ABSTRACT
Rural labor has a complex history, potentially encompassing a broad range of work done in rural settings, including both labor on farms and jobs in natural resources and services that have existed throughout the American experience. Not only have some rural workers made their livings outside of farming in all eras, but frequently families and individuals have combined farm and non-farm labor to supplement and stabilize their incomes, often as part of their efforts to navigate changes in the national economy. The story of rural labor also encompasses the tensions of free and unfree labor, landlord and tenant, immigration and ethnic minorities, the role of women and children in family labor systems, and the place of migrant and seasonal labor in rural communities.
