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This website provides information on how Boll Weevils affected crops in the South and Black Sharecroppers.  The Boll Weevil Song became a "metaphor for the resilience of the workers in the face of exploitation and racism."

How to use this lesson:  Have the students read the passage and listen to the song.  Lyrics are available on the website.  Ask students all or some of the discussion questions.

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Boll Weevil Song

Traditional, 1934

What is the boll weevil? What was its impact on farming in the early twentieth century?

What is sharecropping? How was the meaning of the boll weevil different to sharecroppers than for farm owners?

Throughout the song, the boll weevil resists the farmers attempts to kill it. Why was this a powerful symbol for African Americans in the South?

How might African Americans have related to the lines about the boll weevil "lookin' for a home"?

"Boll Weevil Song" performed by Leadbelly on In New Orleans, Dance Plant Records, © 2012. Available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.

This recording was made in 1945, after Leadbelly became famous and was touring throughout the United States and Europe.

Rights have not been secured to reprint the words for this song. Please consult this online source:
https://genius.com/Lead-belly-the-boll-weevil-1939-lyrics

US Food Administration. Educational Division. Advertising Section. (01/15/1918 - 01/1919)

The boll weevil is a pest that came to the United States from Mexico in the 1890s and devastated the cotton crop throughout the South. Despite the significant damage it caused for several decades, the boll weevil ultimately had a positive impact on farming. A monument to the beetle stands in the center of Enterprise, Alabama, to mark the increased diversification of agriculture that followed the failure of cotton crops in the 1910s.

Although farmers now celebrate the boll weevil for its influence on agricultural techniques, African American sharecroppers and field hands developed a different appreciation for the insect. Because it was able to survive every attempt that farmers made to eliminate it, the beetle served as a metaphor for the resilience of the workers in the face of exploitation and racism. This metaphor was commonly employed in songs such as "Boll Weevil Song."

Perhaps the most significant recording of "Boll Weevil Song" was made by Huddie Leadbetter, better known as Leadbelly, a songwriter, blues singer, and guitarist. Known for his uncontrollable temper, he spent a considerable amount of time in jail for various crimes, including murder. During his incarceration at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Leadbelly was discovered by the famous folksong collector John Lomax, who recorded him for the Library of Congress in 1933 and subsequently helped to secure his parole. Leadbelly returned with Lomax to New York, where they recorded for the Library of Congress from 1935 to 1940. "Boll Weevil Song" was one of the first Leadbelly songs that Lomax recorded.

Compare this song to:

"Sixteen Tons" (Unit 8)

"How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?" (Unit 6)

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Boll Weevil Song Traditional, 1934 What is the boll weevil? What was its impact on farming in the early twentieth century? What is sharecropping? How was the meaning of the boll weevil different to sharecroppers than for farm owners? Throughout the song, the boll weevil resists the farmers attempts to kill it.

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U.S. National Archives-Stories of the Great Depression

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U.S. National Archives-Stories of the Great Depression

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This is a 30-minute video interviewing people who lived or had parents who lived through the Great Depression.

It would be a great supplement to show students real stories of resilience throughout the period.  I would not show the whole thing, but rather clips.

Recommended Guiding Questions for the first 10 minutes
(ask the students to cite examples):
1. What was life like for people during the depression?
2. What kind of jobs did people have to make ends meet?
3. How did the New Deal impact those living in poverty?
4. What was the WPA and how did it help families?

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Library of Congress Primary Source Analysis Tool

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Library of Congress Primary Source Analysis Tool

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This graphic organizer can be used with many primary sources. Use this with the Boll Weevil image or the Georgia Historical Society Sources.

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Primary Source Article Analysis Graphic Organizer

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Primary Source Article Analysis Graphic Organizer

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Use this resource while reading the Boll Weevil article.

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Library of Congress--Farm boy with sack full of boll weevils which he has picked off of cotton plants. Macon County, Georgia

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Library of Congress--Farm boy with sack full of boll weevils which he has picked off of cotton plants. Macon County, Georgia

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This resource is from the Library of Congress.  It shows a farm boy who has picked boll weevils off of a cotton crop.

How to use this resource:
This would be a great opening to a lesson.  Students can analyze the image using the Library of Congress photo analysis worksheet. Suggestions have students paired up or in groups to answer and then introduce the notes about the Great Depression.

Suggested Questions for the photograph:

1. What is the title of the photo? (observe section)

2. What do you see in the photo? (List all people and objects?) (observe section)

3. Who do you think is in the photo? (Reflect)

4. What do you think he is holding? (Reflect)

5. What does this photo tell us about life in Macon, GA? (Reflect)

6. Students can use the “Question Section” to further their photograph analysis.

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Farm boy with sack full of boll weevils which he has picked off of cotton plants. Macon County, Georgia

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1 negative : nitrate ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches or smaller.

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Use these resources to help students learn about the Great Depression, specifically how it impacted Georgia's Economy.

How to use this resource:
This resource can provide a deeper understanding of the content for students.  This can be used in addition to teacher notes for a project or further clarity.

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Great Depression - New Georgia Encyclopedia

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The stock market crash in the waning days of October 1929 heralded the beginning of the worst economic depression in U.S. history. The Great Depression hit the South, including Georgia, harder than some other regions of the country, and in fact only worsened an economic downturn that had begun in th…

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Mr. Betts' Great Depression Song (parody)

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Mr. Betts' Great Depression Song (parody)

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Mr. Bett's has a lot of parody songs to help teach Social Studies.  This song goes through the causes of the Great Depression.

How to use this resource:
If you are using this at the beginning of the unit, I provide a graphic organizer, digital or paper, to help students write down the causes and explanations. Otherwise, this would be a great end of unit closer.

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Great Depression (Grease's "Summer Nights" Parody) - @MrBettsClass

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Mr. Betts' New Deal song goes over the programs President initiated to help list the United States out of the Depression.

How to use this resource:
This would be a great hook for learning about the New Deal programs.  As students watch, you might want to ask students in Georgia which New Deal Act would help Georgians the most?

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New Deal ("Uptown Funk" Parody) - @MrBettsClass

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As with the entry on the Great Depression, this resource is an excellent overview of how the New Deal helped get people out of the Depression.  It specifically goes into detail on how the New Deal impacted Georgia.

How to use this resource:
Provide a deeper understanding of the content for students.  It can be used in addition to teacher notes for a project.

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Georgia was helped perhaps as much as any state by the New Deal, which brought advances in rural electrification, education, health care, housing, and highway construction. The New Deal also had a particularly personal connection to Georgia; Warm Springs was U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s so…

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This source is a great resource to explain the causes of the Great Depression for students.

This is an extra because it is 15 minutes long and sometimes goes too fast and above 8th graders' heads.

If you are watching it with students, you may want to stop and pause as it goes through information quickly.  Alternatively, you could create a graphic organizer to accompany the video to keep students on task.

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The Great Depression: Crash Course US History #33

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Primary Source:  Article from The Atlanta Constitution (1881-2001); Jun 21, 1919

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Primary Source:  Article from The Atlanta Constitution (1881-2001); Jun 21, 1919

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Cotton growers blue, says Brown: Pessimism reigns in south Georgia as result of continuance of rain, boll weevil, and labor shortage. (1919, Jun 21). The Atlanta Constitution (1881-1945) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/cotton-growers-blue-says-brown/docview/497476770/se-2?accountid=15017

How to use this resource:
After teaching about the Great Depression in Georgia, Drought, and Boll Weevil, students will read the article and answer questions in the primary source graphic organizer.

Suggestions:  Students should be in groups.  Either give students part of the article or the entire passage.  Provide definitions of words students might struggle with before reading the article.

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Like Crash Course #33, Crash Course #34 is an excellent supplemental video that explains the New Deal.

Again, you may want to watch this with students to stop and explain parts of it or create a graphic organizer for students to fill out as they are watching.

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The New Deal: Crash Course US History #34

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The Georgia Historical Society put together primary sources for SS8H8. A teacher guide is provided with the primary source set. The teacher's guide just explains the resources.

How to use this:
This would be a great addition to a lesson. They show the spread of Boll Weevil in the southern US, images of  Governor Talmadge, newspapers from 1918, and various embodiments of the Works Progress Administration projects in Georgia. You could have students analyze the images using the Library of Congress Primary source document.

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Set 08: Georgia from WWI through the Great Depression

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Like most places in the world, Georgia was affected by the First World War and played a major role, even as the country initially ignored the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. By the end of the war, though, the state housed many training grounds for American troops and contributed around 100,000 Georgians to U.S.