Stories and Reports
Stories and Reports
Stories and Reports
Stories and Reports
Historical Background
Rural West
“We will emphasize those issues that have for too long gone under-studied by scholars and under-reported in the mainstream media. And we hope to begin conversations that will lead to some salutary results.”
– David M. Kennedy, Historian and faculty co-director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West
Bill Lane Center
for the American West,
Stanford University
.
The Contraction and Expansion of the Rural West
By Michael De Alessi
A jovial farmer boy I'll be
As free as birds that sing,
And carry forth my songs of glee,
Among the flowers of Spring.
No place for me - the crowded town,
With pavements hard and dry,
With lengthened streets of dusty brown,
And gloomy houses high.
...
I go and come a farmer boy,
From city trammels free,
I crack my whip and cry "Who hoy,"
A farmer boy I'll be.
- "The jovial farmer boy" words [1] and music by M. W. Cobb, 1885
Whether conjuring images of an opportunity to work the land, a close-knit community, or wide open spaces and fresh air, country life has long held a powerful sway over American hearts and minds.[2] The jovial farmer boy is just one example of the romantic allure of country life, but one that highlights the fact that this allure exists in contrast to city life, which has its own powerful economic, cultural, and social attractions.
