OPPapers.com

The Great Depression

The Great Depression
By: Spencer Johnson
March 9, 2000
I interviewed my great-grandmother, May Artz, for this project on the great depression. She was born on March 26, 1916. She is currently 84 years of age and lives in Brookhaven retirement home in Brookville, Ohio. She grew up in Springfield, Ohio during which she attended schooling through the sixth grade. She worked as a house wife all her life taking care of her thirteen children.
While living at home she doesn't remember much about the roarin' 20's, but she does have some vivid memories of the depression in which she endured. Her mother died of scarlet fever when she was only a young girl, but her father remarried before she was out of the house. Her stepmother would hire her out as help for people to assist with the financial aspect of the families needs. One of these jobs was for a man by the name of Floy Artz. He was a farmer and needed help on the farm, so May was hired as assistance. They grew together and were married. He was quite a bit older then her, but they were truly in love.
Like I mentioned earlier they had thirteen children. The biggest reason for having this many kids was they were needed as workers on the farm because they couldn't afford to hire help. She told me that they used to buy flour in big burlap bags since the family was so large. They couldn't afford to but cloth for making clothes or to go to the store and buy some. With a lot a creativity she made clothes out of the empty flour bags. The burlap made durable cloth and it was free.
On a nice day in the fall one of their daughters was starting school. She wanted to say good-bye to her father, so she went to the barn to find him. She ended up getting kicked in the head by a horse and died later that day. She said, "the family was sad, but it only made that much stronger and closer." She spoke of people coming closer together and learning to appreciate things a lot more.
Living on a farm was an...