Culture And Poverty

Abstract

Scholars have increasingly focused on the ideological motivations for national Progressive Era welfare policies by examining a few eastern or midwestern cities; relief efforts in rural communities and the American West have been largely overlooked. What shaped local Progressive Era relief policies was not new social welfare ideas but, rather, local circumstances-economies, settlement patterns, environmental conditions, religious beliefs, kinship ties, philanthropic practices, and local of�cials' decisions. Because these circumstances varied from county to county, stark differences appear when examining local relief practices. Who received aid, assistance levels, durations on relief, and types of aid varied considerably between two rural Colorado counties, Costilla and Lincoln. Local circumstances also affected attempts to transform annuities and rations on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation into a form of poor relief. The decentralized nature of America's welfare state allowed these dramatic differences in relief practices to become a de�ning element of the Progressive Era.