Rural Electrification Administration (REA) provides electricity to 97% of rural homes and farms (jan 1, 1935 – jan 1, 1969)

Description:

REA: An agency established in 1935 to promote nonprofit farm cooperatives that offered loans to farmers to install power lines.

The TVA was an integral part of the Roosevelt administration’s effort to keep farmers on the land by enhancing the quality of rural life. The Rural Electrification Administration (REA), established in 1935, was also central to that goal. Fewer than one-tenth of the nation’s 6.8 million farms had electricity at the time. The REA promoted nonprofit farm cooperatives that offered loans to farmers to install power lines. By 1940, 40 percent of the nation’s farms had electricity; a decade later, 90 percent did. Electricity relieved the drudgery and isolation of farm life. Electric irons, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines particularly eased the burdens of women, and radios brightened the lives of the entire family. In concert with the automobile and the movies, electrification broke down the barriers between urban and rural life.

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