November 20, 1936

The Plum Bayou resettlement community was dedicated. The federal Resettlement Administration, as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, had purchased 9,854 acres of fertile land for 180 families to settle. Each family was given a long-term mortgage and a chance to own the land. At the dedication, a crowd of about 3,000 listened to speeches by honored guests such as Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace, Senators Joseph T. Robinson and Hattie Caraway, and Governor J. Marion Futrell. This farmstead experiment, intended to help tenant farmers get back on their feet during the Depression, reflected the enduring American dream of family farm ownership.