"Picnic Season"
In the Midwest, summer picnics bring people together for socialization and community. For time immortal, communal meals have been a part of human nature. This week’s Throwback Thursday celebrates picnics.
Taken by A.W. Thompkins, this Hamlin County Farm Bureau photo shows the picnic of like-minded, farm-related folks. The Farm Bureau, organized in 1919, had the purpose, according to the 1920 original Farm Bureau statement, “to make the business of farming more profitable, and the community a better place to live. Farm Bureau should provide an organization in which members may secure the benefits of unified efforts in a way that could never be accomplished through individual effort.” A.W. Thompkins, the photographer, was the Hamlin County Agent from 1919-24. Picnics, like this Farm Bureau, unifies people in community.
SDAHM A.W. Thompkins 1979:021:025
