The Oscar and Alice Simonson Papers offer an unusually detailed and continuous financial and operational record of a South Dakota family farm from 1941 to 1979, a period that spans World War II, postwar agricultural expansion, and major changes in rural economies. The Farm Family Record Books serve as a rare primary source documenting everyday economic decisions, household consumption, and farming practices in the northern Plains.
Alice Simonson’s precise and sustained recordkeeping provides insight into the role of women in farm management and the intersection of domestic and agricultural labor. Additionally, the accompanying photographs, oral history interview, and personal correspondence contextualize the lived experience of mid-20th-century farm families, enriching research in rural history, agricultural economics, women's studies, and social history.
This collection is valuable for scholars studying rural life, the evolution of federal agricultural policy, and the social fabric of family farming communities in the Midwest.
Simonson, Oscar E., 1913-2014