Entry 3: Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression (1970)

After reading about Jane Yoder's life, I realized how fortunate I am. Yoder’s family was in poverty at the time of the Depression. She mentioned how she was always cold and had very little to keep her warm. When she grew up and saw her children have many sweater and coats to keep them warm, she was astonished. She said, “We tell our boy: you have a black sweater, a white sweater, and a blue sweater. You can’t wear ten sweaters at once, you can only wear one” (Turkel 128). Yoder couldn’t understand why people have more than one sweater because all she had was one. She later talked about how the WPA saved her family. Her father got employed right away by the WPA and the pay for the father supported the family. Jane’s son, Tom Yoder talked about his feelings about the Depression. He said, “I’ve never gone to bed hungry- I wish I had. I haven’t, and probably never will” (Turkel 130). Tom realizes how hard times were and wishes he had the chance to suffer to really see how bad the time was. I feel very fortunate to have a house to live in and to never go to bed hungry at night.

            I had the same feeling when reading about Peggy Terry and her mother, Mary Owsley.  Their lives were similar to Jane Yoder’s life, as well. Both of them struggled during the depression. Mary Owsley said, “My husband was very bitter… He couldn’t see why as wealthy a country as this is, that there was any sense in so many people starving to death…” (Turkel 139). I believe that many people at that time had very similar thoughts as Owsley’s husband. As wealthy as the U.S. was, many still suffered. Mary Owsley also mentioned another family that suffered. She said, “I knew one family there in Oklahoma City, a man and a woman and seven children lived in a hole in the ground” (Turkel 138).  I can’t imagine living in a hole in the ground. But because families could not afford houses, this is where some had to end up living.