Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Fall/105/Section 061/Don Washburn

Biography

Early Life

Don Washburn was born on June 29, 1893 in the mountains of North Carolina. He was the oldest of four kids and the only boy. In his early days, he worked on the family farm, which was what his family had done since his forefathers immigrated there from Scotland and England. Washburn attended country school and a denominational junior college, however he prematurely left to travel to Colorado where he lived with his Aunt and Uncle looking for work. He travelled for ten years to multiple states trying different professions, ranging from mining, ranching and clerking, until he was drafted and entered into the U.S. Army on July 5, 1918.

Active Duty

Don was opposed to idea of wars and believed that anyone who fought in a war was a fool and most likely forgot what it was they were fighting for in the first place, with the only exception being in self-defense. Whatever the case, Washburn was frustrated after being drafted, especially because there was already talk of the war ending. He noted that he was not alone with these feelings, however nobody ever did anything about it. He was sent to Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia, where he was put in a medical unit and moved to Camp McClellan in Alabama and worked at a hospital taking care of flu patients. Him and his fellow soldiers worked most of the day in wretched conditions where so many died that they ran out of boxes to place the bodies into. Three months later Washburn and his unit started making their way to France where they replaced an outfit in a base hospital that was sent home. It took some time to get to Base Hospital 13 however, and unit spent some time stationed at camps along the way. The conditions at Base Hospital 13 were much better, and Washburn and his unit stayed there until he was honorably discharged on July 26, 1919.

Work and Family Life

On return, Washburn returned to his family in North Carolina for the first time in years and worked at a tannery there. Washburn wanted to work for a business that he could eventually own however, so he continued to travel the United States looking for work opportunities. In Kansas he worked on a farm shucking corn for five dollars a day, six days a week. After hearing talk of better wages at rubber factories in Ohio, Washburn left Kansas and was hired by one of the largest rubber factories in Ohio. He worked for one dollar an hour and worked ten hours a day to start, until he eventually got promoted to a dollar and fifty cents an hour for eight hours a day. The whole time Washburn saved up money and learned all there was to know about tires by taking night classes at the factory. There he met a man named Myers who shared similar ambitions, so the two moved back to North Carolina to start a tire repair shop. His partner eventually left after proving to not be cut out for the business, and Washburn became the full owner of the company. Upon Myers leaving, the business performed much better and became a stable source of income. Washburn married a woman who worked across the street from his tire repair shop in 1923 and they had three kids, a girl and two boys. Washburn took up bowling and fishing in his free time and served as a deacon in his local Presbyterian church. He was an avid member of the American Legion and also joined the YMCA, the Chamber of Commerce and a fraternal order.

Historical Context

Public Opinion of WWI

Support for the war effort in America was hard to come by when World War I initially broke out in Europe. Many people had taken up an isolationist standpoint and did not wish to get involved in European affairs, “despite early reports of German atrocities”[1]. It took German U-boat attacks on sea vessels housing American citizens and the infamous Zimmerman Telegram before President Wilson was able to get Congress to approve a declaration of war. Even so, “Wilson was concerned about public support for the war because the pacifist feeling had been so pronounced”[2], so he launched an aggressive censorship campaign that forbade any public dissent during the war. Not all were completely against it however, because Wilson’s speeches on democracy inspired many to have positive opinions of the war, “’All wars are hell. All wars are useless. All wars are futile. Nevertheless when I went in, I was just… this was the only war that’s been fought to make the world safe for democracy and to end all wars’”[3] America was in dire need of a draft if they were to stand a chance in the war, and with all public opposition silenced, millions of American citizens were indeed drafted. While most drafted soldiers joined the Army or the Marine Corps, some were placed with medical units, as seen in the following excerpt about the formation of a Base Hospital in France staffed by American troops, “Recruitment to the staff of the now-designated Base Hospital #28 started immediately… men, who would serve in supporting roles, were recruited from the greater Kansas City area”[4].

---

[1] https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-arrival-of-the-american-troops

[2] https://www.histclo.com/essay/war/ww1/cou/us/home/w1cush-opi.html

[3] https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-arrival-of-the-american-troops

[4] http://www.kumc.edu/wwi/base-hospital-28.html

Labor in 1915

Labor in 1915, right before American involvement in World War I, was significantly different when compared to a 2015 census. The percent of the population that worked in 1915 was slightly smaller than the percent recorded in 2015, 56.3% and 62.7% respectively[1]. This number may come as a surprise, since less than a quarter of women worked at the time and collecting census data was much harder and therefore underestimated, however the excess of labor participation came from the large number of children working. With less regulations on child labor in 1915, it was very common for children to start young, whether it be a family business or in factories. The economy had just experienced a recession, so work in 1915 was harder to come around, “The period from 1894 to 1915 was a period of change, unrest, and economic uncertainty for the workers of the United States”[2]. This made characters like Don Washburn not too uncommon, as work may have been scarce or undesirable in many places.

---

[1] https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2016/article/the-life-of-american-workers-in-1915.htm

[2] https://www.loc.gov/collections/america-at-work-and-leisure-1894-to-1915/articles-and-essays/america-at-work/

References

Leon, Carol Boyd. “The Life of American Workers in 1915: Monthly Labor Review.” U.S. Bureau

of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, February 1, 2016. https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2016/article/the-life-of-american-workers-in-1915.htm.

“Voices of the First World War: Arrival Of The American Troops.” Imperial War Museums.

Imperial War Museums. Accessed October 13, 2020. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-arrival-of-the-american-troops.

World War I First World War -- America United States public opinion, June 29, 2011.

https://www.histclo.com/essay/war/ww1/cou/us/home/w1cush-opi.html.

“Forming Base Hospital #28.” Forming Base Hospital #28, Medicine in the First World War,

2018. http://www.kumc.edu/wwi/base-hospital-28.html.

“America at Work” The Library of Congress. The Library of Congress. Accessed October 13,

2020. https://www.loc.gov/collections/america-at-work-and-leisure-1894-to-1915/articles-and-essays/america-at-work/.