Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 10/Ed Rutledge

Ed Rutledge was a young man who grew up in Texas working on a cotton farm, who later turned into a Knitter in North Carolina. He married and had one child, a daughter. He was interviewed by John H. Abner on December 18, 1938.

Ed Rutledge
Born	August 18, 1910 near Fort Worth, Texas
Died	Unknown
Nationality	American
Occupation	Textile Worker

Biography

Early Life

Ed Rutledge was born, August 18,1912, on a small cotton farm near Fort Worth, Texas, He worked on the farm with his mother and father (not named). It was very common that Ed would work on the cotton farm. Ed took many trips to visit his uncle's farm in Mexico, where he learned to appreciate many other cultures. His mother unfortunately passed in 1924 on a trip to visit his uncle. He was alone and his father had to journey to Mexico to pick him back up and say goodbye to his wife. This brought Ed and his father closer together and their bond grew very strong. Around this time he began the transition from working with his father, to attending high school. While Ed was in school his dad hired a worker to help out on the farm. Unfortunately, Ed’s fathers health began to decline around 1927. Ed finished school and was able to start helping his father out again. Tragedy struck and Mr. Rutledge passed away.

Adult Life

After his dad's death, Ed got a new job at a diner and rented a hose. Towards the end of that year his house burned down, and the diner where he worked went under. SInce there was no longer work or family in the area, Ed set off with other workers that lost their jobs in search of new ones. The group of men travelled until the truck broke down in Louisisana. All the men separated and went on their way, but Ed and Sam Haines stuck together in search of jobs in Alabama. Sam quickly found a job in Birmingham, but Ed had no such luck. He continued to search for work starting at Atlanta, but continued making his way to Georgia and South Carolina. July 3, 1930, Ed got of a freight at Ponoma Yards where he got a job as a greaser.After 3 weeks at this job, his pay was raised to $14 and with all of his expenses, he would put away $11 for later. In September, he et a man who was a knitter. He explained his jo and that he made about $40 a week At first Ed was skeptical, but ended up leaving his job to learn the trade. He apprenticed for a year, but worked hard and became an official knitter on night shift. He worked his self up to the first shift (7:00 am - 3:00 pm). In 1935, he met his wife,a looper, at his job. They rented a place in the country and had one daughter. Approximately 3 years after Ed was interviewed for the Federal Writers Project.

Social Issues

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a time throughout the 1930's where "banks [were] failing and businesses [were] closing, more than 15 million Americans (one-quarter of the workforce) became unemployed” The majority of the US was hit with great financial disaster, that was hard to bounce back from. People lost their jobs, homes, and even families. When times fell hard many people did not know what to do. There were hustlers who found different ways to make money and just work in general. Others fell hard and could not not support themselves anymore. One source explains, “Men were harder hit psychologically than women were. Since men were expected to provide for their families, it was humiliating to have to ask for assistance”. It was such a different environment than everyone was used to so many people did not know how to cope. An expert states, "Although signs of declining economic activity had been apparent since the summer of 1929, the onset of the Great Depression was marked by the stock market crash of October 1929".. This was a tough time, but 4 years later in 1933.

Knitters

Around the 1930s, the industrial era was approaching fast, and textiles were booming. These jobs basically made workers learn as unpaid apprentices for at least a year before they are thrown into the actual process. Around this time, a knitter could make up to $40, which was a great amount for this time period. Many believe this was an easy job, but in fact the machines were quite delicate and required a lot of attention. The article states, “If you want to understand why knitting is such a particular job, and puts such strain on the eyes, spread out a silk stocking and examine the weave, or mesh. Then try to stick a fine needle through one of the spaces in the weave. There are 420 spaces in the stockings knit on my machine.”. The job was very hard on the workers because of the attention they needed to keep on the machines. Many young people worked in this industry because of the attentiveness and sharp eyes needed. The bulk of the workers in these factories dealt with the Knitting machine and had to watch out for the needles breaking as it happened frequently as well. Factory jobs were becoming normalized during this time, and it was highly likely to see someone working in this industry.

References

1. “The Knitter” Federal Writers’ Project Papers. The Southern Historical Collection, n.d.
2. Albers, Thilo Nils Hendrik. 2018. “The Prelude and Global Impact of the Great Depression: Evidence from a New Macroeconomic Dataset.” Explorations in Economic History 70 (October): 150–63. doi:10.1016/j.eeh.2018.08.004
3. Lee, Woong. 2016. “Slack and Slacker: Job Seekers, Job Vacancies, and Matching Functions in the U.S. Labor Market during the Roaring Twenties and the Great Contraction, 1924–1932.” Journal of Economic History 76 (3): 840–73. doi:10.1017/S0022050716000759.
4. Romer CD, Pells Richard H. Great Depression. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2020 May 18 [accessed 2020 Jul 9]. https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Depression
5. The Great Depression. American Experience |PBS. 2019 Jan 29 [accessed 2020 Jul 9]. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/dustbowl-great-depression/