Lower Level

In 1935, 90% of homes in rural America didn't have electricity. Farm tasks were grueling. Imagine cooking on a wood stove, heating an iron on that same stove and reading and working under kerosene lanterns. Electricity revolutionized farm lives.  Finally, they could leave behind their outhouses and old wood cook stoves. Now running water, indoor plumbing, refrigeration and access to a multitude of small appliances and electric tools greatly lessened the burden of their labor-intensive lives.  Electricity offered access to radio and television ending the isolation of rural life. Most importantly, children could stay on the farm and not suffer the extra work and hardships they had endured, without the electricity their city neighbors had.