Progress 01/01/07 to 09/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project was designed as a seed effort to establish a basis for future competitive grants. Two additional research proposals have been submitted, including one national competitive grant application still under review. Other outputs from this project include production of one Experiment Station Bulletin, a peer reviewed journal article, a series of conference papers, and an Extension System publication now in its third printing with over 20,000 copies in print. In addition, a train the trainer workshop was organized for Extension personnel that in turn led to 37 county level workshops being held with approximately 900 residents in attendance. Further, a website dedicated to addressing issues of heir property has been developed and is being used both as a mechanism of information dissemination and to provide points of contact for additional information. PARTICIPANTS: Conner Bailey and Janice F. Dyer TARGET AUDIENCES: Extension Specialists and County Agents of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Owners of heir property. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Work on this project has generated increased understanding of the importance of heir property, which is the term used to describe real property (land, houses, or other improvements to property) owned collectively by heirs of an individual who died without a will. Among rural African Americans, it is common for several generations to pass without use of a will. The result is that property may be held in various shares by a score or more of individuals who live in multiple states. This has the effect of reducing the economic value of the property in terms of collateral for loans, including conventional mortgages. Heir property also contributes to problems of land loss among African Americans. However, heir property also reflects certain cultural values that are important in the setting of rural poverty. In particular, any person who owns a share of a piece of property can live there, so that heir property provides a form of sanctuary, a place to call home. Led by a Research Associate working under my direction, our work on this subject has helped created a more nuanced understanding of this phenomenon. At the same time, work on this project has led to collaboration between researchers, the Extension System, and a non-profit legal firm which has helped mobilize pro bono legal assistance for heir property owners.
Publications
- Dyer, Janice F. Forthcoming. Statutory Impacts of Heir Property: An Examination of Appellate and Macon County Court Cases. In Facing Global Crisis: Local Solutions to Energy, Food and Persistent Poverty. Proceedings of the 2008 Professional Agricultural Workers Conference, Tuskegee, Alabama. December 7-9, 2008. Bliss, John,, Erin Kelly, Jesse Abrahms, and Conner Bailey. 2008. Disintegration of the Industrial Forest Estate and the Future of Small-Scale Forestry in the United States. Working Paper Number RSP 08-02. Corvallis, OR: Rural Studies Program, Oregon State University. Dyer, Janice F. and Conner Bailey. 2008. A Place to Call Home: Cultural Understandings of Heir Property among Rural African Americans. Rural Sociology 73(3):317-338. Dyer, Janice Frew. 2007. Heir Property: Legal and Cultural Dimensions of Collective Landownership in Alabama's Black Belt. M.S. Thesis, Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Sociology, Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology, Auburn University. May 2007. Dyer, Janice. 2007. Heir Property: Legal and Cultural Dimensions of Collective Ownership. Bulletin 667, May 2007. Auburn: Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. Dyer, Janice and Patrick Kennealy. 2007. Heir Property in Alabama. HE-852. Auburn, AL: Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Based on research on heir property and realization that this issue is both important and underappreciated in significance, a workshop for Alabama Cooperative Extension System personnel was organized in Fall 2007. A research bulletin and an Extension publication were produced and distributed at this meeting. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has followed up by holding additional workshops around the state and nearly 6,000 Extension publications produced by this project have been distributed. The research bulletin has been published both in print and in web versions and so is widely available. In addition, a website dedicated to addressing issues of heir property has been developed and is being used both as a mechanism of information dissemination and to provide points of contact for additional information.
PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Conner Bailey, Ms. Janice Dyer, Mr. Patrick Kennealy
TARGET AUDIENCES: Professional staff of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, non-governmental organizations working with rural African Americans including the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and the Central Alabama Fair Housing Center, and with rural people in Alabama and throughout the South who are interested in the issue of heir property.
PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: In year 2 of this project a new research objective was added to try to document the areal extent of heir property in Alabama.
Impacts
Success achieve based on the first 9 months of this project led to an extension for a second year combining both research and Extension components. Our work has generated increased understanding of the importance of heir property, which is the term used to real property (land, houses, or other improvements to property) that are owned by heirs of an individual who died without a will. Among rural African Americans, it is common for several generations to pass without use of a will. The result is that property may be held in various shares by a score or more of individuals who live in multiple states. This has the effect of reducing the economic value of the property in terms of collateral for loans, including conventional mortgages. Heir property also contributes to problems of land loss among African Americans. However, heir property also reflects certain cultural values that are important in the setting of rural poverty. In particular, any person who owns a share of a
piece of property can live there, so that heir property provides a form of sanctuary, a place to call home.
Publications
- Dyer, Janice. 2007. Heir Property: Legal and Cultural Dimensions of Collective Landownership in Alabama's Black Belt. M.S. Thesis, Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Sociology, Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology, Auburn University. May 2007.
- Dyer, Janice. 2007. Heir Property: Legal and Cultural Dimensions of Collective Ownership. Bulletin 667, May 2007. Auburn: Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station.
- Dyer, Janice and Patrick Kennealy. 2007. Hier Property in Alabama. HE-852. Auburn, AL: Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
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