Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2023/Fall/Section33/Sue and Ellen Wrighton

Biography

An older woman sitting alone by a window.

Early & Adult Life

Sue and Ellen Wrighton were sisters born and raised in Athens, Georgia. Sue was older than Ellen by ten years; by the time they were interviewed in 1939 for the Federal Writers’ Project, they were elderly women. The Wrighton sisters did not have resources, nor the help to maintain their home since childhood, so it became dilapidated and unsanitary.  The Wrighton sisters struggled throughout their lives to make a living to pay for taxes, clothing, and food. Their main source of income was Sue’s talent in the arts; she would quilt and sew dolls for Ellen to sell. In part, this was due to Ellen and Sue’s lack of education: they attended only grammar school and part of finishing school.

Social Context

Great Depression in Athens, Georgia

The Great Depression, a widespread economic crisis, lasted from about 1929 to 1939. Due to the overproduction of goods during World War I and then sharply lowered demand, southern farmers and civilians felt the effects of a collapsing economy. There was mass employment, bank failures, and little circulating money. The average family in Georgia did not have running water, electricity, or commodes inside their houses. Food was scarce and in more rural and poverty-stricken areas, there was a lack of education and access to healthcare. Georgia, like many southern states, relied on agriculture as the basis for their economy. The decline of cotton due to poor agricultural techniques contributed to the decimation of rural communities that lacked basic amenities.

Pre-1930s: Lack of Resources for Aging Population

Due to the prevalence of capitalism in America, there has been a historic pattern in the country to deem the older population as unproductive individuals and thus less valuable. America’s value of elderly people has resulted in lower care, vulnerability, and higher rates of loneliness. The effects of the Great Depression deeply impacted the elderly population before the 1930s, giving little to no resources for retirement-age support or opportunities for jobs that were manageable. Following the lack of federal aid for old age during the Progressive Movement, there were "radical proposals for unemployment insurance and old-age pensions advanced by social movements in the early 1930s reflected the new political space opened for public welfare innovations, once welfare capitalism and the minimalist role of the federal government of the 1920s were discredited by the Depression crisis." Welfare capitalism was the leading ideal before the push for New Deal era's push for elderly aid. It promoted the belief that private employers should provide social benefits rather than the public government. But after the Great Depression hit, many old age social reforms were organized; the most long standing being the Social Security Act: a pool of funds dedicated for retirees over the age of 65.

Rise of Women's Unemployment & Homelessness

Men and women had notably different experiences during the Great Depression. "[Women] lost jobs at a higher rate than did men in the early years of the collapse, were often unable to find other sources of income, and were routinely discriminated against in public employment.” Even the women in the 1920s who were once economically and socially self-sufficient, struggled to make ends meet due to their low wages during the depression. The stigma of homeless women as helpless and emotional differed greatly from the portrayal of men as heroes who wanted to provide for their family. The voices of urban homeless women were left silent; they failed to be represented in the Farm Security Administration's photographs of poor families and these women often felt relief was out of reach. Society was not ready to view women as unattached figures of domestic life, thus failing to meet the needs for these women.

References

Abelson, Elaine S. “‘Women Who Have No Men to Work for Them’: Gender and Homelessness in the Great Depression, 1930-1934.” Feminist Studies 29, no. 1 (2003): 105–27. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3178478.

Butterfield, Chalmers. File : Elderly woman, B&W image by Chalmers Butterfield.jpg. Accessed October 30, 2023. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elderly_Woman,_B%26W_image_by_Chalmers_Butterfield.jpg.

Hoyt, Jeff. “Senior Living History: 1930 - 1939.” SeniorLiving.org, July 27, 2023. https://www.seniorliving.org/history/1930-1939/.

Ikenberry, G. John, and Theda Skocpol. “Expanding Social Benefits: The Role of Social Security.” Political Science Quarterly 102, no. 3 (1987): 389–416. https://doi.org/10.2307/2151400.

Sadie, Horsby B. “Folder 188: Hornsby, Hall, Booth, and Harris (Interviewers): The Wrighton Sisters.” Federal Writers Project Papers. Accessed October 29, 2023. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/03709/id/787.

Vaughn, Gerald F. “C. A. Wiley and New Deal Land Reform in Georgia’s Cotton Belt.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 80, no. 2 (1996): 299–320. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40583437.

Zainaldin, Jamil S. “Great Depression.” New Georgia Encyclopedia. Accessed October 30, 2023. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/great-depression/.