Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Fall/105/Section068/A Modern Housewife

A female typist, the job of the woman discussed in this entry.

Biography

Overview

The woman in question, a modern housewife, was interviewed for the Federal Writers Project by W.O. Saunders. The woman interviewed was given no name nor placed in a specific time period outside of the Great Depression, but certainly has a distinct background. Contrary to her poor background, this woman lived a life of luxury marked by her use of appliances and her ability to hire help within the home.

Early Life

This woman was raised as a part of a large family in Oranoke County as the youngest of twelve children. Her parents were very poor, as her father worked two jobs as a logger and a farmer yet was able to make hardly any expendable money at all. Her mother was a hard-working woman as she managed to raise 12 children as well as keep house and do things such as make her own soap in order to save money. Having a large family proved advantageous to her mother in these conditions in that she had an abundance of help around the house with such chores (Ross). As the youngest, this woman was treated specially and was sent to boarding school as well as business school, with the help of her older brothers, to receive an education. This was an opportunity atypical to poor children, specifically girls, at this time and because of it, she never learned to keep house or to cook. The lack of these skills would be telling of her lifestyle later on.

Later Life

At the time of the interview, this woman works as a stenographer and a typist at a bank which is where she met her husband, Nick. In her job as a stenographer and a typist, this woman would be present in meetings where she would transcribe and document the content of the meeting in shorthand. From this shorthand documentation, a summary report of the meeting would be written up for later reference. She was also responsible for the creation of other important documents and materials requested by the bank. In her home life, she and Nick were happily and successfully married, though not necessarily in love, with a son and another child on the way. They both hoped for a large family as it was important to each of their parents. However, having a large family at this time was perceived by some as more of a responsibility than it was a benefit. For this reason, this woman hoped that her current pregnancy consisted of twins in order to grow her family more quickly, rather than drawing out the timeline of its growth. She lived differently from how she was raised in that she and her husband hired maids and purchased appliances to do many of the household chores that her mother once did by hand. In raising her children, unlike her mother, this woman is largely concerned with sanitation and cleanliness. In addition, she plans to birth each of them in a hospital as opposed to at home and to raise them by the books in order to ensure successful parenting.

Social Issues

Woman in the Workforce

During the Great Depression, many individuals lost their jobs, the majority of which were men. This 25% unemployment rate of men allowed the opening of many more job opportunities for women in various fields. Of the 25.4% of women who were employed during this time, one-third of them were married. This, in part, contributed to the social change that occurred in relation to responsibility within the home. Many of these women took on jobs as nurses, schoolteachers, beauticians, cleaning ladies, and secretaries; some also took on manufacturing occupations that required sewing. However, despite this perceived major success, these women were the recipients of much hatred and hostility as they were seen as “stealing jobs from the men”. This hostility ultimately led to the creation of discriminatory laws such as the Federal Economy Act against this group of women, specifically those who were married. However, some of these discriminatory laws also targeted unmarried women in that ‘vast majority of social security benefits went to men and his dependent wife. This implied that women only deserved economic rights in relations to men, disadvantaging those who didn’t fit the traditional housewife mold.’(Remy). In addition to these limiting laws, about 25% of the National Recovery Administration codes set a lower minimum wage for women, which is an issue that is still prevalent today (Remy).

Effects of the Economy on Different Social Groups

During the Great Depression, many people were affected negatively by the drastic economic changes, however, there were some people who benefitted from them. As prices fell, those who were able to keep their jobs saw their purchasing power increase while the jobless struggled to survive (Heim, 36). For this reason, a large divide between the employed and unemployed was observed as those who kept their jobs could afford and began to purchase electric appliances in addition to domestic help. The introduction of these devices and domestic aids to the home changed the role of women as well as the coexisting dynamic within the home and in raising children.

Faith and Christianity

During this period of economic recession, many relied on their faith to strengthen them. Though not all participated in religion, many people are recorded as participating in Christianity. For instance, ‘….While backbreaking labor certainly dominated migrant life, Lange also managed to photograph another life in California: a couple singing hymns inside their tent, a group of children attending an outdoor Sunday school, a wooden church, and a bus with a “Jesus Saves” sign. … They, and other photographs of religious practices, are not part of our mental image of the Depression.’ (McDannell, 3). Many stories such as this one, as well as photographs of these events exist that serve as proof of this phenomenon and truly show the true level of desperation that many families experienced. The largely unrecorded participation of people in religion is important to this time in that it gave people hope in a time where little seemed to exist.

Bibliography

1.     Davies, Margery. 1988. “Women Clerical Workers and the Typewriter: The Writing Machine.” In Technology and Women’s Voices: Keeping in Touch, edited by Cheris Kramarae, 35–44. New York, NY: Routledge & Kenan Paul Inc. https://frauenkultur.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Technology-and-Womens-Voices.pdf#page=35.

2.     Ellis, Brett. 2020. “How to Become a Stenographer: Education Qualifications, Scope in India & Salary.” Shiksha. shiksha . July 17, 2020. https://www.shiksha.com/arts-fine-visual-performing/articles/how-to-become-a-stenographer-education-qualifications-scope-in-india-salary-blogId-36157.

3.     Heim, Carol. 1998. “Uneven Impacts of the Great Depression: Industries, Regions, and Nations.” In the Economics of the Great Depression, edited by Mark Wheeler, 36–68. Kalamazoo, Michigan: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. https://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1192&context=up_press#page=36.

4.     McDannell, Colleen. 2004. Picturing Faith: Photography and the Great Depression. Colleen McDannell. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=TPyBeuCE6A0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=importance+of+religion+during+the+great+depression&ots=2u1N8XaZO4&sig=Fp12or2KRvMg7PuxJrImyk4xiFM#v=onepage&q=importance%20of%20religion%20during%20the%20great%20depression&f=false.

5.     Remy, Corry. 2015. “Employment of Women in the 1930’s.” Medium. Medium. November 19, 2015. 1.     https://medium.com/the-thirties/employment-of-women-in-the-1930s-5998fd255f5.

6.     Ross, Mary, and Hendrik Van Loon. 1937. “Why Social Security?” Social Security History. U.S Government. 1937. https://www.ssa.gov/history/whybook.html.