Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 013/John Benton

From Wikiversity
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Biography[edit | edit source]

Early Life[edit | edit source]

John Benton, known in his interview for the Federal Writers’ Project[1] by the alias William Franklin, was a Black, disabled laborer and churchgoer, born in Union County, North Carolina. Benton describes that for most of his life he was a farmer1, in part because it was one of the only jobs available. He also describes his childhood and that his family lived on subsistence farming[2].2

Work & Family[edit | edit source]

Benton and his wife moved to Charlotte, North Carolina c. 1912. From the time he moved to Charlotte up until his stroke, Benton worked for the Express Company[3], where he made, over the years, anywhere from $35 to $95 per month, his best wages made during World War I. Since his stroke left him incapacitated c. 1936, his children take care of him. Benton had four children with his wife, all of whom went to school for some period of time.3

Religion[edit | edit source]

Benton also speaks of his church’s pastor, Daddy Grace, known in this interview by the alias Daddy Judah, who came to Charlotte c. 1925. The interviewer describes that Daddy Grace is half-white and seems to insinuate that he takes advantage of less educated people using evangelical[4] stunts.4

Social Context[edit | edit source]

Prevalence of disability in Black people[edit | edit source]

Societal issues raised in this interview are the lack of support for disabled people as well as the prevalence of disability in Black people during the time period.5 This reflects the larger issues of the era in that Black people were left with so few possibilities that they may not have realized that other opportunities were even reachable. Many Black men of the era were more prone to becoming disabled to the point of being limited in everyday activities.6

Lack of access to education for Black people[edit | edit source]

Minorities were exploited because of their lack of accessibility to education. Church leaders took advantage of the lesser educated through self-proclamations of having “powers of healing” and of being a “frequent visitor to heaven,” which drew people in and led them to believe that they could heal them and restore their abilities.7

Notes[edit | edit source]

1. Wilson, Korsha. “Black Families Once Lived off Their Southern Farmland. Their Descendants Are Struggling to Hold onto It.” The Washington Post. WP Company, July 23, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/black-families-once-lived-off-their-southern-farmland-their-descendants-are-struggling-to-hold-onto-it/2019/07/22/37b3132a-a975-11e9-86dd-d7f0e60391e9_story.html.

2. Bennett, Cora. “Folder 296: Bennett, Cora (Interviewer): We Never Did Git Nowhere.” https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/03709/id/675.

3. Ibid.↑

4. Ibid. ↑

5. Shih-Fan Lin, Audrey N. Beck, Brian K. Finch, Black–White Disparity in Disability Among U.S. Older Adults: Age, Period, and Cohort Trends, The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Volume 69, Issue 5, September 2014, Pages 784–797, https:// doi-org.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/10.1093/geronb/gbu010.

6. Ibid. ↑

7. Flynt, Wayne. "Religion for the Blues: Evangelicalism, Poor Whites, and the Great Depression." The Journal of Southern History 71, no. 1 (2005): 3-38. www.jstor.org/stable/27648650.

References[edit | edit source]

Shih-Fan Lin, Audrey N. Beck, Brian K. Finch, Black–White Disparity in Disability Among U.S. Older Adults: Age, Period, and Cohort Trends, The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Volume 69, Issue 5, September 2014, Pages 784–797, https:// doi-org.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/10.1093/geronb/gbu010.

Flynt, Wayne. "Religion for the Blues: Evangelicalism, Poor Whites, and the Great Depression." The Journal of Southern History 71, no. 1 (2005): 3-38. www.jstor.org/stable/27648650.

Bennett, Cora. “Folder 296: Bennett, Cora (Interviewer): We Never Did Git Nowhere.” https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/03709/id/675.

Kelley, Robin D. G. Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Chapel Hill Libraries, 2015.

Wilson, Korsha. “Black Families Once Lived off Their Southern Farmland. Their Descendants Are Struggling to Hold onto It.” The Washington Post. WP Company, July 23, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/black-families-once-lived-off-their-southern-farmland-their-descendants-are-struggling-to-hold-onto-it/2019/07/22/37b3132a-a975-11e9-86dd-d7f0e60391e9_story.html.

Estrin, James. “Surviving Droughts, Tornadoes and Racism.” The New York Times, November 6, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/business/black-family-farmers.html.

  1. ↑ [1], additional text.
  2. ↑ [2],additional text.
  3. ↑ [3], additional text.
  4. ↑ [4], additional text.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikiversity.org/w/index.php?title=Federal_Writers%27_Project_–_Life_Histories/2020/Summer_II/Section_013/John_Benton&oldid=2535500"