Historical Significance

In 1867, Oliver Kelley founded the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry to organize white farmers. It originated as a social and cultural organization, but evolved to become the political organization known as the National Grange. By 1875, about 800,000 farmers had joined to voice their economic discontent. In the 1870s, this chromolithograph was sold to farmers to hang in their parlors or other home decor as a sign of Grange membership. The scenes show domesticity, labor and fruitfulness, prosperity, good government, and community. Some of these scenes show eighteenth-century dress, suggesting not the present day, but a rich heritage from the American past.