Let there be light - June 3, 1938

 

Friday, June 3 – Light in hall.

Before 1938, the vast majority of rural areas surrounding Iowa City—including West Lucas Township—remained entirely in the dark, so to speak. Private investor-owned utility companies based in nearby cities viewed running lines into sparsely populated rural farmlands as economically unprofitable. While residents in Iowa City enjoyed modern electric infrastructure, nearly 90 percent of local farm homes lacked access to the electrical grid, including young John Kennedy's house.

The Rural Electrification Act (REA), was a major New Deal initiative signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936. The REA provided low-interest, long-term federal loans directly to farmer-owned, non-profit cooperatives. This bypassed commercial power companies and empowered local communities to build their own distribution networks.

The formal push for rural electric cooperatives (RECs) in eastern Iowa began in 1938, and the family farm benefited from the Eastern Iowa Light and Power Cooperative. Township meetings were held to secure enough participants, typically at least three subscribers per mile of line, with each subscriber paying a $5 membership fee to buy a stake in the co-op. Farm owners also needed to sign easement paperwork that allowed crews to dig, plant utility poles and string copper lines across their property and along local roads. 

Electricity meant that new wells could be much more efficient, and dad had written on May 17: Helped men dig well. I drank too much lemonade this afternoon.

The next day part of his diary entry added: Watched men dig well. I got hit on the head with a pipe. My head hurts awful.

Must not have been too horrible as he was able to join the family later for a movie in town, but between feeling a bit queasy due to overindulging in lemondade and being in the wrong place as a pipe was being maneuvered, the lesson may have been to let the workers do the work.

Then came a flurry of activity as the farmhouse was readied for new utility access.

Tuesday, May 31 – Carpenters at work. They tore out closet. The electrician is at work. His name is Stevens.

Wednesday, June 1 – Carpenter, electrician, plumber and furnace men at work. They tore down chimney. Slept upstairs because downstairs bedroom is tore up.

The lack of electricity to that point might explain the frequent drives into Iowa City, not only for those many movies but to visit homes of relatives who had moved into town. My dad never writes about being jealous of town life and conveniences, but he must have been very happy with the changes, despite some temporary upsets as the work was completed. 

I also assume that Jack and Adelaide must have gotten service relatively early since their house was so clost to town. It would be another 12 years before they left living on the farm behind in favor of a very nice home at 528 Iowa Avenue. 

That house's history will be covered in my next blog post.