Published: October 16, 2009 10:07 am      

Reliving the Great Depression and war years

There are many people alive yet today who lived through the Great Depression and the Second World War. The experience was such that none of those who did are likely to ever forget it.

Some remember the horrible times of the Depression with a feeling of despair.

“Some just couldn’t take their situation anymore, going to the big, impersonal city, renting a high up hotel room, and then jumping out the window. Calamity of great magnitude,” recalls Mary Winn, but other strong people somehow conjured up “good times” when talking about the fun they had.

At Clinton High School people still recall two cars in the small parking lot. One was owned by a “rich kid” and the other by a “rich teacher.” People helped each other; married guys got the jobs first; “heck, there was indoor plumbing; and people who were short of money had phones removed, to save, and then we (who were able to keep a phone) would receive calls for neighbors, leave the line connected, go to the folks’ house and get someone to come to our house to take the call.”

Families were desperate. Prior to the war, poverty was so prevalent that people didn’t even realize how bad things were for them. The Civilian Conservation Corp. was established for kids and the Works Progress Administration for adults who needed a job and would work hard for a little cash. Some parents would send their 16-year-old boys to Clinton Community College for a few years for $50 a month. The boy would get $10 and the rest would be sent to the parents. Some boys picked up useful skills as one I heard of who became a surveyor and went to work for the Corp. of Engineers, who ran the CCC, after he had “interned” for three years. He thought he had won the lottery to get such a great job, and he traveled the country later during the war years building airfields and the like during the 1940s.

This mobilization of the program from the signing of the bill in 1933 established 1,463 working camps with 250,000 junior enrollees occurred quite rapidly for a Federal program. Enrollees lived in camps, wore uniforms, and lived with military supervision, but as civilians were not subject to military regulations. At the time of entry, 70 percent of enrollees were malnourished and clothed poorly. Very few had more than a year of high school education; few had work experience beyond occasional odd jobs. Peace was maintained by the threat of “dishonorable discharge.” At the beginning, thousands refused to take the CCC oath of allegiance.

“This is a training station we’re going to leave morally and physically fit to lick ‘Old Man Depression,’” boasted the newsletter of a North Carolina camp.

Ray Cavanagh vividly remembers, “My parents lived on a farm outside Elvira, Iowa. They had 10 children. On Oct. 13, 1933, the bank foreclosed on the farm, my parents moved to Clinton, Iowa with $2.50 and 10 children. Then the hardships began. During that entire time, I never heard my parents complain in front of the children, that we were going through the toughest times. I know they must have had long talks about how we were going to make it. My dad went to work for the Clinton Company. I would watch when my dad came home from work on Friday. If he had work clothes tucked under his arm, I knew he had been laid off again. We lived on relief, which was limited indeed. My three older brothers wanted to quit school, but my dad insisted they stay in school and they graduate from high school, which we all did. This may not sound like much, but during those difficult times, it was a major achievement on the part of my parents. Unemployment was at 25 percent. A recovery did not begin until the United States began to plan for the Second World War. I, and my five other brothers, went into the army. This is a short story on a brutal time, but we managed and survived.”

Times were bleak, but families were courageous. This period steeled the people for the even more difficult times of the Second World War. The next two articles will investigate the end of the Depression and the shadow of impending war which was even scarier.



Gary Herrity is the Clinton Herald’s historical columnist. His column appears on page 5A on Fridays.