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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 242/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida

cone at Bennett’s Drug Store cost only a nickel, and a man’s
Marlboro shirt at Gelberg and Stein was priced at 77<?.2
By 1932 the nation’s fortunes were at a low point. Even though
President Hoover was personally opposed to federal funds for
relief programs such measures were underway. Early in 1932
Congress created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which
was empowered to provide emergency loans to financial institu­
tions. In July 1932, the RFC was authorized to grant funds to state
and local agencies for public works projects. Additional assistance
was provided by the American Red Cross. In April 1932, the Lake
City Reporter announced that ninety-eight barrels of flour fur­
nished by the United States Farm Board had been sent to Lake
City for the county’s poor. The flour was stored and packaged
without charge by the Hackney Grocery Company while the Elks
Lodge made arrangements for distribution. In order to help as
many of the needy as possible, families were limited to one twenty-
four pound bag every two weeks.3
When Franklin D. Roosevelt became President in March 1933,
federal relief programs under the New Deal were increased. The
first New Deal agency operating in Florida was the Civilian
Conservation Corps. (CCC). In August 1933, the CCC organized a
re-forestation unit in the Osceola National Forest.4 A most im­
portant program was the Federal Emergency Relief Admini­
stration (FERA) headed by Harry L. Hopkins. Some FERA funds
were outright grants by the federal government and others re­
quired matching state funds. Because Florida’s economy was so
precarious, Governor Sholtz convinced Hopkins to grant FERA
money to the state without state matching funds.5 By the end of

2Lake City Reporter, April 22, 1932.
2Lake City Reporter, April 23, 1932.
4Tebeau, History of Florida, p. 402.
5Shofner, History of Jefferson County, p. 528.

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