Labor and Working-Class History Association 5
Session Abstract
Andrew Varsanyi challenges regionalist interpretations of Populism by focusing on Alonzo Wardall’s advocacy for cooperative capitalism in the Middle Border—a transnational zone between the U.S. and Canada. By integrating settler colonialism into the narrative, this presentation highlights the contradictions of agrarian populism, as farmers both benefited from and resisted the financial systems that facilitated westward expansion.
Robert D. Johnston explores the 1913 Oregon referendum on eugenic sterilization, a rare historical moment when populist activism aligned with civil liberties. Led by anti-vaccinationist Lora C. Little, the campaign successfully defeated compulsory sterilization by appealing to popular distrust of medical elites and state overreach. This case complicates the legacy of populism, illustrating how grassroots resistance could both challenge and uphold democratic rights.
Dr. Jason McCollom examines transnational farmers' organizations in the northern grasslands between 1905 and 1950, where wheat growers in the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota, and Canada’s Prairie Provinces built cooperative networks to navigate volatile agricultural markets. Despite disruptions from the Great Depression and Cold War, agrarian cooperation remained a vital force in shaping rural economies.
Finally, Jared Phillips shifts the focus to the late twentieth century, examining how the Ozark Organic Growers Association (OOGA) developed the “Unified Approach” to sustain small farms in Arkansas and Missouri. Through cooperative marketing, organic certification, and microfinance initiatives, OOGA provided an alternative to industrial agriculture, offering a model of rural resilience that still holds lessons today.
Taken together, these presentations reveal the dynamic and often paradoxical nature of populist and agrarian movements. From cross-border farmer cooperatives to grassroots resistance against state policies, this panel underscores the enduring influence of rural activism on economic and political life across North America.