The Arizona Cotton boom occurred during World War
I as a result of the development of Long Staple Egyptian Cotton. This type
of cotton was developed with the help of Charles
Henry Waterhouse and Estmer Hudson of the
United States Department of Agriculture. It yielded a greater tensile
strength which made it valuable as an industrial fabric. The boom was a
result its use in making wartime products such as making tires and other
heavy manufacturing items. Tire companies like Goodyear, Firestone, and
Dunlap relocated factories to Arizona to take advantage of the newly developed
crop. The town of Goodyear was established in 1917 by the tire company
specifically for establishing its factory and employees there. By 1920,
cotton was so valuable and yielded so much money that almost all other
crop productions from alfalfa to dairy were ceased in order to grow
cotton instead. However, after World War I many of the government contracts
for cotton dried up as there was no longer a need for it. The resulting
glut in the market resulted in the eventually end of the boom of cotton
in Arizona.
Websites
Western Cotton Growers Association
http://www.wga.com/
Arizona Agriculture Statistics
http://www.nass.usda.gov/az/
Charles Henry Waterhouse
http://www.tempe.gov/museum/ind1002.htm
Tempe Cotton Exchange
http://www.tempe.gov/museum/hps150.htm
Tempe Historical Museum Cotton Resources
http://www.tempe.gov/museum/th415.htm
African-American Cotton Picking in Arizona
http://www.azcentral.com/cultures/afroam/cotton_afro.html
Arizona Cotton Festival, Chandler Arizona
http://www.arizonacottonfestival.com
History of Cotton
http://kids.infoplease.lycos.com/ce6/sci/A0857609.html
Books/Manuscripts
American Egyptian long staple cotton in Arizona, by Waldo Berry Christy
HD9077
.A6 C4x
The Arizona cotton industry. by Arizona Cotton Growers Association.
HD9077
.A7 A7
History of extra-long staple cottons, by Joseph C. McGowan
SB249
.M29x
Arizona cotton : largest producer of American-Egyptian cotton
DEV
1.2:C 57/957
Arizona Cotton Growers Association Papers
FM
MSS 30
Estmer W. Hudson Collection
FM MSS 118
Cotton Industry of Arizona; 1916 & 1917
CM MSM-8
Long Staple Cotton In Arizona - How It Grows In the Salt River Valley,
1917
FE EPH NCO-3
Newsclippings Cotton-Industry 1911-1915
CE EPH N-83
Cotton in Salt River Valley of Arizona, C.1930
CE EPH NCO-12
The Handling and Marketing of the Arizona Egyptian Cotton of the Salt
Rive r Valley; 1915
CE EPH NCO-14
