xt779c6s1n7s https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt779c6s1n7s/data/mets.xml Arkansas Sterner, Armin H. Eckler, A. Ross, 1901-1991 United States. Works Progress Administration. 1936 i, 8 leaves; 27 cm. UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries. Call Number Y 3.W 89/2:13/2-14 books English Washington, D.C.: Works Progress Administration This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Arkansas Works Progress Administration Publications Unemployed -- Arkansas -- Little Rock Public welfare -- Arkansas -- Little Rock Survey of Cases Closed from Relief Rolls for Administrative Reasons in Little Rock, Arkansas: Study Made in November 1935 Covering August Closings text Survey of Cases Closed from Relief Rolls for Administrative Reasons in Little Rock, Arkansas: Study Made in November 1935 Covering August Closings 1936 1936 2019 true xt779c6s1n7s section xt779c6s1n7s :3 ‘ ~ . ’ ,_ ’ A r} .- UN‘IVERSITYOF KENTUCKY
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a WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION ;
‘ Harry L. Hopkins, Administrator
Corrington Gill Howard B. Myers, Director
'37 Assistant Administrator Social Research Division
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3 V RESEARCH BULLETIN
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Y SURVEY OF CASES CLOSED FROM RELIEF ROLLS FOR , -' .
' ADMINISTRATIVE REASONS IN LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS ‘
, (Study made in November 1985 covering August closing-3s). ‘ i
' E
February 24, 1936 Series II No. 14 I

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815723 —
_H Preface ; _‘H ‘
During October and Eovember l935, a were covered by field surveys. The a _
series of special inquiries was con~ cities chosen were Sioux Falls,South ”
ducted in a group of western and Dakota,and Little Rock, Arkansas;the
southwestern states to study the rural areas included Custer, Corson, ‘ t
condition of cases closed from the Hand“ and Hutchinson Counties in
; relief rolls in anticipation of the South Dakota, and Kit Carsonand Weld ‘
i works Program and in accordance With counties in Colorado§/.
c the policy of transferring unemploy—
' able cases from Federal to state and .These communities were selected not
. local care. This group of-studies ~ for ~the purpose of giving a picture
was planned to supplement the infor— of conditions prevailing generallyin
mation obtained from earlier inquir— the United States but because they aw
ies into the results of edministre— show clearly certain kinds of prob—
tive closings in Georgialf. lems. Their value in giving direc~
tion to future administrative policy
This series of studies was carried is increased by the fact that they
out in about the same manner as the display diverse conditions. Two of
Georgia studies. Background infor— the studies—~those in Colorado and ;
mation in each community was secured Arkansas~—cover only unemployable 3
from relief agency officials and _ cases and hence throw light upon the ‘
from citizens familiar with' 'the I problems ‘confronting the state and
problems of relief.Family interviews ' loCal agencies that are assuming the
were conducted in order to secure care of such cases. The two South
primary data bearing on the family. Dakota inquiries, including only em~ ‘
composition, the occupational. eX— ployable cases, yield 'information ‘
perience of the workers, and the upon the significance of harvesting
economic status of each household work in relation to the relief rolls
for comparable periods before and and upon the problems involved in
after the closings. adjusting the WOrks Program to meet 1
the needs of these people.
Both urban and rural communities
___ _ g/ See Research Bulletins SeriesII
;/ See Research Bulletins Series II No. ll; Series II, No. 12; Series II I
No. 8; Series I, No. 11; and 0—19. No. 13. -
‘ 36 r
Prepared by
Armin H. Sterner ‘Q. ' A
under the supervision of t”
A. Ross Eckler, Chief
. Special Inquiries Section
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‘ ~i— 8572
f579§¥ ‘ -Thi$ StUdY presents an analysis occupational history revealed that
fidfiﬁ ‘ & of the condition of a group of house— the large majority had, been un—
gpffij i holds~~classified as unemployable—— skilled workers When last employed
7§1x5 ¥ in Little ROCK, Arkansas, before and at their usual occupations; and that
siﬁiii 2 t after their transfer from Federal to average weekly wages earned at that
ESeii , State care. The average income 0f time ranged from $5.00 for Negro fe—
$ll.’?6 in July 1985, the last month male workers to $21.00 for white
2:33;; of Federal care, declined to an aver— males. A low standard of education
i¥$§ﬁ§ age 0f $7-01 per household in OCtO— was found to be common in this group;
iﬁiif; 4, ber. The change reflects primarily only twentyione had gone to high
? decreases in the amount of public school, and thirty—eight were illit—
igéﬁi: j assistance,since income from private crate. A long relief history aver—
Eetiig 1‘ employment and assistance from pri— aging 17 months for the white group
vate sources were of negligible im— and 19 months for the Negroes feat——
ﬁﬂﬁiﬁ‘ portance. This 40 percent reduction ured this record.

Egﬁif: ; seriously affected' the families in—

‘K ? volved: the number and quality of The recently enacted Public Wel—
EEEEEh i meals were reduced to the POint fare Act of Arkansas became opera—
‘ where about one—half of those inter— tive in June 1935, but during the
@ﬁﬁﬁe viewed were unable to obtain more period covered by the study the Pub~
iﬁéeij ‘ than one 0? two meals daily; housing lic Welfare Commission was occupied
§§§§é 1 conditions already had became worse; mainly With problems of organization
t 1 families unable to pay rent were and with the registration of those
ﬁgﬁgﬁ sometimes evicted, and destitution elegible for old age pensions, so
I and suffering were intensified. that but little assistance had been
ii??? . granted under the terms of the act.
ﬁggﬁg 3 Of the cases studied, less than

gﬁﬁﬁﬁ * . one—half were white; two—thirds of On April 1, 1935, an old age pen—
§§%E% the group were individuals living sion act was passed by the state,
ﬁﬁﬁee" alone; mOSt Of them were either se— but no funds had been made available
x: ; nile or afflicted with disease. Some for its administration up to Novas.
ggﬁﬁﬁ 3 were bedridden and a few were blind. ber 15, The provision of such funds
égfﬁg : Data Whieh they gave regarding their would give assistance to many of the
if ‘ cases included in this study.

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_ —‘ -l- 8372 l
SURVEY OF CASES CLOSED FROM RELIEF ROLLS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE ‘
IREASONS IN LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, IN AUGUST 1935
In August 1935, nearly 500 cases Most of those not too old to work
in Little Rock, Arkansas, were trans— were either physically disabled or
L ferred from E.R.A. relief to the suffering from disease (Table III).
care of the recently created Public Heart disease, rheumatism and ne~
1 Welfare Commission of the state. The phritis were the diseases most fre—
families transferred consisted of quently reported. Others, suffering
cases classified as unemployablel/ from diseases chronic in character, '
who were being shifted from Federal were often bedridden and without
to state care in accordance with medical care. This fact was brought
policies outlined by the Federal E~ out by the answers to the interview—
mergency Relief Administration. One ers' questions as to the most urgent
third of this number (149 cases)were needs of individual clients. Medical I
selected at random as a group from attention was mentioned in 84 in—
N which the information for this study stances. It is known that the case
was obtained by home interviews, worker in the district had made 1
after all pertinent data available calls on certain of these households
at the relief offices had been util— to arrange for medical care, but her
ized. burden of work was such as to make
it impossible to cover effectively
Composition and Characteristics all the families under her care.
of Househgldg Those unable to walk could not
always take advantage of medical 1
Of the households selected for care arranged for them, nor could E
interviews, less than one—half were those that lacked carfare or means
. white, a proportion not very differ— for other transportation.
ent from that found in the total re—
lief pOpulation in this city (Table A large majority(93) of the heads
I). Over two—thirds of the group of households had been unskilled
were individuals living alone. In workers, chiefly common laborers or
the families of the remaining house— domestics; of the others,18 had been
holds, 74 dependents—~wives and classified as skilled workers and 20
children—~were reported.In 91 cases persons reported that they had been
or 61 percent of the tota1,the heads non—manual workers, with salesmen
were 65 years of age or over (Table most numerous among this latter
II) - class (Table IV).
I? The Arkansas Public Welfare Act Average weekly earnings at their
‘ defines unemployable persons as fol~ last private job in their usual occu—
. . lows: An unemployable under the Pub— pation (in the period 1925—50 for
’ lic Welfare Act is one who is physi— most cases) ranged from $5.00 for
cally or mentally incapable of make Negro female workers to $21.00 for I
ﬁx ;f ins a liVing at available employment. white males. It should be borne in
V In no case shall one who is physi— mind that the group showing the low— ‘
‘ cally and mentally capable of per— est rate was almost entirely made up
' forming manual labor be eligible of domestics—~maids, COOKS, laun~
for relief under this act. dresses, etc.,~—occupations which
are traditionally low paid.
‘2
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a 8372 1
_ 2 _
Only Bl of the heads of house— such other sources as contributions
holds stated they had attended high by friends and relatives. The major~ .
school. At the other end of the ity of families, however,had no cash 1
scale it was found that in 88 in— income to cover expenditures for
i 1 stances, or over 25 percent of the clothing, medical care, and inciden— '
5 éf total, heads of households were re— tel household or personal needs.
‘ ported to be unable to read or
' i? write English; all but one of these Of the 149 households Visited, ‘
38 were Negroes (Table V). only 36 reported debts. Seven of
these were white families and 23 1
~ On the average, the Negro group were single Negroes. Amounts re—
had received relief for a period of ported were small and consisted :
19 months; the corresponding period principally of rent, grocery, and
, for the white group was 17 months doctors‘ bills. The average debt of
(Table VI). In View of the fact the group was $4.74. (The debts of ‘
A that three—fifths of the persons these hOUSLhOldS ranged from an av~
covered in this study were 65 years erage of $16.25 for white households -
of age and over(and whose employ— of two or more persons down to $5.83
ment history ended some time ago), the average for the group of single
it is not surprising that more than Negroes.) It is to be presumed that J
one—half of them had a relief his— families who have been on relief for .
tory prior to June 1935, the date approximately a year and a half '
V . when E.R.A. came into existence. would have little chance of obtain— {
ing credit. 1
_Gom32 a. r_i..s 0._n ﬂﬂl‘lﬂﬁjﬁiﬂﬁ l
July and October Housing and Rent 2
’ In July l955,the last month when Housing conditions were found to
E.R.A. relief was received by this be extremely unsatisfactory. Inter—
' group, the average total income per viewers frequently reported houses
household amounted to $11.76 (Table in bad state of repair. This was
A, page 3). Three months later, for especially true of homes occupied by '
the month of October, the average families paying no rent, who were ‘
income for the same group had drop— often provided with shelter through
ped 40 percent to $7.01 (Table B the generosity of friends, relatives
{ page 3). former employers, and landlords.
! Shanties, garages, and condemned
‘ The reduction in the income of commercial buildings were sometimes 1
the Negro households during this used.for living quarters. Evictions
period amounted to 58 percent, that because of inability to pay rent
, e of the white households, 29 percent. were not infrequent§/. Improvements l
A ‘ such as running water, gas, and
Fanily incomes in the main con— electricity were entirely lacking in
‘% '~ sisted of relief grants of grocery 57 homes. The average monthly rental
orders and surplus commodities. A, for families paying rent was $5.45 i
very few cases received small cash (Table VII).
incomesg/ from odd jobs and from _~_____ ‘ I
______ 5/ In some instances, where evic— ‘
a}_ Five cases received such income tion was threatened, payment of rent
and the total amount fell short of was made by the Public Welfare Com—
$7.oo. mission. I

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I 8372
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I Table A. Incomes of 149 Relief Households From All Sourcesr1n July,
1 Classiﬁiedijgﬁgngf Househglg_gnd Race
I Size of Egusehold
I Income Total One Two or more——~Ji§9§———— :
households person person§_ White Negro i
f-'« :2 Total ‘ 149 104 45 54 85
~_ 9 $ .01 — 2.99 5 5 — 1 4
3,00 — 5.99 20 19 1 6 14
' 6.00 — 8.99 21 21 ~ 5 18
9.00 — 11.99 81 21 10 16 15
12.00 — 14.99 26 19 7 7 19
15.00 — 17.99 18 7 11 13 5
18.00 — 20.99 4 1 3 4 —
21.00 — 23.99 6 2 4 5 1
‘ ’ 24.00 ~ 26.99 1 ~ 1 1 ~
1 27.00 — 29.99 2 1 1 1 1 I
1 - 30.00 and over 5 ~ 5 3 2 1
I I_ncompl.et.e. r9.99£ 2
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Table V. Education of Heads of 149 Relief Households »
m_glm.iieuﬂwzi__._-_...__ .
Number of grades

completed All heads White Negro
Total, all grades 149 64 85
‘ None 42 6 $6
1 a 2 grades 11 5 8
5 ~ 4 " 22 10 12
5 ~ 6 ” 18 10 8
a t 7 ~ 83 " 29 14 15
f 9 ~ 10 ” 9 6 5
x i 11 ~ 12 " ll 8 3
'» Over 12 grades 1 I ~
WELLWL__J__ _,-__.:__________~.
g/ Twenty in this group (11 whites, 9 Negroes) had I
‘ completed eight grades.
Table VI. Duration of E.R.A. Relief
for 149 Cases Classified by ﬂags 1_.
Duration of relief Total White Negro
Total, all periods 149 64 85
1 ~ 5 months 8 4 4
6 ~ 10 " 15 8 7
. ll — 15 ” 29 13 l6
16 ~ 20 " 35 14 21
21 ~ 25 " 29 11 18
26 months and over 30 11 19
Not ascertainable §_m__ 3 — n__.
Average relief period
wwﬂ_m._ljm__li__m
Table VII. Monthly Rentals of Quarters Occupied by
QIEWSQIWEELELEQWN__
Rentals Total White Negro
9 Total, all rentals 128 57 71
; A No rent 46 21 25
- $ .01 _ 1.99 4 1 3
2.00 ~ 3.99 15 5 10

‘ 4.09 ~ 5.99 40 16 24

. 8.00 and over 11 10 1

j Not ascertainable _ 2 ~ 2 _N__.w___

? Average agarithmetic mean) $5.45 $6.58 $4.55_G___

: g] Based only on households paying rent.

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