Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Cumberland Homesteads was one of the first and most ambitious New Deal projects. The goal was to create a self-sufficient community where destitute families would have the chance to own their own farms and homes. The cooperative experiment failed to reach some of its goals but the Homesteads community survived, with most of the original homes still in use today.
▬▬ Chapters ▬▬
00:00 - The Promise of the Cumberland Homesteads
00:03:01 - Dreams of a Better Life in the Great Depression
00:06:02 - The Struggles and Sacrifices of Building Community
00:09:03 - When the Coal Ran Out: A Community Faces Collapse
00:12:03 - Surviving National Hardship and Economic Shifts
00:15:04 - Lasting Legacy: Families Who Stayed and Thrived
00:18:04 - How the Homesteads Shape Our American Story Today
▬▬ About The Citizenship Project ▬▬
In school, we are taught that the slaves were freed after the Civil War and were made full citizens of the U.S. We’re also taught that citizenship involves certain rights and duties, such as the right to vote, to hold elected office, to work, to own property, to have equal protection under the law and to have a trial by a jury of your peers, and that the duties of citizenship include following the law, paying taxes and serving in the military. The reality for many citizens is that the rights of citizenship are not automatically granted without a fight, and that battle that can take decades or more. The history of our country for the one hundred years after the Civil War and into the 20th century holds many of these battles, the stories of which are largely unknown. Nashville PBS is telling these stories through The Citizenship Project.
► Find out more about NPT's The Citizenship Project: wnpt.org/citizenship-project
▬▬ We ❤️ Being Your Nashville PBS ▬▬
Whatever you call us—WDCN, Channel 8, WNPT, NPT or Nashville Public Television—we love being your Nashville PBS.
► Subscribe to Nashville PBS's channel: wnpt.tv/yt-subscribe
► Watch more videos from Nashville PBS: @nashvillepbs
▬▬ About Nashville PBS ▬▬
Nashville PBS, formally known as NPT - Nashville Public Television, is Middle Tennessee’s & Southern Kentucky’s local PBS station.
Nashville PBS provides, through the power of traditional television and interactive digital communications, quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve.
Nashville PBS, WNPT, is Nashville's independent nonprofit PBS station, is operated by licensee Nashville Public Television, Inc.
► Learn more about Nashville PBS: wnpt.org
► Donate: wnpt.org/donate
Cumberland Homesteads was one of the first and most ambitious New Deal projects. The goal was to create a self-sufficient community where destitute families would have the chance to own their own farms and homes. The cooperative experiment failed to reach some of its goals but the Homesteads community survived, with most of the original homes still in use today.
▬▬ Chapters ▬▬
00:00 - The Promise of the Cumberland Homesteads
00:03:01 - Dreams of a Better Life in the Great Depression
00:06:02 - The Struggles and Sacrifices of Building Community
00:09:03 - When the Coal Ran Out: A Community Faces Collapse
00:12:03 - Surviving National Hardship and Economic Shifts
00:15:04 - Lasting Legacy: Families Who Stayed and Thrived
00:18:04 - How the Homesteads Shape Our American Story Today
▬▬ About The Citizenship Project ▬▬
In school, we are taught that the slaves were freed after the Civil War and were made full citizens of the U.S. We’re also taught that citizenship involves certain rights and duties, such as the right to vote, to hold elected office, to work, to own property, to have equal protection under the law and to have a trial by a jury of your peers, and that the duties of citizenship include following the law, paying taxes and serving in the military. The reality for many citizens is that the rights of citizenship are not automatically granted without a fight, and that battle that can take decades or more. The history of our country for the one hundred years after the Civil War and into the 20th century holds many of these battles, the stories of which are largely unknown. Nashville PBS is telling these stories through The Citizenship Project.
► Find out more about NPT's The Citizenship Project: wnpt.org/citizenship-project
▬▬ We ❤️ Being Your Nashville PBS ▬▬
Whatever you call us—WDCN, Channel 8, WNPT, NPT or Nashville Public Television—we love being your Nashville PBS.
► Subscribe to Nashville PBS's channel: wnpt.tv/yt-subscribe
► Watch more videos from Nashville PBS: @nashvillepbs
▬▬ About Nashville PBS ▬▬
Nashville PBS, formally known as NPT - Nashville Public Television, is Middle Tennessee’s & Southern Kentucky’s local PBS station.
Nashville PBS provides, through the power of traditional television and interactive digital communications, quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve.
Nashville PBS, WNPT, is Nashville's independent nonprofit PBS station, is operated by licensee Nashville Public Television, Inc.
► Learn more about Nashville PBS: wnpt.org
► Donate: wnpt.org/donate
