Photograph of a Group of Children and a Pile of Dead Rats
This is a photograph of several children in front of a pile of dead rats. In 1928 several counties in Arkansas were plagued by a rat infestation, resulting in heavy losses for area farmers and businesses. The rodents caused great damage to buildings storing grain and ruined entire fields of crops such as corn. Because of the cost of destruction the County Extension Services worked with local organizations, school boards, and individuals to initiate rat killing campaigns. The most successful rat killing campaigns were those that enlisted the help of school children. In Miller County, the Chamber of Commerce backed the campaign by providing prizes for participants. The first place prizes in each category included: $50.00 in books for the schools, a Winchester Repeatin’ Rifle worth $22.50 for the boys, and a $25.00 wrist watch for the girls. The narrative report states, “The rats were killed by any method, their tails cut off and carried to school where the teachers counted them and reported to us each week the totals received.” In this photograph, the boys proudly show off their pile of dead rats which were killed with the help of their dogs. The Miller County school rat killing campaign lasted six weeks and a total of 50 schools and 649 children participated. The Extension Agent reported that the campaign was a success with an astounding 95,849 rats killed!
Photograph of children in Arkansas with a pile of dead rats, dated 1928. National Archives Identifier: 6017955
View and download the Photograph of a Group of Children and a Pile of Dead Rats on the National Archives Catalog. You can explore more of our holdings by visiting our online Catalog or by visiting the National Archives at Fort Worth. This record is located within Record Group 33: Records of the Extension Service, Series: Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports, 1911–1966. Many of the records in this collection have yet to be digitized. We encourage researchers to visit us onsite to explore these records and learn more about the archival collections held in the National Archives at Fort Worth.