Isaac Newton Gresham
Point, Rains County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Feb. 20, 1858 - April 10, 1906) In 1902 Alabama native Isaac Newton "Newt" Gresham was a Rains County farmer and newspaper editor. Wishing to help local farmers organize to take advantage of farm prices, he called a meeting in a nearby barn that summer. With an initial membership of ten neighbors, the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America was founded. At first a secret organization, the idea soon spread throughout the south and west. The union eventually became a national organization. Gresham and his wife, Ida May, were the parents of four children. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1902 Isaac Newton "Newt" Gresham, an Alabama-born Rains County farmer and newspaper editor, called ten neighbors together in a nearby barn to help local farmers organize against low crop prices. That meeting founded the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America. Beginning as a secret society, the idea spread rapidly across the South and West and grew into a national organization.
Why it matters
Gresham launched one of the most important farmer cooperative movements in American history, part of the broad Progressive-era struggle of rural producers to gain economic power.
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Related people
- · Isaac Newton Gresham
- · Ida May Gresham
Related events
- · Founding of the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union (1902)
Themes & tags
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