At one time most of the cotton was grown by farm families on small acreage. Cotton farming then required long hours of hand labor to cultivate and harvest the crop. To make hard work more bearable and the long days pass faster, singing and field hollers could be heard throughout the country side. Thus came the "Birth of the Blues".

The field hands have gone, replaced by modern mechanical equipment. If we listen closely we can still hear the low moaning sounds as the past whispers to us.  "Life's evening sun is sinking low, a few more days and I must go." Because it is natural for us to seek something better many, for one reason or another, left the farm to seek a better way of life.  Some loaded their few possessions on an old truck or car and headed to California, Chicago, Detroit or other places to find work in the factories.  Ironically, the very people who couldn't wait to leave, no matter where they went, later in life spoke of the fond memories of the farm and the delta.  It was home, "hard times not forgotten".

Some people stayed and worked through the hard times, little by little accumulating enough to rent some land.  Gradually, many of these became land owners. These were the ones who provided the leadership for the communities, building schools and churches, stabilizing rural America. The days of the small cotton farmers have passed and gone, along with them many small towns and schools. In many cases no records exist, no documentation of their heritage, only memories that exist in the minds and hearts of those who lived there. The legacy of those people and their way of life should not fade from history. To many of us the memories live on.

The Delta Dirt Project is not about farming or agriculture as an industry, it is about people whose lives and values are drawn from deep within the land and its people who, with hard work and determination, formed the delta into one of the richest, most productive areas in the world.

Delta Dirt is about hard work, plain living, sweat, wit, grit, and spit.  That's what it took to get the job done. As times change so does the uniqueness of a land, of a place, that has so much to offer and a way of life our forefathers struggled to create.  We can't bring back our past nor can we feasibly alter the current trends taking place in the delta.  What we can do is preserve the legacy of what the delta was, what it is and offer best efforts for all generations to come.

The purpose of delta dirt is to generate interest, revitalize and serve the rural community.

What is delta dirt? I guess if you have to ask this question then the delta is not a part of your heritage. To me the delta is the memories of a time I thought God had forsaken me and now realize it was a time of enormous blessing.  Abundant memories of sweet smelling soil as it was being turned in the spring,  The hot sand on bare feet on a dirt road in the summer.  The blisters from a hoe handle as cotton was being chopped along with the singing and laughter of the field hands as they worked.  The dragging of a tar bottom sack full of cotton that weighed more than me and the falling asleep in a trailer full of soft white cotton in the sun.

We want to connect the links to each state, county or parish, each township and each community, each household.  Now we have a way, thanks to the Internet and e-mail. If you have stories, history or suggestions please e-mail us.

We have added a contributions page to our site for that purpose,  to post what our viewers have to add.