This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student documentary initiative, called "Stories: Yes." The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.
Filmed and created by Buffalo Island Central High School, EAST Students, in conjunction with the Buffalo Island Museum, Arkansas.
Arkansas residents Rudy and Doodle explain what it was like to use a breaking plow that's on display in the Buffalo Island Museum in Arkansas. This story is connected to Buffalo Island Central EAST's online story map From Swamp to Farmland and interactive exhibits at the Buffalo Island Museum, which both trace the the history of agriculture in the area. Within the exhibition, the photo was connected to an augmented reality experience that brought the object to life. To see it, search for this story on www.museumonmainstreet.org.
Doodle (00:06): It's a breaking plow. You hook a team of mules to it. And you grab this right here and you start plowing it. And that's a small one.
Doodle (00:16): All I could ever break was about two and a half, maybe three acres. But a lot of people could break more. I couldn't. That's about all you could do on one of them. If you could break two and a half or three acres a day, that's all you could get. And that would be a long day, too.
Doodle (00:36): And back when Rudy and I was growing up, there was still a lot of stumps in the field, roots. And that'd hit a root and cut it two and it'd fly back, hit you on the shin. Do you remember anything like that?
Rudy (00:48): Yeah.
Doodle (00:48): That old mule would be pulling, you'd have lines around your waist. And to stop you'd go over the breaking plow. But, that was way of life back then, we didn't know any different. We had a lot of fun doing it. But you was tired at night.
Asset ID: 2018.20.08
