Interview with Luther Mason, January 24, 1992

Interview Summary

Luther Mason was raised on his father's farm in Scott County. After his marriage, he worked as a sharecropper and then took an industrial job in Lexington, from which he retired. He has since become a farm owner, and at the time of the interview has entered into a sharecropping arrangement as the owner of his tobacco, although he continued to raise his own cattle. He states that both he and his father used sharecropping as a way of obtaining their own farms, and affirms that in their cases, sharecropping leads to ownership. He points out that the sharecropping continues after the farm is purchased, in order to pay for it. Retired at the time of the interview, he continues farming. Since he is a landowner and retired from off-farm employment, he has sharecroppers raise his tobacco. He reflects on the situation of minority farmers and the fewer number of them in the county, following a pattern which he considers to be widespread in the region. Mason describes himself as being the first minority person to be elected to the Board of Education in Scott County. He served there for a number of years. He briefly discusses the role of race in the School Board election, and states that he also served on the State Board of Education. He also talks about the impact of the construction of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, especially on the cost of land and on county services. He also discusses how being a small-time farmer has made it difficult to benefit from government farm programs.

Interview Keyword

African American experience in farming Almanacs Beef herd management Black farmers Farm labor Farming by the signs of the almanac Farmland Fewer minority farmers in Scott County Government programs Heritage farms Managing farm labor Off-farm employment Political life Preparing tobacco plant beds Price of farmland School administration Sharecropping and enterprise development Small-time farmers Tobacco production Tractors vs. horses in farming

Interview LC Subject

African American farmers African Americans Agriculture--Kentucky Agriculture Elections Family farms Scott County (Ky.) Sharecroppers Sharecropping Toyota Motor Manufacturing U.S.A.

Interview Rights

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.