Editing Great Plains (section)

===Social life===
[[File:Grange1873.jpg|thumb|upright|Grange in session, 1873]]

The railroads opened up the Great Plains for settlement, making it possible to ship wheat and other crops at low cost to the urban markets in the East and overseas. Homestead land was free for American settlers. Railroads sold their land at cheap rates to immigrants in the expectation that they would generate traffic as soon as farms were established. Immigrants poured in, especially from Germany and Scandinavia. On the plains, very few single men attempted to operate a farm or ranch by themselves; they understood the need for a hard-working wife and numerous children to handle the many responsibilities.<ref>Deborah Fink, ''Agrarian Women: Wives and Mothers in Rural Nebraska, 1880–1940'' (1992).</ref> During the early years of settlement, farm women played an integral role in assuring family survival by working outdoors. After approximately one generation, women increasingly left the fields, thus redefining their roles within the family. New technology encouraged women to turn to domestic roles, including sewing and washing machines. Media and government extension agents promoted the "scientific housekeeping" movement, along with county fairs which featured achievements in home cookery and canning, advice columns for women regarding farm book keeping, and home economics courses in the schools.<ref>Chad Montrie, "'Men Alone Cannot Settle a Country:' Domesticating Nature in the Kansas-Nebraska Grasslands", ''Great Plains Quarterly'', Fall 2005, Vol. 25 Issue 4, pp. 245–258. [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/159 Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908070900/http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/159/ |date=September 8, 2014 }}</ref>

The eastern image of farm life in the prairies emphasized the isolation of the lonely farmer and wife, yet plains residents created busy social lives for themselves. They often sponsored activities which combined work, food, and entertainment, such as [[barn raising]]s, corn huskings, quilting bees,<ref>Karl Ronning, "Quilting in Webster County, Nebraska, 1880–1920", ''Uncoverings'', 1992, Vol. 13, pp. 169–191.</ref> [[The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry|Grange]] meetings, church activities and school functions. Women organized shared meals and potluck events, as well as extended visits among families.<ref>Nathan B. Sanderson, "More Than a Potluck", ''Nebraska History'', Fall 2008, Vol. 89 Issue 3, pp. 120–131.</ref>