we’ve heard. Patsy has looked things up as best as she can, anywhere she can. The old folks, the old homesteaders came in on the Run of ’89 and staked these 160 acres out. There’s been Acton family on it ever since, down through the generations. There’s been, I guess, four, five if you want to include our children, Acton families that have lived here.” This hauntingly sounded like something my mother had just said (Nykolaiszyn, 2009).
As my parents are getting older I have thought more about our farm becoming mine and what I am going to do with it. But, honestly, what do I know about farms? I’m just a girl from Oklahoma City. I did not grow up on a farm nor do I know the first thing about managing one.
I look at my family farm as an investment and how that investment can make the most money. My parents are educated people and still not willing to use this land to maximize profitability. For instance, one of their tracts is in an area where housing developments are starting to arise, however, they are unwilling to sell but continue to farm. This way of thinking makes no sense to me.
The stories that were generated by the project were typically of farms consisting of more acreage. From what I understand the more land you own the more profit you can make. When the ancestors die, the land is passed down and is split among multiple children. It became clear that these centennial farms are a rarity because as the farms are passed down the portions of land become smaller and smaller decreasing their size and ability to generate an income as a family farm. As a result of the divisions people can no longer depend on farming as their primary source of income and are forced to find other work. So, when a centennial farm is currently running, like my family’s farm, that is debt free because it has been passed down it is something to be honored and treasured. However, honor and treasure will not pay for groceries.
Although, I understand the sentimental value that is documented by the Oklahoma Centennial Farm Families Oral History Project and my mom, it appears to me after researching this issue that the sentimental attachment no longer exists. The question now becomes what happens to the family farm. I am certain that the issue that has arisen within our family is no different than the story you would find in an interview of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who homesteaded the farms in 1889 (Oklahoma Centennial Farm and Ranch Program).
Commercials that you see today on television clearly show that “family” farm has been replaced by the “corporate” farm. Driving out of any city in Oklahoma you can immediately begin to see that the land surrounding the small country home is for sale. If Governor Mary Fallen were to commission another study of the status of the family farms it would look significantly different than the Oklahoma Centennial Farm Families Oral History Project. Although the original study commissioned by Governor Bellmon honored farm families for their commitment to Oklahoma’s economy the nature of the farm and the farm families have changed. Our farm in Canadian Country is not distinguished as a “centennial farm.” With the sentimental connection to the farm no longer in existence, I doubt it ever will.
Works Cited
“Henry Bellmon Was ‘A Giant in Oklahoma History.’” Henry Bellmon Was ‘A Giant in Oklahoma History,’ News OK, 30 Sept. 2009, 12:00, newsok.com/article/3405114.
Nykolaiszyn, Juliana, and Tanya Finchum. “Oklahoma Centennial Farm Families Oral History Project.” Digital Collections at OK State Library, Oklahoma State University. Library. Oklahoma Oral History Research Program, 17 May 2009.
“Oklahoma Centennial Farm and Ranch Program.” OK History, Oklahoma Historical Society.
“Welcome to the Oklahoma Centennial Farm Families Oral History Project!” Oklahoma State University Library, Oklahoma Oral History Research Program.
Fall 2017
Fallyn Cole is currently a sophomore at OSU from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Sciences, with an option in pre-medical studies she has hopes of going to medical school.
archiveoklahoma.com 