Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2022/Fall/Section093/Neeley “The Widow” Williams

Overview

Neeley "The Widow" Williams was interviewed by Jack Kytle about her life for the Federal Writers' Project on September 21, 1938.

Biography

Personal life and Reputation

Neeley “The Widow” Williams and her six children lived off the Coosa River near Fayetteville, Alabama. As accounted by her interviewer, after having lived there her whole life, Williams had no desire to move or take part in new technologies, she took part in watching fishermen catch drum and catfish in the river to sell for a profit while she begged for what she ate and wore. Williams was anywhere from 40 to 60 years of age during the interview and was known to be gaunt and slovenly. Her expression was always very stoic and was always seen to have snuff on her lips. The interviewer wrote that the only thing that made her seem alive were her eyes, narrowed and calculating, said to see whom she could receive gifts from which allowed for Williams and her children to keep living. Before her older age it was written in the interview that she was known in all of the local hovels on the Coosa, and yet, still, despite her age, they would call upon her now and again, using foul language to do so. Over time, Williams spoke about having many husbands but only lived with two, Baxley (who had since passed) and Williams. Throughout those marriages, she gave birth to seven children, one of whom passed away some time ago due to an ailment.

Family

Of her children, Ranny was the oldest. The interviewer made it clear that Ranny was fully capable of getting a job or catching fish if he wanted but he was known to evade work and choose to drink to excess often and smoke/use snuff. Unable to find reason to change, Ranny was in his twenties with no desire to contribute to the family and work in any way. They older two girls went away to complete high school and move on to supposedly evade following in their mothers footsteps.

The family's home was observed to be a weathered shanty (a small shack) with two rooms covered in soot from the uncovered stove. There were no "reasonless" or excessive furniture like mirrors, just things provided by the community store. They are only able to get by and eat when they had enough but sometimes they got lucky. For example, when Ranny came home with a slew of fish or when a pig was sick and they were able to slaughter it. When they had it, spare change, often given by town members or as written in the interview, by the interviewer, would be used to get candy and snuff at the store. Blessed by neighbors and people nearby, Willam's family is able to survive the winters with used coats and shoes. Yet, in September, when the interviewer arrived, it was written that her three young children could be seen bare-legged, wearing only jackets with one completely naked sans the jacket.

Social Context

Substance Abuse

Alcoholism

In the 1930's, the prohibition was repealed, allowing for a wider and less restricted distribution of alcohol. There were two sides to the debate on alcohol, the "Drys" and the "Wets". "The "Drys" argued that alcohol was an addic­tive and brutalizing poison unfit for human consumption" while the "Wets" spoke for freer use of alcohol, arguing that it was "one's personal liberty to drink if one wished". The repeal did not only end the debate of the "Wets" and "Drys", but it changed the American's overall focus on the problems of alcohol from the actual drink, the production, nor the drinking but on "problematic drinkers" or alcoholics. The idea got brought up that perhaps drinking would get progressively worse. Alcoholism was fueled by more drinking and the only way to get out was to stop. Alcohol then was given the name "demon rum" and was commonly compared to heroin since it was seen to be increasingly addictive. It became a domestic drug yet no one really understood why it was so addictive. Addiction to alcohol was a new thing for Americans to overcome yet it was wildly trying to be understood. With the wide availability for alcohol, no understanding of its true addictive nature, and the overwhelming want to have what was limited, led to the birth of alcoholism.

Tobacco and Snuff

Throughout the times there were lots of different uses for snuff and tobacco. Snuff can be used in two forms: wet and dry. Wet snuff is commonly referred to as chew and was put in the mouth where dry snuff was ground to a fine powder and was typically inhaled through the nose. Either form of snuff is tobacco, it just was not lit and inhaled like cigarets or cigars. In the late 1400's it was noted that snuff was tended to be inhaled or smoked by Native Americans which spread quickly. A few years later it was written in a poem that snuff would help clog the nose from the bad smells around. Like alcohol, tobacco was also seen as an epidemic. Snuff was seen as a means to get the hit from tobacco without having to actually smoke it. Nicotine addicted people were seen to be at higher risk for depression and alcoholism. Over time, the use of tobacco increased as production increased.

Women and Work in Fishing Communities

During the Great Depression

During the Great Depression, there was a need to continue leisure and provide an “eco-friendly source of meat”. Before the stock market crash, children near rivers had a passion for fishing. They were able to create rods using scrap pieces of wood and long pieces of twine tied to the end. Then what started as a passion quickly turned into an escape from the harsh conditions. Abundant accumulation of local fish allowed for the community to gather and have a “big fish fry” which would allow for communities to come together and have some sort of normality. On top of the effects due to the Depression, many states also suffered from droughts. These droughts significantly reduced the bodies of water that would provide for this leisure and escape. What could have been seen as a bad thing, the reduction of water created a much larger yield of pounds of fish per acre. With what used to be just seen as leisure, fishing during the 1930’s  allowed for “citizens to indulge in moments of relaxation” and provide an opportunity for food as well as community building.

Gender Norms

In many rural fishing communities based along rivers, many families fished for profit and food. Even though the entire family took part in the fishing, gender norms prohibited women from being referred to as fishermen. The reasons came down to a few, biology, gender roles, culture, and base line discrimination. The head of house, or the man, were known as fishermen. They owned the ships, catch the fish, and worked as their own boss whereas women played a vital supporting role in processing and making sure the business ran. Women process and sell the fish, manage the house and finances, mend what had been broken like nets and equipment, and assist on the boat. Yet, women do not fish nor do they have the title of fisherman like their husbands who were a part of the 95% of male fishermen recorded in a 1990 and 1998 U.S Consensus. Women's roles created a lower status that paid less and were considered assistants to their men, creating a gender norm to "not aim to work or succeed" in their fishing communities simply because they are women. The standard relied on taking care of the children and not being on the boat, giving up a significant income, or preparing/catching the smaller fish or crustaceans also for a significantly smaller cut. Different factors block women from fishing but women could be seen as women because they do not fish.

References

“River Widow: Portrait of Poverty” Interviewed by Jack Kytle, date September 21, 1938, Folder 47, Federal Writers’ Project papers #3709, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/03709/id/981/rec/1

Roizen, Ronald Peter Boris William. 1991. "The American Discovery of Alcoholism, 1933-1939." Order No. 9203698, University of California, Berkeley. http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/american-discovery-alcoholism-1933-1939/docview/303929323/se-2.

Smith, Stevens, and Michael Fiore. 1999. “THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TOBACCO USE, DEPENDENCE, AND CESSATION IN THE UNITED STATES.” Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice 26 (3): 433–61. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0095-4543(05)70112-3.

Yodanis, Carrie. 2000. “Constructing Gender and Occupational Segregation: A Study of Women and Work in Fishing Communities.” Qualitative Sociology 26 (3): 267–90. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005515926536.

Gearheart, Kristen. 2018. “Leisure in The Great Depression: Fishing.” Dirt Poor. University of Alabama. April 23, 2018. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005515926536.

2018. “Snuff’n Sniff.” Teaching History.Org. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University with funding from the U.S. Department of Education. 2018. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005515926536.

1/5/21. “In the 18th Century, to Be Seen Taking a ‘Pinch of Snuff’ Was a Mark of Refinement, but What Exactly Was It?” What Was Snuff? Boca Raton: History Extra. 1/5/21. https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/what-was-snuff/.