In 1934 in Poinsett County, a group of black and white tenant farmers and sharecroppers formed the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union (STFU). One of the nation’s first interracial unions, it soon grew to 25,000 members. When agricultural workers were excluded from protection by the federal government, membership declined until, by 1939, the union only operated in two Arkansas counties. Shown here are farmers listening to speeches delivered at a union rally during the early days of formation.