Oral History Interviews About the Depression
Oral History Interviews about the Depression
“We never did have much but each other and the church and the vegetables in Mama’s garden. We just tightened our belts a little bit more and went on like we always did.”
Oral History Interviews of the Great Depression, Schulz History 202 class, on deposit in South Carolinian Library. Taken from A South Carolina Album, 1936-1948. Schulz, Constance B., ed. pg. 3.
“I was not able to finish my education because of the problems. I was forced to live in various places with my older sisters.” Creola Steward, Denmark, SC
The Times and Democrat: Reflections in Time. Hughes, Cathy C., ed. Orangeburg, SC. pg.34.
“Five dollars a week in pay was a lot of money. Once the government was giving away flour and apples, but my mother would not let my father go and get any… she didn’t believe in handouts. I cut lawns for 7 ½ cents an hour. I thought I was in big money when I finally worked my way to 10 cents an hour. Daddy was a carpenter during the 1930s and earned wages of five dollars a week. Bread was 5 cents a loaf, fatback 3 cents a pound, and liver 10 cents a pound. My family of seven could eat for several days on 75 cents worth of groceries.” Kirk Stokes, Orangeburg, SC
The Times and Democrat: Reflections in Time. Hughes, Cathy C., ed. Orangeburg, SC. pg.34.
“We didn’t have to wait for the crash of the stock market… our hard times started in 1926 when cotton prices fell drastically. I remember the days when eggs were one cent each, bread 8 cents a loaf and gasoline was five gallons for a dollar.” Dick Banks, St. Matthews, SC
The Times and Democrat: Reflections in Time. Hughes, Cathy C., ed. Orangeburg, SC. pg.34.
“The depression was a terrible time, but the hardships brought us closer to God. It made us better people because we learned to do without. Because we lived on a farm we never worried about food.” Kathryn Gambrell, North, SC
The Times and Democrat: Reflections in Time. Hughes, Cathy C., ed. Orangeburg, SC. pg.34.
“We lived off the land and because all the families of the community looked after each other we didn’t suffer that much. The drop in cotton and corn prices created a cutback in the purchase of store bought items, but we endured.” Ross Horton, Branchville, SC
The Times and Democrat: Reflections in Time. Hughes, Cathy C., ed. Orangeburg, SC. pg.34.
"I almost went broke in 1920 and '21. The boll weevil. We didn't know how to fight it then, and it was heart-breaking to see a good crop go down. Some of my neighbors just gave up and moved away. You could get farm land for almost nothing. It was impossible for me to meet my notes, but the bank was kind enough to let me get by with just the interest. And I had to scrape to do that.” John B. Culbertson, Campobello, SC
South Carolina Writers’ Project Life History, January 27, 1939, Written by R.V. Williams.
“Henry and I got married, began buying our own little farm and settled down to raise a family. The children came quickly, nine of them, and the farm was slow in getting paid for. But we could have cleared the $393 which we still owed on it had it not been for the boll weevil. The cotton crops were destroyed for several years and then real disaster struck. A fire destroyed our home and everything we owned. We didn't have nothing left - - not even our clothes, not even a spoon! With no insurance on the house and the mortgage on the farm due, there was nothing we could do but let our little farm go.” Mrs. H. D. Martin, Beaufort, SC
South Carolina Writers’ Project Life History, Jan 13, 1939, Written by Chlotilde R. Martin.
“We never did have much but each other and the church and the vegetables in Mama’s garden. We just tightened our belts a little bit more and went on like we always did.”
Oral History Interviews of the Great Depression, Schulz History 202 class, on deposit in South Carolinian Library.. Taken from A South Carolina Album, 1936-1948. Schulz, Constance B., ed. pg. 3.
“I was not able to finish my education because of the problems. I was forced to live in various places with my older sisters.” Creola Steward, Denmark, SC
The Times and Democrat: Reflections in Time. Hughes, Cathy C., ed. Orangeburg, SC. pg.34.
“We lived off the land and because all the families of the community looked after each other we didn’t suffer that much. The drop in cotton and corn prices created a cutback in the purchase of store bought items, but we endured.” Ross Horton, Branchville, SC
The Times and Democrat: Reflections in Time. Hughes, Cathy C., ed. Orangeburg, SC. pg.34.
“Five dollars a week in pay was a lot of money. Once the government was giving away flour and apples, but my mother would not let my father go and get any… she didn’t believe in handouts. I cut lawns for 7 ½ cents an hour. I thought I was in big money when I finally worked my way to 10 cents an hour. Daddy was a carpenter during the 1930s and earned wages of five dollars a week. Bread was 5 cents a loaf, fatback 3 cents a pound, and liver 10 cents a pound. My family of seven could eat for several days on 75 cents worth of groceries.” Kirk Stokes, Orangeburg, SC
The Times and Democrat: Reflections in Time. Hughes, Cathy C., ed. Orangeburg, SC. pg.34.
“We didn’t have to wait for the crash of the stock market… our hard times started in 1926 when cotton prices fell drastically. I remember the days when eggs were one cent each, bread 8 cents a loaf and gasoline was five gallons for a dollar.” Dick Banks, St. Matthews, SC
The Times and Democrat: Reflections in Time. Hughes, Cathy C., ed. Orangeburg, SC. pg.34.
“The depression was a terrible time, but the hardships brought us closer to God. It made us better people because we learned to do without. Because we lived on a farm we never worried about food.” Kathryn Gambrell, North, SC
The Times and Democrat: Reflections in Time. Hughes, Cathy C., ed. Orangeburg, SC. pg.34.
"I almost went broke in 1920 and '21. The boll weevil. We didn't know how to fight it then, and it was heart-breaking to see a good crop go down. Some of my neighbors just gave up and moved away. You could get farm land for almost nothing. It was impossible for me to meet my notes, but the bank was kind enough to let me get by with just the interest. And I had to scrape to do that.”
John B. Culbertson, Campobello, SC
South Carolina Writers’ Project Life History, January 27, 1939, Written by R.V. Williams
“Henry and I got married, began buying our own little farm and settled down to raise a family. The children came quickly, nine of them, and the farm was slow in getting paid for. But we could have cleared the $393 which we still owed on it had it not been for the boll weevil. The cotton crops were destroyed for several years and then real disaster struck. A fire destroyed our home and everything we owned. We didn't have nothing left - - not even our clothes, not even a spoon! With no insurance on the house and the mortgage on the farm due, there was nothing we could do but let our little farm go.” Mrs. H. D. Martin, Beaufort, SC
South Carolina Writers’ Project Life History, Jan 13, 1939, Written by Chlotilde R. Martin