John Deere: A Discussion of the History and Future of Agriculture

You have been ‘invited to a private board meeting and celebration of John Deere & Co.’ The founder of the company is retiring and handing the plow to his son Charles. John Deere reflects on the history of his self-scouring plows, shares some of his personal struggles, and then turns to the future and the great changes in agriculture that he foresees in the vision of his son, who transforms the company and the future of farming.

When Potato Fields were Prisons: Unfree Farm Labor in McHenry during World War 2

During World War II, some farmers in Marengo, Illinois negotiated with a large food corporation and federal agencies to make local farm fields into restricted, prison-like spaces. When the Curtiss Candy Company brought Japanese-Americans from the Tule Lake Internment Camp in California to cultivate and pick potatoes in 1943, the Marengo community struggled with the federal government and the candy company to eliminate the outsiders’ presence. Click for additional information.