Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2023/Fall/Section33/Mrs. Thomas

Overview

   Mrs. Allie Thomas is an old and experienced Caucasian lady that has encountered many issues in her life. She lives in a house with her husband (Harris), her four children (Ruthie, Joey, Ellie, and Grace), her sister (Della), and her nephews (Billy and Johnnie, along with an unnamed new baby). She has lived in poverty, despite her and her husband’s work, for long enough to acquire medical debt from many sources. Most of these sources are from her family - her son and her sister - but Mrs. Thomas has her own debt as well. This debt has left the family living in a run-down house, where most become sick, unclean, and malnourished.

Biography

Family life

   The first family member made apparent is Della, Allie’s sister. Della has had complications with the law and mental hospitals, and recently has undergone childbirth. Due to these complications, she now resides with Allie. In her own family, Allie mostly strives to do her best with her two eldest daughters, Ellie and Grace. She made sure that while they got a standard education, they were also allowed to play and socialize, since she believed the only way they would live happily was to marry well. Her other family members, including her husband, were not able to live in as much joy as these daughters. Harris was the only one living at their house that was still able to work, and his work in the orange plantations did not provide enough to live a good life. Everybody else in the household was under constant ailments, between disease, age, and childbirth. As the most able one that remains at the house consistently, Allie takes charge of caring for Della and all of the children.

Living conditions

   At the time of the interview, Allie suffers from “a-breakin out on (her) legs and feet”, and frequent headaches. She has very strong beliefs about these conditions, frequently denying what other people claim, no matter their credentials. She often defies her nurse, even when somebody else is at risk, through claiming that her suggestions are silly or too expensive, the latter of which has already been an issue for the family, leaving them in hefty medical debt. As a result of this debt, a low family income, and many children, the state of the house they reside in is run-down and seemingly fragile, as there are cracks and tears in nearly everything observable. When Harris returns from work on a citrus plantation, it is discussed that they plan on moving to a better place, but that Harris’s work has come before house hunting. Working on a citrus orchard, Harris’ hours are long and tireless, especially with how the surrounded economy impacted his workplace. Workers becoming more desperate, and that desperation being matched by their employers, work had to come before nearly everything else for Harris. With everybody sick and living in a run-down house, spirits are low, but Allie still tries to give a good life to those she takes care of.

Social Context

Early Medicine in the Deep South

       Due to the Great Depression, the main reason for medical troubles were money and accessibility. There were physicians that were willing to do work, but they were paid less than before. Regardless, charity cases were often done for those in deep trouble. “The main causes of death in the early 1930s, in order of risk, were: heart disease, cancer, pneumonia, and infections and parasitic disorders. This last group included influenza (flu), tuberculosis, and syphilis”. In general, pneumonia, parasites, and most infections had ways to be cured at the time, though not as easily as with modern medicine such as penicillin. Despite this, many people were unable to get to the doctor to get these cured, or even detected, despite government action. Regardless, those that could make it struggled with finances.

Early Agricultural Business in Florida

Example of a citrus plantation in 1930s Florida

       Agriculture in Florida started with Spanish colonialism who founded corn, sugar, rice, and citrus plantations. Agriculture became the foundation for Florida’s economy, particularly cattle-raising and citrus production. By the 1930s, the Great Depression halted citrus production as a reliable source of income. Land owners were far greedier with who they hired, and didn’t pay enough for hardly anybody to live. “Citrus growers, especially, were caught in a vice between low prices – grapefruit was bringing five cents a box on-tree in the late 1930s – and handlers and shippers, who often controlled harvesting.” Nearly 30 years after the Great Depression had its greatest effects, in 1855, came the revolution of transportation. This made export of citrus from Florida far more important, and the plantations that were established towards the beginning of establishment of the state followed the growth in importance.

References

“Life History of The Thomas Family” Interview by Barbara Berry Darsey, date February 8, 1939, Folder 103, Federal Writers’ Project papers #3709, Southern Historical Collection, the Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"The 1930s Medicine and Health: Overview ." U*X*L American Decades. . Encyclopedia.com. (September 18, 2023). https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/culture-magazines/1930s-medicine-and-health-overview

Gore TB. A forgotten landmark medical study from 1932 by the Committee on the Cost of Medical Care. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2013;26(2):142-143. doi:10.1080/08998280.2013.11928937

Mormino, Gary R. “Twentieth-Century Florida: A Bibliographic Essay.” The Florida Historical Quarterly 95, no. 3 (2017): 292–324. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44955689.

“History of Florida Farm Bureau.” https://floridafarmbureau.org/history/

“Florida Development.” Florida Department of State. https://dos.fl.gov/florida-facts/florida-history/a-brief-history/florida-development/

Nelson, David. “When Modern Tourism Was Born: Florida at the World Fairs and on the World Stage in the 1930s.” The Florida Historical Quarterly 88, no. 4 (2010): 435–68. http://www.jstor.org/stable/29765121.