Ned Cobb facts for kids

Ned Cobb (also known as Nate Shaw) (1885–1973) was an African-American tenant farmer born in Tallapoosa County in Alabama. He joined the Sharecroppers' Union (SCU) in 1931, which was founded the same year.

Ned Cobb's Life Story

Ned Cobb was one of many children. His father had been enslaved and faced many challenges. Ned decided to leave home at age 19 to start his own life. Around the same time, he got married and began his own family.

Early Life and Becoming a Farmer

Ned started working as a sharecropper. This meant he farmed land owned by someone else and paid them with a share of his crops. He worked very hard. Ned wanted to own his own crops and land, and he eventually did. He focused on growing cotton.

Fighting for Fairness

In 1931, Ned joined the Alabama Sharecroppers' Union. This group was formed to help black farmers get fair treatment. Ned was determined not to let unfair rules control his life. He fought against the way tenant farmers were treated. He kept working to improve his life and help others.

Challenges and Successes

In December 1932, a sheriff tried to take the home and animals of one of Ned's friends. Ned stood up for his friend. He was injured and arrested during a conflict. Ned was sentenced to thirteen years in jail. He was offered a chance to leave jail early if he gave up his farm and moved away. But Ned refused. He served his full sentence and returned to his farm in 1945.

Life was very hard for farmers, especially during the Great Depression. The price of cotton went up and down a lot. Many landowners took advantage of farmers to make up for their own money problems. They would take farmers' property.

Ned Cobb became well-known for his strength and success. He managed to keep his farm even when natural problems like the boll weevil (a pest that destroys cotton) and falling cotton prices made farming difficult. He was proud to provide his grown sons with mules and other tools for their own farms.

Ned became one of the most successful black farmers in his area, even with the Jim Crow laws that separated black and white people. He eventually owned his own mules, a truck, and a car, all paid for. His house even had electricity and plumbing. These things were rare for many black people and poor white farmers nearby. Even though he couldn't read or write, Ned was very smart. He found new ways to farm and avoided the common problem of debt and poverty.

A Voice for History

In 1969, a man named Theodore Rosengarten came to Alabama. He wanted to find and talk to people who were part of the Sharecroppers' Union. When Rosengarten interviewed Ned Cobb, Ned shared many memories. Their talks became a book called All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw. This book tells the story of a black tenant farmer growing cotton in Alabama during the Jim Crow era.

His Lasting Impact

Ned Cobb's life story was published in the book All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw. It was told to Theodore Rosengarten. Rosengarten and the book won the 1975 U.S. National Book Award in the Contemporary Affairs category. This award showed how important Ned's story was.