Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2026
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
First Advisor
Molly P. Rozum
Abstract
“A Poor Man’s Cup” explores how Nebraskans actively confronted the problems of the late nineteenth-century through experimenting with new commodities. Prolonged severe drought, economic depression, and poor grain prices created a troublesome situation that grew in complexity as U.S. markets expanded globally and agriculture underwent professionalization. Some lay farmers, like Gabriel and Philomena Bazelman of Holt County, did not wait for new methods to find their way through the experiment station system and instead conducted trials themselves. Through piecing together the story of Nebraska chicory production with periodicals from the 1890s, experiment station bulletins, and Congressional reports, this thesis demonstrates how the development of a new commodity required support at the local, state, and national levels and how the process created a dialogue between agriculturalists. The first chapter explores the environmental limitations of the Great Plains and how agriculturalists sought out new crops that grew and were profitable in the challenging landscape. Nebraskans placed successful commodities on a pedestal and used them to promote the state to settlers. Chapter two examines the women-led conversations concerning the safety of consuming chicory and how their methods of testing and confronting adulteration served as the backbone of Nebraska food regulation before the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and promoted the consumption of local products. Chapter three places Nebraska chicory into its larger international history and highlights how protective tariffs passed only after the import-competitive industry was established. Unlike other parts of the country, chicory in Nebraska did not experience the same boost from the 1897 Dingley Tariff due to the strain dry weather and economic problems had on the chicory companies in the state. Chicory may not have become Nebraska’s staple crop, but it did provide a sense of hope for settlers struggling to remain on their claims.
Subject Categories
History | Social History | United States History
Keywords
nineteenth-century history, chicory, Nebraska
Number of Pages
126
Publisher
University of South Dakota
Recommended Citation
Hupp, Rebecca, "A Poor Man's Cup: Chicory Experimentation in Nebraska,1890-1900" (2026). Dissertations and Theses. 413.
https://red.library.usd.edu/diss-thesis/413