Merle Hansen - Later Years

Later Years

In 1990, he largely retired from active involvement in politics, with the notable exception of his endorsement and support of Ralph Nader in the 2000 Presidential election . Hansen joined 51 other family farmer and rural activists in forming 'Family Farmers’ National Alliance for Nader\LaDuke'.

From the 1930s to the 1980s, he was involved with most of the nation's major farm protest organizations, often taking leadership roles. He was a strong and consistent advocate of parity price indexing of agricultural commodities, and often encouraged family farmers to align themselves with other marginalized constituencies in American life. An oral history of Hansen's involvement in farm protest movements is available in Coming of Age: The Story of Our Century by Those Who’ve Lived It by Studs Terkel. Hansen's files and records were donated to Iowa State University. The manuscript collection available at ISU in Ames includes his speeches and writings, the organizational archives of the many organizations he was involved with, and exchanges of letters with dozens of correspondents. Some of his records were also sent to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, including most of his records relating to Nebraskans for Peace and the American Veterans Committee.