Families and Farmhouses in Nineteenth-Century America : Vernacular Design and Social Change

The antebellum era and the close of the 19th century frame a period of great agricultural expansion. During this time, farmhouse plans designed by rural men and women regularly appeared in the flourishing Northern farm journals. This book analyzes these vital indicators of the work patterns, social interactions, and cultural values of the farm families of the time. Examining several hundred owner-designed plans, McMurry shows the ingenious ways in which "progressive" rural Americans designed farmhouses in keeping with their visions of a dynamic, reformed rural culture. From designs for efficient work spaces to a concern for self-contained rooms for adolescent children, this fascinating story of the evolution of progressive farmers' homes sheds new light on rural America's efforts to adapt to major changes brought by industrialization, urbanization, the consolidation of capitalist agriculture, and the rise of the consumer society. An era of great agricultural expansion in America, the nineteenth century witnessed the development of capitalist method, technological innovation, scientific experimentation, and the reorganization of social and family life - changes that were reflected in, and even accelerated by, striking transformations in the vernacular landscape. In this fascinating interdisciplinary study, Sally McMurry examines one arena of domestic change - the design of northern rural farmhouses - as an index of America's shift from an agrarian society to an urban, industrial nation. A unique work that will interest a wide range of readers, Families and Farmhouses in Nineteenth-Century America shows how progressive farm families adapted to industrialization, urbanization, the consolidation of capitalist agriculture, and the rise of a new consumer society. For this paperback edition, McMurry has written a new introduction that summarizes the scholarship done in the field since the book's initial publication in 1988. - Publisher.

An era of great agricultural expansion in America, the nineteenth century witnessed the development of capitalist method, technological innovation, scientific experimentation, and the reorganization of social and family life - changes that were reflected in, and even accelerated by, striking transformations in the vernacular landscape. In this fascinating interdisciplinary study, Sally McMurry examines one arena of domestic change - the design of northern rural farmhouses - as an index of America's shift from an agrarian society to an urban, industrial nation. A unique work that will interest a wide range of readers, Families and Farmhouses in Nineteenth-Century America shows how progressive farm families adapted to industrialization, urbanization, the consolidation of capitalist agriculture, and the rise of a new consumer society. For this paperback edition, McMurry has written a new introduction that summarizes the scholarship done in the field since the book's initial publication in 1988.

CONTENTS......Page 16 ONE: Introduction......Page 20 TWO: The Progressive Agriculturist's Vernacular......Page 27 THREE: The Shape of Cooperation: The Farmstead as Workplace, 1830–1855......Page 73 FOUR: The Spheres Diverge: Work on the Progressive Farmstead, 1855–1885......Page 104 FIVE: City Parlor, Country Sitting Room......Page 152 SIX: Supervision to Self-Culture: Children's Spaces on the Progressive Farmstead......Page 194 SEVEN: From Production to Consumption: Progressive Farmhouse Design at the Turn of the Century......Page 226 EPILOGUE......Page 240 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 242 PICTURE SOURCES AND CREDITS......Page 268 B......Page 272 D......Page 273 G......Page 274 K......Page 275 P......Page 276 S......Page 277 Z......Page 278 A look at the changing design of 19th-century American farmhouses, collected from a wide range of agricultural periodicals of the time.