Alice Lucille Stone Davis Interview

              Dr. Radke- Moss Women‟ s Oral History Collection
Alice Lucille Stone Davis
By Alice Davis
January 3, 2008
Box 5 Folder 8
Oral Interview conducted by Alissa Davis
Transcript copied by Alissa Davis Jan 2008
Brigham Young University- Idaho
2
This is an interview with Alice Davis on January 3, 2008, in Saint Anthony, Idaho.
Alissa Davis: Okay. What is your full name, including your maiden name?
Alice Stone Davis: Alice Lucille Stone Davis.
AD: How old are you?
ASD: Eighty- one.
AD: Where and when were you born?
ASD: I was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, in a Catholic hospital.
AD: What day were you born?
ASD: June 28, 1926.
AD: What is your religious affiliation?
ASD: I was a Presbyterian, „ til I married that Mormon, which I was never gonna do. My husband had to have two qualifications: be a good Republican and not a Mormon.
AD: Really?
ASD: Yeah, Emery was a good Republican, but he was a Mormon. So I slipped up there.
AD: Oh dear. Okay. Who were your mother and father?
ASD: My mother was Mary Elizabeth Naley and my father was Halman Guy Stone II.
AD: And did your mother die in childbirth?
ASD: She died about a month after I was born.
AD: Was it from childbirth complications?
ASD: I think so. And then she had summer pneumonia‟ s what they called it, but she had asthma quite bad, and so I think that added to it, also.
AD: So when did your father remarry?
ASD: He married in May 1928, he remarried.
AD: What did your father do for a living?
3
ASD: He was a carpenter.
AD: And your stepmother raised you then?
ASD: Yes.
AD: And what was she like?
ASD: She was a good mother.
AD: Did she work outside of the home at all?
ASD: Yeah, she worked. They had these seedhouses over town here, and she worked in one of them in the wintertime. A lot of the women worked in the seedhouses in the wintertime because at that time the men that were carpenters and done those kind of work and what not that they weren‟ t, they didn‟ t work in the wintertime then.
AD: What was your father like?
ASD: He was funny.
AD: Really?
ASD: He was a tease. And he was a hardworker. But he had a little problem, but, oh, I won‟ t go into that.
AD: You won‟ t go into that? Okay.
ASD: Oh, he just liked to have a drink of whiskey every once in a while.
AD: Oh. Do you remember any particular stories about them that you‟ d like to share?
ASD: Any what?
AD: Any stories about them that you‟ d like to share?
ASD: Well, my dad was quite the tease. And when he‟ d come in at night, he‟ d come in the back door of the house, and if momma‟ d be at the sink a doin‟, getting stuff ready for supper, why, he‟ d always pat her on the behinder like that, and she‟ d say “ Guy!” I can still hear her, “ Guy!” She tried to kick at him and he‟ d smile and go on through the house and she‟ d smile, too. I think it was just their way.
AD: Of showing affection?
ASD: Of showing affection, yep.
4
AD: How did your parents influence you?
ASD: Well, my dad taught me always to be honest. That was the main thing. He did not even allow cheating in school. You done it on your own. And you were honest. And when I was old enough to go to work he said, “ You give them people a good day‟ s work for your wage.” That‟ s what he was and momma was that way also.
AD: Did you know your grandparents at all?
ASD: No. The only grandparent I knew was mama‟ s father, and that was Grandpa Nimo. But that was my step- grandpa, and he died when I was about ten, so that was the only grandparent that I had.
AD: How many brothers and sisters did you have?
ASD: There was 1, 2, 3, 4… there was four brothers, and three sisters.
AD: And you were the youngest?
ASD: And I was the youngest.
AD: What were their names and how old were they?
ASD: Perry was seventeen and Genie, the sister, had passed away when she was about nine or ten months old. I think she had asthma like mother. And then Howard was… Perry was seventeen, Genie was fifteen, Howard was thirteen, and it just went on. And if Howard was thirteen, then Halman was eleven, and Connie was nine, and Iva May was seven, and Jack was five. And I was the youngest.
AD: You grew up in Saint Anthony, right?
ASD: Right.
AD: Okay. What was Saint Anthony like when you were growing up?
ASD: Well, when I was growin‟ up, why you could ride all over Saint Anthony on your bicycle. Everybody took care of ya. Everybody watched over ya, you know. I couldn‟ t have done anything wrong. My dad would‟ ve found it out before I ever got home.
AD: Did you ever get in trouble with your dad?
ASD: No.
AD: No?
ASD: No. I knew better. 5
AD: Did any of your brothers ever get in trouble?
ASD: Yeah, the boys got in trouble once in a while with dad. They got a spankin‟. He had a willow he‟ d use on „ em.
AD: How was Saint Anthony different back then than it is today?
ASD: Well, there were more businesses in Saint Anthony than there are now. And it just seemed like everybody knew everybody. It was just a small town and everybody knew ya, and everybody was concerned about everybody else. It was just a nice town to grow up in.
AD: What caused all the businesses to leave, do you know?
ASD: Well, I think it was the Depression. Because when my father and his dad had a meat market, and they had, they closed it because they had to close because there were so many people that owed them money. They had given them credit and they didn‟ t have money to pay „ em. And there were several businesses that had done that.
AD: Was the weather any different back then than it is now?
ASD: Oh, I don‟ t think too much difference.
AD: Was there more snow back then?
ASD: Sometimes more snow. Some winters you‟ d have more snow and some not. I remember when I was workin‟ at the telephone office, and we had a bad winter that winter. And oh, it just blew and blew and blew. And there was one of the fellows that lived in our neighborhood that walked. And so I‟ d wait until after he went to work and then I‟ d try to step in his footsteps, and you know, his trail.
AD: So you didn‟ t have to go in the snow?
ASD: So I didn‟ t have to make it. And I told him one time, I said, “ Bud, don‟ t take such long steps.”
AD: What did you do for fun when you were small?
ASD: Oh, we played on, we played, we ice skated up and down the canal. And we played in the snow. We had snow banks that we played in and we done a lot of swimming in the canal.
AD: What kinds of toys did you play with?
ASD: I don‟ t remember. 6
AD: You don‟ t remember? Did you have dolls or anything?
ASD: Yeah, I had dolls and I had paper dolls.
AD: What kind of games did you play? Did you play „ No Bears Are Out Tonight?‟
ASD: We used to. There was an art light right there by our place and the whole neighborhood‟ d get out there and play at night. And we‟ d play all kinds of games, you know, that you play under the light, and then all at once you‟ d hear a whistle and one of the kids would say, “ That‟ s my dad, I‟ d better get for home.” And then you‟ d hear another whistle and another bunch of kids‟ d say, “ That‟ s our dad, we‟ d better go home.” And that‟ s how the kids all knew their own dad‟ s whistle and away they went. Saved the mothers from goin‟ out and screechin‟.
AD: Did you have any pets when you were little?
ASD: We had dogs. Jack, my brother, Jack had a dog that pulled the sleigh and pulled the wagon. And he‟ d put me on the sleigh and the dog would pull me for a sleigh ride in the wintertime and then in the summertime we had a wagon.
AD: Did you ride horses much when you were little?
ASD: No, ma‟ am.
AD: But yet you married someone who…
ASD: Oh, yes. I‟ m tellin‟ you there wasn‟ t anyone who looked more handsome on a horse than that husband of mine. I‟ m tellin‟ you, he just sat up so straight, and he was just, it was just beautiful seein‟ him ride a horse. And the kids‟ d look out the window and say, “ Look at Daddy!”
AD: What were your chores you had to do around the house?
ASD: Oh we had to do all kinds of chores as we got older. And I can remember at cannin‟, at the time when we were canning the vegetables and that, why, momma would always warsh the bottles, you know, before she put „ em away, but I had to warsh „ em again and she said, “ Well, you‟ ve got smaller hands so you can wash them inside and out.” And so I remember I had a little stool, and I stood on it over by the dishpan and warshed the bottles so and we never had a bottle spoil either, of any canned food. Mama was so fussy about it.
AD: What was your least favorite chore?
ASD: I don‟ t know.
7
AD: You didn‟ t have anything you absolutely hated to do?
ASD: No. Not really.
AD: Was there something that you really liked to do?
ASD: I liked to pick raspberries with my dad. Dad, he‟ d pick raspberries and we‟ d visit while I was a pickin‟ raspberries.
AD: Did you get more in your mouth or in the bowl?
ASD: I probably got more in my mouth than I did in the… and I remember one time I said to dad I was lookin‟ at it and I said, “ Daddy, you‟ ve got a lot more than I have.” And he said, “ Well, all I can say to that is everyone that you pick is one that I don‟ t have to.”
AD: How old were you when you began to work outside of the home?
ASD: I was about sixteen. I used to go clean the ladies‟, over town, houses. The uptown ladies as we called „ em.
AD: And that was your first job?
ASD: Was to go cleanin‟ houses and what was mostly washin‟ windows and things like that.
AD: How much did you get paid?
ASD: Oh gads, probably about fifty cents a day. I don‟ t imagine much more than that.
AD: What was your house like?
ASD: Our house was a little house. And there was a kitchen, a bathroom, and three bedrooms in it, and then there was kind of a living room area.
AD: How was it heated?
ASD: With the old wood stove and the coal.
AD: Did you have running water?
ASD: Yes, we had running water in the house.
AD: Did you just cook your food over the old wood stove?
ASD: Yeah, it was one of those old kitchen stoves and that‟ s what we cooked on, and then when I got older and I started to workin‟ why I bought one of those stoves that was a 8
kitchen, it was a wood and electric stove. And then in the summertime mama could just use the electric side of it so it wouldn‟ t heat up the house so much.
AD: Do remember how much a stove like that cost?
ASD: I think I paid about… I paid for it on time. I bought it from Calvin‟ s furniture store. And I think I paid about three hundred dollars. And I paid for it on time. I‟ d go pay him every month so much, but I can‟ t remember.
AD: What was your favorite food as a child?
ASD: Anything chocolate.
AD: Anything chocolate? How were your clothes washed and dried?
ASD: We had the old conventional washing machine and clothesline. Hung „ em out on the clothesline in the summertime and then we had a clothesline out on the back porch in the wintertime.
AD: So you didn‟ t have to use the ringer or anything?
ASD: Oh yeah, you used the conventional washing machine and it had a ringer, and then you rinsed „ em, and then you turned your ringer around and rung „ em through that into your clothesbasket. It was kind of interesting.
AD: Did it take a long time to wash clothes that way?
ASD: Oh, it‟ d take you two or three hours. It depended on, you know, how big a warshin‟ you had to do that week.
AD: Did you have an outhouse?
ASD: I threw rocks at the outhouse one time. I thought my brother Halman was in there and I was pitchin‟ rocks for all I was worth. I was about eight or nine years old and out come Daddy.
AD: Oh no.
ASD: He said, “ What are you doin‟?” And I said, “ Oh, Daddy, I thought that was Halman!”
AD: What role did religion play in your life as a child?
ASD: Not much, because I didn‟ t go. I started going to the Presbyterian church when I was about seven years old and I‟ d walk over town. And I‟ d walk past that big ol‟ tabernacle and all the Mormons were going there and I had a girlfriend that wasn‟ t LDS 9
and we‟ d walk on the other side of the street so we wouldn‟ t get near them Mormons. You can‟ t put that in your archives, I don‟ t think.
AD: Where did you go to school at?
ASD: I went to school at Lincoln School and then it was South Fremont High School.
AD: How did you get to school?
ASD: Walked.
AD: You walked? How far was it?
ASD: It was about a mile.
AD: Wow. So even in the winter?
ASD: Even in the winter.
AD: What was school like?
ASD: We went the first six years; we were with the same teacher all day long, the first six grades. And then when we went over town to the junior high, why then we started going to different classes.
AD: What were your favorite subjects?
ASD: I always liked history and geography. I did not like mathematics.
AD: I don‟ t blame you. Did you wear pants or a dress?
ASD: We wore dresses them days. Yeah, they wouldn‟ t let you wear pants.
AD: Are you glad that you can wear pants now?
ASD: Yes, „ cuz it was cold. My sister Julia had a pair of snowpants and she said, “ You better wear them.” And then I‟ d wear them over, you know, and have my dress tucked in under „ em. But that kept my legs from freezin‟ off „ cuz I can remember when some of the kids from down on the island, and those people down on the island at that time were even worse off than what we were that lived on the south side, and I can remember I used to help Miss Birch, well, all of us girls would help Miss Birch get those little kids that would come down from the island. And they didn‟ t, we‟ d get „ em and warm their hands up, you know, and make sure we didn‟ t hurt „ em, „ cuz we had to be really careful, „ cuz they would just cry and cry because their little hands would be cold and everything. It was sad.
10
AD: Who were your favorite teachers, do you remember?
ASD: Miss Jones, and I had a teacher, Miss Birch, and Miss Stone. We had a red- headed one named Miss McDonald, and she was a good teacher. Yeah.
AD: Why did you like them so much?
ASD: Well, they were just good teachers. They didn‟ t holler at the kids or anything like that. We had one teacher that would tell the kids if the didn‟ t know something she was gonna knock their head off, knock their head up to a peak and knock the peak off. And boy, you knew she meant business, so when you got into her grade you minded your manners.
AD: Who were your least favorite teachers?
ASD: I didn‟ t have any teachers that I didn‟ t like.
AD: Really?
ASD: I liked school.
AD: How did teachers make students behave?
ASD: How what?
AD: How did teachers make students behave? How did they discipline them?
ASD: Well, sometimes when I was younger they‟ d wait until Mr. Wilson would come over and the boys especially, they‟ d have to go down into where the furnace was and Mr. Wilson would take care of them. I don‟ t know whether he had a paddle or whatever he done, spanked them or what, but the girls never had to go see Mr. Wilson very often. The girls were always so good. We were.
AD: You were good?
ASD: All of us.
AD: Did teachers ever hit students‟ hands with rulers or anything like that?
ASD: Oh, yes.
AD: Did you ever get into trouble at school?
ASD: No. „ Cuz if I got in trouble at school, what I got at school was mild compared to what Daddy would spank me. He didn‟ t believe in that kind, he just didn‟ t believe in that 11
stuff. You went to school and you respected the teachers and your elders and everything like that. Daddy was a firm believer of that.
AD: How were holidays celebrated at school?
ASD: We had Christmas plays and we had Easter plays, programs I mean, and then we would have a party in our classroom and exchange gifts if, you know, we wanted to or if we could, but I can‟ t remember whether we exchanged gifts or not.
AD: Do you remember any funny stories or pranks that happened at school?
ASD: Nope.
AD: How did your family celebrate Christmas?
ASD: We had a Christmas tree and the usual way, but not as expensive as some because we didn‟ t have that much money. But there was always presents and I can remember Daddy one time gave me I think a quarter or fifty cents. Is somebody comin‟?
AD: No, I‟ m just checking.
ASD: I can‟ t remember whether it was a quarter or… a quarter I think it was and I went to town, it was to get something for Mother‟ s Day and I would always get something for Aunt Iva, who had had me for awhile and my stepmama. And I‟ d go buy „ em a hankie and a card, each one of „ em, with a quarter.
AD: With a quarter?
ASD: I think so. I think so.
AD: A quarter could buy a lot back then.
ASD: You bet.
AD: What was your relationship with your siblings like?
ASD: Well they all said I was spoiled rotten because I was the baby. But Jack, and Jack, I was five years younger than Jack, so, and but my sisters and my stepsister were, took real good care of me. They were really good to me. Julia was my stepsister and Iva May and Connie, and they took care of me.
AD: Did they attend a Catholic school?
ASD: My sisters, my own sisters Iva May and Connie were in a Catholic convent after mother died until my Dad remarried and that was for two years.
12
AD: Where was the convent located?
ASD: It was in Pocatello. I don‟ t think I hardly ever knew them until…
AD: Until your dad remarried?
ASD: Mm- hm.
AD: What did you do for fun as a teenager?
ASD: Got into trouble. Oh, we just had, you know, we just done the usual things. We liked to go to movies and in the wintertime we‟ d go ice skating and skiing down the canal. And in the summertime we‟ d go swimming.
AD: Did you ever go to dance halls?
ASD: No, I didn‟ t dance.
AD: But you went to movies right?
ASD: Mm- hm.
AD: Who was your favorite movie star?
ASD: Tyronne Powers and Clark Gable.
AD: Do you remember the first movie you went to see?
ASD: I think my cousin Helen took me and I can‟ t remember what it was. I think it was Alexander‟ s Ragtime Band. I think so.
AD: Do you remember how much it cost?
ASD: Probably ten cents or fifteen cents.
AD: What was high school like for you?
ASD: I liked high school and I liked my teachers. And I liked Coach Harding „ cuz I could walk to school with him and he‟ d visit with me and I could talk to him and he was kind of like a counselor I suppose, to all the kids.
AD: What did he coach?
ASD: Football and boxing.
AD: You had boxing back then? 13
ASD: Yeah, my brother Jack boxed. He was quite the little boxer, too.
AD: Did Coach Harding teach you any subjects?
ASD: Yes, he taught government.
AD: Were you involved in any extracurricular activities?
ASD: No, I couldn‟ t afford it.
AD: Were you ever involved in band?
ASD: Oh yeah, I played the trumpet.
AD: You played the trumpet?
ASD: Mm- hm.
AD: But you never did sports or cheerleading?
ASD: Well, I played some sports but not to go to other schools and that to play. We just played intramural sports.
AD: What sports did you play?
ASD: Basketball. Baseball.
AD: Were you ever involved in drama or plays?
ASD: Yeah, I did some drama and plays. My dad would always come. Dad and Mama would always come to see me in anything extra I was in at school. So they weren‟ t bad parents.
AD: What kinds of kids did you hang out with? Who were some of your friends?
ASD: Helen Worrell. She married Eldon Potter and she lives down in Firth now and I call her up and she calls me up and we visit for quite often long times. Sometimes I think one time it was about an hour and a half. We just got talking about our families and our brothers and our sisters.
AD: Did you go to college?
ASD: No.
AD: What was dating like in high school? 14
ASD: I didn‟ t date much in high school, just after high school.
AD: What did you do after you graduated from high school?
ASD: I went to work.
AD: Where at?
ASD: The telephone office.
AD: How much did you get paid there?
ASD: I remember the first check I got and it was after I had two and a half dollars taken out for defense bonds, and you could have, you know, and when I got up to twenty- five dollars I had me a defense bond. And I had seven dollars and fifty cents.
AD: Oh, wow. For the first month?
ASD: For the first week. And that went on for about six weeks. And then as I, you know, worked more and did my job better, why, it increased.
AD: So what did you do at the telephone office?
ASD: I was just a telephone operator and then I done, oh for awhile I took care of the books and that and took the money and then they had to have me on the switchboard so they hired some other girls, too. So I went back to the switchboard.
AD: Was it hard learning how to work the switchboard?
ASD: No.
AD: Describe some memorable dates that you had. Maybe your worst date.
ASD: What?
AD: Your worst date or something like that.
ASD: I remember one date I went on with a kid and we were gonna elope. We got up to West Yellowstone and we couldn‟ t get married in West Yellowstone so we just come home. Anyway, Dad said, “ What have you been up to?” And I said, “ Well, we were gonna go get married.” He said, “ Well, you can‟ t get married in West Yellowstone.” And I said, “ No.” He said, “ Well, then, just get in this house.”
AD: So was he the one you were engaged to previously?
15
ASD: I was engaged to him, but we never married.
AD: Have you ever heard of a chickeree?
ASD: A chickeree? Yeah, that‟ s what they used to have when couples got married.
AD: What is it?
ASD: Oh, they just have a great big party and then they‟ d tie cans onto the back of the car, you know, and it‟ d make a lot of noise so you knew that those were just a young married couple, and everybody in town knew it. It was just to have fun with „ em, congratulate „ em and everything.
AD: When and where did you get married?
ASD: Let‟ s see, we got married where… when did we get married? We got married in Rexburg. Yes, because I wasn‟ t going to be married by a Mormon bishop. And Emery wasn‟ t gonna be married by a Presbyterian minister, so we went down to Rexburg and, oh gad what‟ s his name, Mortenson was his name that married us, Judge Mortenson. And then to find out, he was on the high council and everything in Rexburg. He was a good, good staunch LDS.
AD: What day did you get married?
ASD: June 1, 1950.
AD: How old were you?
ASD: I was twenty- three.
AD: And how old was your husband?
ASD: Thirty- two.
AD: And what‟ s his name?
ASD: George Emery Davis.
AD: Describe how you met him.
ASD: I met him on a blind date.
AD: Really?
ASD: On the first of January that year.
16
AD: What did you do on the date?
ASD: Oh, we went dancing. Then over town we went into one of the clubs and we danced and that, but we didn‟ t drink that much. Emery never did drink. And just come home. Then he called me up and we started goin‟ together. So romantic.
AD: What was your wedding like?
ASD: We just went away and got married.
AD: So no big reception?
ASD: No big reception or nothing. My mama had a, what they used to call a party, and then the women on both sides of the family would come to that party and bring ya gifts. And that was, what did they call it?
AD: A bridal shower?
ASD: Yes, thank you.
AD: What did your husband do for a living?
ASD: He was a sheepman and a farmer.
AD: Did you have to help out with farm tasks?
ASD: No, I cooked. But I didn‟ t know how to drive or any of that kind of stuff so I didn‟ t get out in the fields. I never done any fieldwork.
AD: How many people did you have to cook for?
ASD: Well, when we first got married, Emery had two brothers living at home, so that was Emery and I and Rob and Paul.
AD: You had to live with his two brothers?
ASD: Mm- hm. They lived with us. I moved into the old house and his dad and mother went to Arizona, or went to Utah.
AD: And did you have like shepherding crews that would come in that you would have to cook for?
ASD: No, they didn‟ t come in the house. We took, Midge and I, Glenn‟ s wife, would take out lunch out to the sheepshearers and that.
AD: How many sheepshearers were there? 17
ASD: Oh, I don‟ t know. I can‟ t remember. Probably about eight or ten. And we‟ d take out lunch, but we‟ d fix up, you know, a lot of sandwiches and I can remember we‟ d fix up a lot of sandwiches and we‟ d each make a cake and we‟ d make a salad.
AD: Did you enjoy doing that sort of work?
ASD: Oh yes, that was fun! That was fun to go out there. And Midge and I‟ d just have a lot of fun a talkin‟ and a yappin‟ and a cookin‟ and it was just fun.
AD: And how many children did you have?
ASD: Five
AD: What are their names and when were they born?
ASD: Rayce was born February 1951. And Michael was born August 1952. And then Betty was born in January of 1957. And the twins were born in June of 1952, weren‟ t they?
AD: ‟ 62, you mean?
ASD: ‟ 52?
AD: ‟ 62?
ASD: ‟ 62.
AD: Yeah.
ASD: Is that right?
AD: I think so. I don‟ t know. I‟ m not positive. What was it like when your first child was born?
ASD: He was spoiled.
AD: He was spoiled?
ASD: Well, Emery was so happy to have a son and he was premature and we kind of spoiled him, the whole family.
AD: What was the experience like for you?
ASD: Just havin‟ a baby.
18
AD: Just havin‟ a baby?
ASD: Just, well, I had to go to the hospital and we had problems and that, but it all turned out all right.
AD: What are some memorable experiences you have of your children?
ASD: I remember little Michael didn‟ t like to go to school. He was kinda close to me and he wouldn‟ t, so when he‟ d go to school, he didn‟ t wanna go to school why, he‟ d stay home and then when, oh, what‟ s his name, Weeks, Lee Weeks up here drove the bus, why, then when he‟ d come, and he lived up the road from us, why when he‟ d come by why Mike‟ d be outside playin‟, so then he or Delsie, his wife, would call me and kid me about Mike bein‟ outside playin‟. He didn‟ t wanna go to school, and so I didn‟ t make him. It didn‟ t happen too often.
AD: Anything else?
ASD: Let‟ s see, the twins, they would go to school and, so I didn‟ t have them in the same grade in the same room.
AD: Oh, you had them with different teachers?
ASD: Mm- hm. The first grade there was Mr. Faust. Or did they both went to Mr. Faust? And then the other one was Miss Richmond and she was an old battle- axe. So I didn‟ t put „ em in there and then they went on up. And then they were in the same grade and, what was that other teacher‟ s name that they had in the second or third grade and they just loved her? I can see her, but I can‟ t think of her name. And she just loved kids, too. And she liked that grade. She said, “ Oh, I just don‟ t wanna lose „ em, so I‟ m gonna teach second grade.” So that‟ s what she did.
AD: Were your twins similar in disposition?
ASD: Not a bit.
AD: How were they different?
ASD: Well, Adam was always kind of a clown. And Jack was so studious and I think that‟ s why Adam became a clown because he figured he wasn‟ t as smart as Jack. But he was.
AD: Dad tells me that Betty was a holy terror growing up. What was she like?
ASD: She was bossy as all get out.
AD: Was she?
19
ASD: We had cookies in the cookie jar and if the kids‟ d get up and go out to milk they‟ d just be so careful to sneak „ em some cookies out and she‟ d come out and just screech at „ em to not get in that cookie jar. But they‟ d each get „ em a cookie before they‟ d go. And she always had to wear a blue nightie, she always had that blue nightie.
AD: What is a nightie?
ASD: Just a nightgown.
AD: Oh, a nightgown. Okay.
ASD: And so the kids‟ d say the blue nightie strikes again.
AD: What is the best thing about having children?
ASD: The joy they bring to you, you know. Ours anyway brought us a lot of joy. They never got into a lot of trouble. Oh, Rayce and Mike kinda ran around with a more wild bunch than what the twins did, but the twins ran around with the Meservy boys and they were really good kids. Rayce and Mike they had to test their whatever they was gonna do and I remember one time Rayce came home sicker than a dog. And he just puked and puked and puked. I think that was the last time he ever did that. But they‟ d gone out and done some drinkin‟. And he was just so sick and I don‟ t think he did that again. Mike, he was just Mike. He was always kind, took care of the other kids: Betty and Jack and Adam.
AD: What is the most frustrating thing about having children?
ASD: When they won‟ t listen to ya? You know you can‟ t tell a child. The child has to learn by themselves and they won‟ t learn from their parents‟ experience, they gotta learn from their own. Did you do that?
AD: Yeah, somewhat. Did you have any outside of home work while raising children?
ASD: Did I do what?
AD: Did you work outside of the home while you were raising children?
ASD: Not while the kids were young because Emery was gone to the sheep a lot and I had to be home. And I can remember one time when they came home from school and I thought, “ I‟ ll just fool them little buggers.” And so I hid. And so when they came in always it was “ Mom!” you know, and they wanted something. And I remember one of them saying, “ Well, she‟ s not here. Did she tell you she was goin‟ someplace today?” But all kids are that way. Their mom had to be home.
AD: Did you work outside of the home then, when the kids got older?
20
ASD: Yeah, I worked over at the dime store in the wintertime during the holidays after the kids got older. And that‟ s what I made the money for Christmas, to buy Christmas with it for „ em.
AD: Did you enjoy being a farmer‟ s wife?
ASD: Yeah.
AD: Even with all of the work?
ASD: All, yes. „ Cuz it, well, we were together, you know, so much that I think that I enjoyed that togetherness with the two of us.
AD: What are some talents and hobbies that you have?
ASD: I don‟ t have any talents, honey.
AD: Or maybe what are some things you enjoy doing?
ASD: I enjoy reading.
AD: What books do you like to read?
ASD: Pardon?
AD: What books do you like to read?
ASD: I like to read history and geography. And all over the world, you know, of any place.
AD: What are some church callings that you‟ ve held?
ASD: Well, I was Primary President. And I was in the Relief Society Presidency. And I taught Sunday School classes.
AD: You‟ ve been involved?
ASD: I‟ ve been involved, yes.
AD: How many grandchildren do you have?
ASD: There‟ s you five. And Adam, I‟ ve got handsome prince. And Jennifer, I count her. So that‟ s two more. Betty doesn‟ t have any children. And Rayce had Jason, Tyrell, and Shaelyn, Logan and Morgan. So that‟ s five there. How many have I got so far?
AD: Twelve, I think. 21
ASD: Alright, and then…
AD: And Mike has what four?
ASD: What?
AD: Mike has four, right?
ASD: Mm- hm.
AD: So, sixteen?
ASD: I think about seventeen. Mm- hm.
AD: What were the 1920s like?
ASD: I was born in 1926, so I don‟ t know what they were like.
AD: Do you remember when you voted for the first time?
ASD: Oh, yes.
AD: Do you remember who you voted for?
ASD: I can‟ t remember who for sure, but I voted for a Republican, I know that. Let‟ s see, I was born in 1926, so I would have been 21 in… I can‟ t remember. Who‟ s that?
AD: Dad.
ASD: Okay.
AD: Okay. How did the Great Depression affect your family?
ASD: Well, my father and my grandfather had a meat market over town and they lost that. Because there were so many people that they used to charge a lot, you know, by the month is how I think the merchants used to let them charge, but by they couldn‟ t pay and so they lost the store.
AD: What did you think about President Hoover?
ASD: President…?
AD: President Hoover.
ASD: I was, let‟ s see, when was he President, he was ‟ 32 wasn‟ t he? 22
AD: Yeah.
ASD: I didn‟ t pay much attention then, „ cuz I was only six, so I didn‟ t pay that much attention into politics.
AD: What was it like living in the Great Depression? What type of work did you have to do or responsibilities did you have?
ASD: Well, most everybody that lived in my area, we girls that were growin‟ up had to do housework, and then we had to help in the garden. Everybody had big gardens. And then we canned a lot, you know, the produce for the winter off the gardens.
AD: Did you work outside of the home at all to help the family or were you too young?
ASD: Well, not until I was about fourteen.
AD: How did your family manage during those times?
ASD: Well, mama just was a good manager, an extremely good manager. And, you know, like we canned the food and all that, and we done all that kind of stuff. And then sometimes when Daddy went to work he would work for a farmer and he would pay him in meat and so he‟ d bring that meat home and we‟ d have to hurry and bottle it so it wouldn‟ t spoil. And we done that. And that‟ s what, you know, that‟ s just how ya survived.
AD: What was the worst part about the Great Depression?
ASD: I think the worst part was that there wasn‟ t anybody who had much of anything, you know. You just didn‟ t have that much, unless you were a doctor or a dentist or a lawyer or something like that. Or your family didn‟ t, you just worked, all of you worked.
AD: What was the best aspect of the Great Depression?
ASD: Well, I think the one thing that it did, your families had to work together and everybody had to work together so your whole family was just like, you know, my stepbrothers and stepsisters, we just all worked together.
AD: Which groups of people did you feel sorriest for during the Depression?
ASD: The people that lived down on the island.
AD: Where was the island at?
ASD: It was down there by the cemetery. You know, just across the bridge and down that way. And they was the people that were really poor. 23
AD: Were there any groups of people or agencies that made life easier for you during the Great Depression?
ASD: Well, my dad he said I‟ m not gonna stand in line for an old dried up orange, we‟ ll just get it ourselves. So, we didn‟ t go to those government agencies for help.
AD: What did you do for entertainment during the Depression?
ASD: Well, we just entertained ourselves mostly. Just when we were kids we just played outside under the yard light. And swam in the canal in the summertime and ice skated on it in the wintertime.
AD: What kind of meals do you remember during this time?
ASD: What kind of what?
AD: Meals.
ASD: Mama was a good cook.
AD: Really?
ASD: Yes, she was. She could take a pound of hamburger and half a pound of sausage and make the best. Ahe was a good cook and we had a lot of meatloaves. Uh- huh, and she could fix „ em up so good and you just thought you were havin‟ a regular roast beef.
AD: Was your clothing store bought or handmade?
ASD: Mama didn‟ t sew much but she had a lady that would sew for her and she done a lot of the sewing. And then Mama would do something for her, you know, in return for her sewing.
AD: What were your clothes made out of?
ASD: Just cotton and stuff like that. The same material that was used at that time.
AD: Any flour sacks or anything like that?
ASD: No, we didn‟ t use flour sacks. But who did? There was a family that, the Smith family used flour sacks. There was a whole bunch of them. There was twelve of „ em, eleven, twelve, yeah. And Mrs. Smith used to use flour sacks, and I think Mrs. Worrell did too.
AD: How many outfits did you have?
24
ASD: Not very many.
AD: Not very many?
ASD: I remember one year I was gonna get me somethin‟ for Christmas and I was tryin‟ to find something to wear for Christmas. Mama would just let me scrounge around and find some things and then, before that program, why I‟ ve got a picture of me in it, she had a little skirt and a little blouse with these little crystal buttons down the front. And, oh gads, I thought I had a million dollar outfit.
AD: How many pairs of shoes did you have?
ASD: Probably one pair and then I kept one pair for good and then when the one pair got worn out then I started wearing the other ones. Why, we just didn‟ t have a lot of shoes.
AD: What kind of transportation did your family have?
ASD: My dad had a car. A Plymouth Studebaker.
AD: What were the prices of bread and milk?
ASD: I can‟ t remember. I can‟ t remember. Well, we never bought bread. Mama made it all. And Mama bought butter from a Mrs. Abegglen that lived out in Wilford, and butter from her. And cream and butter from her „ cuz Daddy liked cream in his coffee and so Mama made sure that Daddy had cream in his coffee.
AD: What were the fashion styles for girls?
ASD: Just dresses.
AD: Just dresses?
ASD: Just dresses.
AD: What were the hairstyles that they wore?
ASD: Oh, we had our hair fixed up, we had it longer.
AD: Longer?
ASD: Mm- hm. And we had it back like this, rolled up here and rolled up here on the side. And we‟ d have some bangs come down this way, tryin‟ to make ourselves pretty.
AD: How often did you take baths?
ASD: Pardon? 25
AD: How often did you take baths?
ASD: Well, let‟ s see. In the summertime I bathed every day when I went swimmin‟ in the canal, but in the wintertime, why, once a week.
AD: Once a week. Why types of soap and shampoo did you use?
ASD: We just used Palmolive soap, I think is what Mama used.
AD: So you didn‟ t have to use lye or anything like that?
ASD: Mm- mm.
AD: What was used to fix your hair, to curl your hair and things like that?
ASD: Curlers.
AD: Curlers?
ASD: Mm- hm. You know those that you curl up and curl under and clamp over them.
AD: Okay. Do you remember President Roosevelt being elected?
ASD: No. No I don‟ t remember President Roosevelt being elected. He was elected in ‟ 32 and but I can remember him being President.
AD: Did your family like him?
ASD: Well, he was a Democrat. But we were taught to respect him. He was the President of our country and so we respected him.
AD: Do you remember anything of the fireside chats?
ASD: I remember my dad used to listen to them. Yeah, we had a radio in over there in the old house and Dad would listen so he could complain about what he was sayin‟. But he listened to them. My dad, he was quite civic- minded he wanted to know what was goin‟ on in the world and in the country, you know, things like that. You just didn‟ t sit in your own house and not know what was going on in the world.
AD: Did any of his New Deal programs help the community?
ASD: I don‟ t know. They probably did, but I think they were mostly to help the bigger cities because the farm communities, you know, you grew your stuff and your food and things like that.
26
AD: Do you remember any slang expressions or anything during that time?
ASD: [ shakes head]
AD: No?
ASD: No.
AD: Do you think that living through the Great Depression made a difference in your life?
ASD: I think it made a difference in everybody‟ s life because we, we learned to help one another and to be with one another and in our neighborhood, why, if you had a little extra garden food, why, you‟ d give it to one of the neighbors that needed it. And the same way with them, you know.
AD: When did you get your first radio? Do you remember what it was like?
ASD: Daddy had the radio.
AD: Before you were born?
ASD: I think so.
AD: Did you sit around the radio a lot and listen to programs?
ASD: Mm- hm. We used to listen to, oh, what was it, there was the one, the Shadow Knows. And then we used to listen to Lux Theatre and we used to listen to Jack Benny and Bob Hope.
AD: And did you have electricity in your house when you were born?
ASD: Mm- hm.
AD: When did you get a telephone?
ASD: I don‟ t know. Mama had a telephone, gads, forever since I can remember. And she used to. It was set up in a little corner, a little thing like that, you know, set inside, and on that, she had two pieces of paper, one on each side of it with the numbers of the people she called. Oh, she had Aunt Louie‟ s and Bea Fausett‟ s and Iva‟ s and everybody she knew, so she wouldn‟ t have to look „ em up.
AD: What were party lines?
ASD: Oh, they were terrible, they were. Some people were awful rude on them and I know that they used to maintain that Aunt Louie listened on the party line all the time and 27
she really didn‟ t. And to find out it was old Aunt Rose that was listenin‟ in on the party line and knew everything that was goin‟ on. But it wasn‟ t poor Aunt Louie and she got blamed for it. Unjustly.
AD: Did you ever listen in on the party line?
ASD: Yes, I did! Course I did! But I, oh, if I go to use it, but not to just get on. I remember when I was workin‟ for the telephone company there was one guy that, oh God, he had a girlfriend back in Chicago and he‟ d call her long distance. And so we‟ d have to go through the switchboard, you know, and so we‟ d listen in and we‟ d have to switch in and listen to make sure cuz his connection didn‟ t have a light that would come on, and so we‟ d have to listen and oh, he was the sweetest talkin‟ man I ever heard. That gal, I don‟ t think he ever, I don‟ t think he ended up marrying her.
AD: When did you get a T. V.?
ASD: When did I get what?
AD: A T. V.?
ASD: Let‟ s see, I can‟ t remember. Dad and Mama had one before we had one. It must‟ ve been when the kids were, when Rayce and Mike were twelve or thirteen years old before we got one. And then after we got one, why boy, they‟ d hurry when the Bonanza would come on, why they‟ d hurry and get that milkin‟ done so they could come in and watch Bonanza.
AD: What were some of your favorite T. V. shows?
ASD: Oh, I used to like the ones that had romance in them.
AD: Do you remember where you were when you heard that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor?
ASD: We were at home and we had just finished our, Daddy and Mama, we had just finished our Sunday dinner and my stepbrother Fred came over and told us. He said, “ Turn your radio on! Turn your radio on!” So that‟ s how we found out.
AD: What was your reaction?
ASD: Well, I think the whole nation was stunned. We were just couldn‟ t believe such a thing had happened.
AD: What was life like during World War II?
ASD: Well, there was just certain things you didn‟ t have, you know, you couldn‟ t get and that, but it wasn‟ t that bad. 28
AD: What were there, tell me about the shortages and rationing?
ASD: Well, there was a gas shortage and we had to have a ration card to go get groceries and that, you know, for certain types of food. Some of that, you know, the stuff that was grown quite a bit, but the imported stuff like your wheats.
AD: And sugar?
ASD: And your sugars, yes, it was rationed.
AD: How did you cope with wartime shortages?
ASD: We just coped with them. Mama could cook anything with honey. And my dad just loved, was a sugar eater, and he had to have sugar in his coffee so most of our sugar that was rationed went to Daddy for his coffee. And Mama used honey to cook with. She could make anything.
AD: Did you have a victory garden?
ASD: Oh, yeah.
AD: Yeah? Did everyone support the war?
ASD: I think so. In our area they did.
AD: Did you ever buy war bonds?
ASD: Yes, I did. Yeah, that‟ s what I told you, you know, when I had my first check, two and a half dollars taken out of it every week to go towards a war bond.
AD: And where did you work during the war? Did you still work at the telephone office?
ASD: I just worked at the telephone office. And I was workin‟ there the night the war ended. And when I went to work everybody seemed over town and I thought, “ Oh gosh, I‟ m not going to be busy tonight.” But I was just swamped, and then we had a, I probably told you this another time, we had the window open and some guy put his arm through the window and he said, “ Hey, operator! You want a drink of this?” I said, “ No, I don‟ t think so, I can‟ t have one.” He said, “ Well, it looks like you need one!” And away he went on. I don‟ t even know who it was. Everybody was celebratin‟.
AD: Was this when Germany surrendered or when Japan surrendered?
ASD: That‟ s when the war, when Japan surrendered, yes.
AD: Okay. Did you have family members involved in the war? 29
ASD: Yeah, all my brothers were in the military. My one brother was gonna go over seas and he would‟ ve been in the Battle of the Bulge, but his wife got sick and so my father got a hold of Senator Gorshack and he pulled some, and got Howard out of the army, out of the military.
AD: Grandpa was in the war, too, right?
ASD: Yeah.
AD: Where did he fight at?
ASD: Well, he wasn‟ t in the first landing but he was in the second landing, not Utah beach, but Omaha beach. And then he got wounded in the Argonne forest in I think November of that year.
AD: So was he sent home after that?
ASD: Well, he was sent to the hospital in Germany and then he was sent home. He said he was so sick comin‟ home on the boat.
AD: So they didn‟ t travel by air back then?
ASD: No, they came by boat mostly then. All the airplanes and the gas for the airplanes was used for the war.
AD: In what ways did the war change your habits or activities?
ASD: Well, when we went anyplace, there used to be a place up there, Warm River Skating Rink, and there‟ d be about twenty of us in a car, seems like there was about twenty. We‟ d be packed in there like sardines. We‟ d go up there and there‟ d be some of the kids that would walk from town and go up there.
AD: What different responsibilities did you have to take on? Any?
ASD: Nope.
AD: What social activities where you involved in at work or with your coworkers?
ASD: Oh, we just had parties. We had parties at, oh, Christmas time and we had, when St. Patrick‟ s Day, we‟ d have green stuff hangin‟ around. They didn‟ t, the operator, didn‟ t care if we had decorated it, Mr. McIntire, if we decorated the office.
AD: Did many people get married during wartime?
ASD: Oh yeah. 30
AD: Did you ever worry that America might not win the war?
ASD: No, I never worried about that, I don‟ t think.
AD: What effect did the war have on your physical and mental health or that of other people, do you know?
ASD: I was worried about my brothers, but other than that I just went on about my business, went to work and done what I could do, bought bonds. That was it.
AD: Did you ever see any soldiers come back that were shell- shocked or anything?
ASD: No, I never did. Oh, wait a minute, I knew one from Teton that came back and he was quite bad. His family, his mother had to watch him quite closely for a while, „ til he got home and calmed down. But he was over in that Bataan march.
AD: Oh.
ASD: And he was really, you know, bad.
AD: How did childcare activities change for mothers during the war? Did they?
ASD: Well, not around here. You just had your family takin‟ care of the children, you know. I know I used to take care of my sister, my step- sister, Julia. We used to take care of her brother‟ s and sister‟ s children and, you know, my brother‟ s and sister‟ s. That‟ s just the way you done it.
AD: How did you feel about war news coming in from the newsreels and radio?
ASD: How did I pardon?
AD: How did you feel about war news coming in from the newsreels and radio?
ASD: We watched „ em. Well, we didn‟ t have television, but they‟ d always have, when we‟ d go to a movie they‟ d always have, oh, fifteen minutes of news and that. And we knew what was goin‟ on.
AD: Were you or others in your community treated differently because of race or ethnicity?
ASD: Not, no, maybe I thought sometimes that people didn‟ t like me because I wasn‟ t one of those Mormons. You know, like I said, my husband had to be a good Republican and not a Mormon, but I sure slipped on that.
AD: What about the Japanese? Were there any Japanese in this area? 31
ASD: There wasn‟ t any, wait a minute, was there a family in our town, community, I can‟ t remember now. But Sugar City had several Japanese families. But I don‟ t think that people treated them bad, not that I know of.
AD: How did World War II influence your life?
ASD: Well, I just think that it made me think more of my family, of my brothers and my sisters‟ husbands. My sister was getting all ready to go to China, she and her husband, to work on some great big… he done steel construction work and they were gonna go to China and work on some bridge in China and I can still hear Daddy tell Pat, “ I don‟ t think you and Iva May better go there.” I don‟ t know whether that influenced that or not, but they didn‟ t go and „ cuz they‟ d‟ ve been right in the middle of everything in China at that time.
AD: What do you remember about the Cold War?
ASD: It was kinda asinine but…
AD: Really?
ASD: But it was there, it was a thing and you just didn‟ t trust those Russians. And I don‟ t suppose that the Russians trusted us too much, but then things got a little better and it was terrible.
AD: Do you remember McCarthyism and the Red Scare?
ASD: Oh, I remember McCarthy. But it didn‟ t affect, it was more back in Washington and New York and the big cities like that, but he was kind of off his rocker a little, I think.
AD: How did people around here feel about President Truman?
ASD: Well, I think in a way, because people knew that President Roosevelt wasn‟ t really well, and then when President Truman come along, he just done what he could do, and then he had to, isn‟ t he the one that…
AD: Dropped the bomb?
ASD: Dropped the bomb to end the war. And I don‟ t know, people didn‟ t know if the war had‟ ve continued and the United States had invaded Japan there would‟ ve been so many more soldiers on both sides killed.
AD: So did people support the dropping of the atomic bomb?
ASD: I think so. 32
AD: Did people support the Korean War?
ASD: I don‟ t think…
AD: Or was the Korean War not that big of a deal?
ASD: It wasn‟ t that big of a deal to some people, but…
AD: Were people really afraid of Communism around here?
ASD: I don‟ t think so, there wasn‟ t any Communist, any place near like where in New York they‟ d have those, what‟ d you call them, they‟ d have those parties or rallies and that and they had their headquarters and that but they didn‟ t have much of that here.
AD: How did people feel about President Kennedy?
ASD: I think we were all sad. It didn‟ t, you know, he was a Democrat but he was our President and he shouldn‟ t have been assassinated that was, you know, just like President Lincoln got assassinated, it shouldn‟ t have happened, but it did.
AD: Do you remember where you were when he was assassinated?
ASD: Where was I? I was home here doin‟ somethin‟, probably around.
AD: What was your reaction?
ASD: I felt terrible. I cried when President Kennedy got assassinated, I cried when Nixon had to leave the White House, because they were our Presidents and Kennedy was not a dumb man, you know, he was not radical either, in his beliefs. I just thought it was a sad, sad thing.
AD: Do you remember the Bay of Pigs incident? Or the Cuban Missile Crisis?
ASD: Mm- hm. Some of it, but it didn‟ t matter much.
AD: How did people feel about President Johnson and the Vietnam War?
ASD: Well, I don‟ t think people were too supportive of President Johnson. They were at first, but then they weren‟ t, because he was kind of a radical in his thoughts and, you know, how he had voted. He had been a senator before and how he had voted and that in the Senate and people were a little shy of him. A little bit concerned how he would behave.
AD: Were there any anti- war protests in this area?
33
ASD: Not that I know of. Might‟ ve been some down in Pocatello and Salt Lake, but they didn‟ t effect us.
AD: What was life like in the 1960s?
ASD: Well, for me it was just, Emery and I was just raisin‟ our family.
AD: So all of the hippies and everything else, they weren‟ t really around?
ASD: No. They weren‟ t in this area. No. We‟ d see about „ em on television and that, but it didn‟ t…
AD: What do you remember about President Nixon and the Watergate Scandal?
ASD: I remember how shocked we were. And I‟ ve been a readin‟ a book about, you know, how deceitful he was. He thought that he was doin‟ the right thing, I guess, and that was what he had wanted to be was the President and he had felt like that when John Kennedy… in Chicago, that the Kennedy‟ s had stolen some of the votes from him in Chicago and it would‟ ve, you know, but…
AD: Do you remember the Equal Rights Amendment?
ASD: What?
AD: The Equal Rights Amendment trying to get passed?
ASD: That was where we all got the right to vote, wasn‟ t it?
AD: Well, like women already had the right to vote but it was just more rights for women in the workplace and thing like that.
ASD: Well, I thought women should have it.
AD: So you were in support of it?
ASD: I was in support of it.
AD: What do you remember about the civil rights movement? Were people around here in support of integration and things like that?
ASD: I think so. People around here were broad minded
AD: Were you in support of blacks getting more rights?
ASD: Well, we never had any black people around here.
34
AD: Do you remember where you were when Martin Luther King was shot?
ASD: I can remember.
AD: Do you remember your reaction?
ASD: Well, he was a good man. And he was doin‟ what he thought for his people and that and I thought it was a terrible thing. I did not like to see people assassinated. Leaders of our country or anything like that.
AD: What do you remember about the Teton Flood?
ASD: I remember, I remember that I was out plantin‟ the garden, I think, and my brother- in- law, Grant, came down and he said, “ Oh, it‟ s not gonna come down this way, Alice.” But it did. And we just went, and Emery took the trucks, hurried and took the trucks over and I went over and followed him over town and brought him back so he could take his pickup over and stuff like that.
AD: Where did you guys go to get away from the flood?
ASD: We went into St. Anthony.
AD: You went into St. Anthony?
ASD: Over to my brother Jack‟ s.
AD: Did anyone die?
ASD: There was two guys that were just down on that bridge on the Teton River, I think, and they got washed away. They didn‟ t, you know, they didn‟ t think that it was gonna do the damage that it did. And I was mad at Emery, because, see Emery was on that Fremont- Madison irrigation district supported that and I said, “ Now see what happened!”
AD: When they built the dam?
ASD: Yeah.
AD: Were you able to save anything?
ASD: No.
AD: No? Everything was lost?
ASD: Everything was lost.
AD: So when you came back here, what did you find where your house used to be? 35
ASD: Nothing. Just four posts, four fence posts. And I remember, I think your granddad, Larry, must‟ ve had some calves or something over there and I heard one of them calves beller and I thought, „ cuz it was just like walkin‟ in a deathly silence until I heard that calf beller. And I thought, “ Oh, there‟ s really life here, now.”
AD: What was it like to rebuild everything?
ASD: It was hard. Emery and I had a few arguments on what to do. But we had, what we had to, you had to build first, you know, the place for the animals, you had to have a place for your animals before you rebuilt your home. And we lived in a HUD trailer for a little while and oh, that about drove Emery crazy because Emery had always been used to livin‟ in a big home. Our home before the flood was a big home, you know, and that was his, the home he was raised in and he couldn‟ t stand it. He just couldn‟ t stand it. So we went over town and lived in my folks‟ home over town. And it was different. I don‟ t want to go through that again.
AD: No, I don‟ t blame you. What are your views on women in the workforce?
ASD: I think if women, course my mother, my step- mother always worked in the wintertime and it was just, it never affected me that much. I just thought, “ Well, if they have to, they have to.” You know, and at one time that was the reason women worked was just because they had to, to help with the family home, it just, it got so women wanted to be CEOs and stuff like that.
AD: What are your views on abortion?
ASD: [ shakes head]
AD: It shouldn‟ t be done?
ASD: It shouldn‟ t be done.
AD: Who were some of the women you looked up to and why?
ASD: I looked up to my Aunt Iva and I looked up to my Mama. My Aunt Iva was a good, good woman. Who else was there? My Aunt Louie. Just good women.
AD: What advice would you give people today about the best way to make it through hard times?
ASD: Always love. Keep on loving each other. Always be sweethearts. That‟ s what Uncle George told Emery and I when we got married. Always be sweethearts. And I think if you keep that love between yourself instead of lettin‟ so many little things come between ya, it destroys that, but you‟ ve got to keep thinkin‟ of each other and what is best for the two of you. 36
AD: Is there anything else you‟ d like to add?
ASD: No.
AD: Okay. Thank you.