Religion and Reform

in contrasting eras. Opposites in many ways, although alike in others, Wallace and Benson each held the office of agriculture secretary and each regarded himself as a rural reformer. Both of these strong-willed men held religiously oriented socio economic philosophies and each attempted to alter the mode of rural thought. In addition to being self-styled agrarians, both were outstanding agriculturalists and possessed expertise in the field of farm economics. Yet despite these similarities, they ad vocated divergent policies and worked for the achievement of disparate social goals. A third-generation scion of the Iowa Wallaces, Wallace took over the Department of Agriculture in the 1930s when the nation was in the throes of a paralyzing economic depression. Nurtured by the religious teachings of his grandfather, a former clergyman and founder of Wallaces' Farmer, and introduced to the machina tions of farm politics by his father, who held the post of secretary of agriculture in the days of Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, the third Henry Wallace of this trio joined Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in 1933 with specific goals in mind.1 EDWARD L. SCHAPSMEIER (B.S., Concordia Teachers College; M.S., Uni versity of Nebraska ; Ph.D., University of Southern California) is Professor of History, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois; and FREDERICK H. SCHAPSMEIER (B.S., Concordia Teachers College; M.S., University of Nebraska; Ph.D., University of Southern California) is Professor of History, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. They have co-authored Henry A. Wallace of Iowa: The Agrarian Years, 1910-1940 (1968), Walter Lippmann: Philosopher-Jo-urnatist (1969), Prophet in Politics: Henry A. Wallace and the War Years, 1940-1965 (1970), Ezra Taft Benson and the Politics of Agriculture : The Eisenhower Years, 1953-1961 (1975), and Encyclopedia of American Agricultural History (1976) ; have co-contributed to William F. Donnelley, ed., Readings in History (1973) and Dorothy Schwieder, ed., Patterns and Perspectives in Iowa History (1973) ; and their co authored articles have appeared in Agricultural History, Annals of Iowa, The Historian, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Journal of the West, Journalism Quarterly, Ohio History, Social Science, and Social Studies. Their scholarly interests center upon political biography and agricultural history. 1. Henry Wallace (1836-1916) was a Presbyterian pastor and renowned agricul turalist. Uncle Henry, the affectionate name by which he was known in Iowa, founded the Wallaces' Farmer and once served on Theodore Roosevelt's Country Life Com mission. His son, Henry Cantwell Wallace (1866-1924), who became editor of the family farm journal, worked for Woodrow Wilson's Food Administration and served as secretary of agriculture from 1921-1924. His son, Henry Agard Wallace (1888

Agrarian society · Agriculture · Archaeology · Economic history · Environmental ethics · Great Depression · Management · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science) · American Environmental and Regional History · Classics · History · Law · Mormonism, Religion, and History · Philosophy · Religious studies