Laying it Out on the Table-60 Years Later An Inside Look at the Perspectives of Two Rural Vermonters Featured in the Museum's New Exhibit

Author: Abbie Beane

The old farm of Conrad Ormsby remains an imposingly handsome panorama, just as it looked 60 years ago in the photographs taken by Fritz Henley. Henley was one of the nine photographers sent on assignment by the U.S. government to capture proof of a 1930s and '40s Vermont in need of economic and agricultural assistance.
Ormsby, one of the men whose picture now hangs in the Middlebury College Museum of Art's new exhibition, "Looking Back at 1930s Vermont," still lives on his family's farm in Montpelier, Vt., next to his sister Marilyn Ormsby Piro, also in the photograph, which was taken of the Ormsby family gathered around the dinner table; at the time, Conrad was just 11 and Marilyn, 14.
Though it is difficult for the remaining Ormsbys to clearly remember every detail of this era as they were adolescents at the time, after a second sitting with these two the stories behind the photographic exhibit came more clearly into focus.
Through speaking with Conrad and Marilyn 60 years later, one is allowed to zoom in more closely on 1930s and '40s Vermont, taking a deeper look inside the photograph and behind the art.

The Campus: First of all, how did the Farm Security Administration (FSA) find your family in particular?
Conrad: Gordon Loveless often came to talk to my father, giving him canning [of food] advice. He was part of the extension aid service, which was a federal thing, so maybe that's how Henley [with the FSA] found us."

The Campus: After seeing the exhibit at the Museum of Art did you feel that it accurately and comprehensively captured the essence of the era?
Conrad: Yes — I think it fit the times. And I was pleased to see rural and urban pictures together. But Rutland was more of a manufacturing town than it is today and the granite industry has dwindled in Barre due to some storm shed fires. Burlington is also larger now.
Marilyn: Yes — the exhibit was very broad. Of course it didn't cover everything that happened back then, but it couldn't have.
The Campus: Which photos from the exhibit did you think were most emotionally evocative or relevant?
Conrad: Well, I think it depends on who looks at the photos as to what memories they brought up. I liked the one taken in Woodstock with the horse pulling the trash wagon.
Conrad then explained that people during the 1940s did not often go downtown, as gas was rationed during World War II and what available gas there was had to be used for the tractors. Along the same lines, society had to use butcher carts and milk wagons to distribute meat and dairy products — a sled was pulled during the winter months.
Marilyn: I loved the one of the women sharing secrets at the fair, although at the time there was some controversy over it [the photo]. The photographer was criticized for being "frivolous" [by taking pictures of such ordinary gossip sessions].

The Campus: What was one of your most enduring memories from this era, regarding politics, the economy?
Conrad: I remember that there was lots of talk — mixed feelings over FDR's [Franklin D. Roosevelt's] new programs [some of which were intended to help farmers in Vermont]. Vermont was very Republican and FDR was a Democrat. People were skeptical of them [the programs], but people benefited from them.
Conrad then remarked that he used to call Roosevelt's New Deal programs "alphabet soup." There was the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Public Works Administration (PWA) and a whole reel of others.
Conrad: But the CCC put a lot of people to work during the Depression. People who lost their jobs could build dams, like the ones in Waterbury and East Barre today.
These dams were necessary due to a devastating flood in 1927, which fell particularly hard on Montpelier and Barre.
The Campus: Did people feel that the New Deal programs and the FSA were effective here? Did the government do too much? Not enough?
Conrad: I'm not really comfortable answering that. I think there were a lot of hard-core Republicans who could find fault with everything [every program implemented]. Some people thought it was too much. I couldn't keep track of all the letters. But yes, the programs did help. A lot of people I knew worked for the CCC — people who otherwise wouldn't have had jobs.

The Campus: What do you remember happening after the New Deal programs faded in 1945 and supposedly had done their job? How did things unfold?
Conrad: The war changed a lot. Many didn't come back to Vermont and if they did, they had new ideas. Women also did a lot more. They were in responsible positions for the first time.
More farms had electricity. A lot of cooperative utilities formed like the Rural Electrification Administration (REA).The programs changed farming a lot. And all the farms were better I think, not just ours. Also, before the war and the programs, there were not too many tractors and after, there were more than there had been. They [the government] continued to try and help farmers make their land more productive. One way was if you added phosphate to your manure you could get subsidies. Most all was administered by the "county committee," which got farmers to sign up for these programs.
Conrad also mentioned that as for the economy, there was only a gradual improvement within the next ten years.
The Campus: Do you think the exhibit, or rather, publicly displaying these photos, was a good idea?
Marilyn: I think so. It displayed a small percentage of the photographers' work, but it's great that they [the photos] be shown.

The Campus: What is one thing from this era that you would have kept the same?
Marilyn: The neighborhoods were much closer in those days. I used to know everyone in all the farms and all the houses and now I may recognize a face, but not know a name.
Conrad: But back then everyone was so involved in agriculture; people were at home most of the day. But the change came as part of growing up, not just as part of the times.

The Campus: Do you have any questions for me?
Conrad: I was wondering how Middlebury College was given these photos instead of UVM (University of Vermont), a state institution.

In search of the answer to this question, I inquired of the the College's Museum Director Doug Perkins. He responded that, "somewhere around 1990 Richard Saunders, the director [of the Museum], saw on exhibit at St. Lawrence University of a group of photographs from the 1930s, some of which were taken in Vermont.
He then contacted St. Lawrence and discovered that the original negatives for all of the FSA photos were housed in the Library of Congress and, on further investigation, he learned that he (or anyone for that matter) could order copies of the negatives on microfilm, totaling 1,600 images,"
"As for the images, the original negatives remain and will always remain in the collection of the Library of Congress," Perkins said with assurance.
When asked why Saunders chose this exhibit at this time, Saunders replied, "I always felt there were many amazing images here that the museum visitors would enjoy."
He continued, "'Looking Back at Vermont' helps to remind us all why our history, our climate, our landscape, our community, our traditions, and our neighbors make the Green Mountain State a place we treasure."
When the exhibit closes on Dec. 1, the museum may give the photos to the State House in Montpelier, or failing that, may offer them to various departments and/or buildings on campus.
Yet, one thing that will remain are questions about this era and about the results the FSA produced in Vermont, proving that the issues here are not as easy to figure out as distinguishing black from white.