Milo Reno was president of the Iowa Farmers' Union from 1921 to 1930 and the leader of the Farmers' Holiday Association, a populist organization established in 1932.
Background
Milo Reno was born on January 5, 1866, on a farm in Wapello County, Iowa, near the town of Agency, United States. He was the seventh son and twelfth of thirteen children of John and Elizabeth (Barrice) Reno. On his father's side, he was of French descent, on his mother's side mostly of German. His parents had moved to Iowa from Pennsylvania in 1855. His father had been a Granger, his mother a Greenbacker, and a Populist.
Education
Largely through the influence of his mother, Milo Reno got more schooling than the average farm boy of his day; Milo Reno attended the rural schools in his district, a Quaker academy, and Oskaloosa College in Iowa. Reno's mother had hoped that he would enter the ministry, and though he never did so, he studied theology at college.
Career
In the 1880s Milo Reno was an organizer for the farmer's Alliance. In 1918 he joined the Iowa farmer Union (IFU) and was elected Wapello County president in 1920. At the 1920 IFU convention, he was elected state secretary-treasurer and led the fight to amend the IFU constitution "to secure for the farming industry cost of production plus a reasonable profit."
In 1921 Milo Reno defeated IFU president T. A. Haugas after denouncing him for a lack of militancy in opposing the Farm Bureau. As IFU president during the 1920s, Reno worked to secure "the cost of production" for farmers, demanded the printing of currency to fund public works, opposed mandatory farm programs, and railed against the required military training at Iowa's state university and college.
In 1922 Milo Reno founded the Iowa farmer Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, serving as its president until his death. He also purchased the Livestock Commission in St. Paul, Minnesota, and started the IFU's cooperative store and credit union.
Milo Reno was a member of the Corn Belt Committee and campaigned hard for the McNary - Haugen farm bill passed twice by Congress but vetoed by President Coolidge. In 1928 he campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith, and after the election, he was bitterly critical of President Herbert Hoover and his Federal Farm Board. He retired as IFU president in 1930 but remained head of the insurance company and as de facto leader of the IFU.
In March 1931 Milo Reno formed the farmer Protective Association of Iowa to oppose tuberculosis testing of cattle by state veterinarians. After farmer and state officials clashed that spring, he worked out a short truce. But in September 1931 unruly farmer again drove off state testers in Cedar County. In the ensuing "Cow War," Governor Dan Turner mobilized 1,800 National Guardsmen and declared martial law in Cedar County and then in five nearby counties. After several arrests, things quieted down. Milo Reno and his followers claimed that they did not oppose the idea of tuberculin testing, only the mandatory procedures by state veterinarians.
In the 1932 presidential election, Milo Reno supported the Democratic candidate, Franklin D. Roosevelt. At the same time, he organized direct action to improve prices. In May 1932 he started the National farmer' Holiday Association (NFHA) and was elected its first president. He was already head of the Iowa farmer' Holiday Association. Both groups agitated for a "holiday" from buying or selling farm products in order to force prices above the cost of production.
In the winter of 1932-1933 Milo Reno and the Iowa farmer' Holiday Association had some success in halting farm foreclosures. Early in 1933, Governor Clyde Herring asked Iowa courts to stop sales until the legislature acted, and Iowa's superintendent of banking stopped banks from holding farm auctions. At the same time, the farmer' Holiday Association and the more radical United farmer held penny auctions and intimidated local officials. The kidnapping and mock lynching of Judge C. C. Bradley of Le Mars by farmer shocked public opinion and forced Milo Reno to denounce such measures, though he believed that the courts had failed to protect farm debtors.
Religion
Milo Reno retained an interest in the Bible and in religious discussions throughout his career as a farm organizer. According to his wife, the talks he gave were more in the nature of sermons than of speeches, though unfriendly observers contended that his abilities to quote Scripture and to swear were about equal.
Politics
Milo Reno preferred to agitate for marketing reform and to attack the Wall Street capitalists who, he believed, were converting the American farmers into peasants. He came by his radicalism honestly.
Views
Milo Reno did champion the seemingly conflicting ideas of individualism, collective action, and government regulation to aid farmers However, those beliefs and his lifelong fight against the "money power" came directly from the Populist tradition he grew up in.
Personality
Milo Reno was a spellbinding speaker and a colorful writer who quoted the Bible frequently. He fiddled at square dances, wore a large cowboy hat, and favored red ties. Milo Reno lectured, wrote articles for the radical farm papers, and spoke on the radio.
Quotes from others about the person
Reno's critics labeled him a semi-fascist malcontent.
Connections
While in college Milo Reno married Christine Good, who had come to Batavia, Iowa, from England. They had three children, of whom only one, a daughter Susan Ann, grew to maturity.
Father:
John Reno
Mother:
Elizabeth (Barrice) Reno
Spouse:
Christine Good
Daughter:
Susan Ann
References
Hudson, D., Bergman, M., & Horton, L. (Eds.) The biographical dictionary of Iowa