'Friends of the Land' promotional leaflet   Save
Friends of the Land Collection
Description: Letter-sized fold-out bulletin describing the activities and impact of the Friends of the Land, and the history of soil conservation practice in America. The bulletin addresses widespread conservation concern in mid-century America, and is organized under such headings as "What is a Soil Conservation District?"; "How is FRIENDS OF THE LAND Going About the Job?"; and "What Can You, as an Individual, Do About It?" Pages 6 and 7 describe prominent mid-century techniques for agricultural conservation, including contouring, terracing, strip cropping, crop rotation, cover cropping, mulching, better land utilization and pasture improvement. The document also thoroughly describes the formation of the Friends of the Land organization, and includes a Friends-approved bibliography of key texts in conservation, along with a list of the organization's officers, board of directors and advisory council as of the date of printing. The bulletin describes the task of "conservation of all soil, even of regenerated land" as "inevitably necessary" and announces FOTL's presence as an organization that has "just begun to do something about it in a large, sensibly connected way. The need to do more -- much more -- is urgent." The Friends of the Land Collection (1930-1960) contains the papers of the Friends of the Land (1940-1959), a prominent national soil conservation education organization headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. FOTL produced an international literary arts quarterly, THE LAND (edited by New Deal agriculture writer Russell Lord) in addition to several members' only publications (LAND LETTER) and informational pamphlets. They also hosted annual conferences; ran conservation tours, teacher training labs, and workshops; and operated as a national clearinghouse for conservation information. Ohio farmer and novelist Louis Bromfield was active in the organization. Much of the collection reflects the career and interests of FOTL Executive Secretary Ollie Fink, who was a prominent conservation education pioneer in Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS364_B02F08_02_01
Subjects: Conservation education; Social movements; Agricultural education;; Soil science; Nutrition; Ecology
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)