Document text
;:a1Q, 19p_
--7,1gi.., 4:1. 3.-Thitehead.(Whit
-2- ::_,,,,-/-41rk,r pr't 41eAriApj1,._ and Lau*xy
C
tickets and I will check them. I can do tnat n4 talk too." The girl
4_
did as she was instructed. "ow, go on if yo 6.41Ag-to see the
1
_
baby, because e will want to go,and you can take their
_
placeS"
She was wearing a red crepe dress, blue chekked sport coat_
blocked in in red, tan hose and black sue slippers. 3he is of medium
weight and heightq\has black Aair and brown eyes.
°Now, what is it you want me to tell you? Oh, I don't mind
that, I have always thought I would write my‘life history and send
it to the True Story Magazine,Gemopety_ I was corn rignt here in
.1
Clarke dounty, on a farm, and have worked all my life. I have4workelip.
4amAisiem44e+eQeny a day such as carrying waterl as well as doing
other necessary things. I have even pibked cotton.
"I went *went to school at Prince -bon, aTter finisned grammer schoolbe
I came to Athens high school one year. Th444it school and went
to work. 'M f'Ofk4'didn't like it one bite however one of my brotheE\s
was in college and anotner in high. school, thrforJ I felt like it
was too much of an effort for my parents to send me any longer.
"My father gavp up farm work and moved to town. My first job
was at a dime store, worked in tnat store about two yeara,ias a
clerletAgn they made me floomatkmr lady. After being on this job
six ahths I quit to take a vacation. They paid me tiro a day as
clerk and t10 a week when they promoted me to',floorlady4' My first
money was spent on clothes and I sent money each week to my brother
it college. I would buy clotnes if I didn't have anything else.
My husband says tnat is all I do anyway spend everytning I make
-3-
Itical==p339r3St
xittxxxxm*gtmmx
.on _them. I -didn't have to pay boardand I could do as'I pleased
with my money. =Va
"My second job waslaalesaady at anzdoicatatit•De-Cariment
Store.. I started in for #.8 a week and was making p.12 when I quit
to get married. I thought I couldn't keep douse and work too. I
_4)
worked until-ft7e o'clock Christmas Elte and was married
at ne-
o'clock that same night.. P'
:The way I met my husband was I- had -a7date one night with a
boy I didn't like. We. were double dating with- another couple. They
were telling me about 3tephens Bryant. I expreses a desire to
meet him. Than they dared .me to: Write Aim, I took the dare, and did
_ _ _
it. Stephens and the boy 1 was witn worked at the same place. Mother
heard us and told me later i had better not dolb.,auch a- thing. It
was too late because 1: -had all ready written the note. If she had
1-
told me that before I :had,,-lit'Would have,been called off,- -I 444
him how much I knew about him :and would like to meet him -'3ignedc
'Betty. 1hat was on Monday After the dare was made on Sunday night.
I many met him the last $unday in -June of that year.: There were
four girls in tne car and all of us were introduced to him as Betty.
After sizing us up he knew I was the one who wrote that note.
"He wanted a date and I gave him one for the following Saturday
night. He made me 30 mad that night I could have murdered hip. We
were going to the show, I was sure he was going to put his coat on,
but he didn't,I thought there was no excuse for #46 not wearing it.
47
we 41blz,a j:fliom thrin on until we marriedjinifact every nignt he
./y// /74
could get off. He worked, at the bakery and never knew when he
-4-
multdxgmtxaffxxxitgxworkedxatt amid get away,
He made real good money working at the mixing machine. At the time
we married he had a nice little bank account, and a good car.
"We lived on here in Athens for four montns:rhin his boss
sent him 6 Milledgeville to take charge of a bakery tnere. 1104,
1,0,,,T lived there eighteen monthir Inttm7.37-11MTE-t171-mg-tp our first
child was born, and we got just what we wanted, a Plack-headed girl.
I did all my own house work, and carried lunch to my husband every
w
day-t-su.mmer I canned 250 cans of One day 1.-wers-ge+ftg-
to-take Igw-hmmerrt1Wtm-tunT41-. Lput the baby in her carriage, and
"fro., *Li. 4-41:1014 4144,
sat the lunch I had on a new pair of shoes
41 I, f" 3. l I 1 Zr,,..1
when I started mut down the,/s eps of our house 14zr-rremre-atrcra-t---3-br
in sol, my feet slipned. I let the carriage gol) it went flying
down the steps and bumped into a tree. I was scared out of my wits
for fear. the baby btit i,nsect tne
1k) 17)(
food was knocked out on the ground. We soon'gretw t1re1d of tnat
ize.31 L I
place, we had irery little social life and no relatives living tnere,
so my husband gave up his job and came back toa-4441.efts:-.
e)174
Bryant stiopped talkinglto answeritne,phonai, in fact it
,4/14.,,, e'.'1406
seemed to meA-ift rang constantly. There are two in tne office and
at times both are ringing. The machinery never stopped rur(ing even
otO
at luncn time4/3hebeganly "After we came back nere. my husband
went into the restaurant business iew made g
profit. While .it ne was operating this cafe I helped nim with it.
One day a woman came in and tried to get 3tephens to have a date
with one of her grown daugnters. It made me mad/ enough to fight.
I didn't let ner know it.and took it like a good sport, because she
-5
was a good customer.
-X
61-'7e decided uo arm after -we aoldroixtewrailt. we rented
a holl3e and four acres of land way out on Prince Avenue. It was a
large house 30 motner and aad moved in with us. Each of us aad
our own p3raen about an acre in all and armed on tne otner three.4,
We mane real good and our rent cost us very little. )uring tne
time we lived there, Wiltivit mg nusband wes...tatbAbillmae worked at tne
post office./ Wheh,-, lease expired in December, 3tephens went to
Atlanta to find work. Lee Baking comoany had just opendd tneir
plant and my auspand was uae first man tnat company aired to work
in their Plant. I followed about a month later. ie rented a small
three-room apartment, but nad 30 mucn comnany to drop in on us we
had to get a larger place. While we were living in one section of
the city I was scared to deatn. knew somebody was 3nooping around
the house at night but was never able to find out wao it was. Whether
white or black. I got my brother -in -1,w and Ai3 wife to come and
stay witn me. One night (le went to tne kitcnen and saw the man look-
ing in nt Lae window. lily brotner-in-law didn't let on ne saw him,
but yent out of tne kitcnen, crent around ufle house to oatch him.
Just as ne grabbed ni3 coat the man pulled away from him and ran.
We came to tne conclusion it was only a peeping -tom.
,e moved
from tnat section, that was the only scare I ever experienced
in Atlanta. We lived in Atlanta two and e..ge-nalf years. I came
back before my husband did in order to be with my mother when our
little boy was born. Then uhe U aby was two weeks old 3tephens
gave U0 tnat 465 a week At and came back nere to live. While we
were living in Atlanta my ausband's motaer ied. There was a ber
-7
were clean and inspected micePREMMOS=4004m before I entered them on
t
the books. I have worked many a night until one and two o'clock
befdre I went home and was back on the job next morning at eight
o'clock. Tnat was the first iximdxaltErxtee time I nad ever een
inside a dry cleaning plant. Our partner, his wife, my husband
and and one Negro were all that worked in
Agopt in the begining.
"A short time after we opened up for business we found our—
selves in a terrible condition. We had spent all our cash and
r',t7
-wets $11,000 in dabt. In order to cut expenses we moved in the
house witn 3tephens folks. We paid them the small abount of
810.00 a month, We nad our own cow, chicken and garden.
"Our business grew and grew until we konqskt had to get a
larger place, thIZI we bougnt tnis building with our own personal
money. When we started in the dry cleaning business we didn't
nave but one truck_ at the time we moved into tnis plant we"d
plant.40E0ft
,•?„,..4:, 4,
six trucks, three in town and three in tile country 4449ill fifteen
I
,employeed inside>/-,,;
"Just about the time we moved our plant and got started, p my
nusband was taken sick with a terrible kidney trouble. I was not
working when he was taken ill. We were not .able to Aire a nurse,
could/lit come to the plant in his place,
coulcrpOt leave him more tnan fifteen minutes at a time. The
children even upset him and tneir noise made him 30 nervous I nad
to send tnem to his sister's to stay. He was sick a month before
he was able to come back to work.
laRxE54ARk*x4x4Rikx%4%R1R§x
-8-
itx,tvit 1
1,4-0
1.'We lots of dry cleaning from a .;:\Torth .Georgia town,
I• ________
so ye desqded to. open arsia4t _in that DIace.)It was a paying pfr--
all-
.._ ,..2
\itionitypnere were two .o-tTier- 'plants in that town besides ours. 1 Th-eTsr'
got together and paid. us to .get out of business there. We 1//-,/.
I
Now we nave our business all under one roof. -wIth-:twenty
working for us."
L4Ziec....444epiireawrisonig Mrs.
rsation was over, she •toid Ale man who was standing neari"Do you
,remember yestprday4M....atmer- ?ailed .and a4ked ,about a -bill:foldow
that had been left in his pocket? I .told tne girl *no inspects the
r d' 4
rr
Bryant ans•werecl„ -after 'the conver-
clothes to cneck and see if it was in his clothe he told me it
.was &Tell iliXt as ,en: dry
eleangd-and delivered mai without
being removed rIpoved from his pocket.!Tn e nian,,made no replye
note of this. I found q8.50 in Z.440a- man' s pocket
Turning to me she began
and electricity.
10,e,
some eleven
again. "Our plant i 3 run_ by steamPiIf
4
la
the ironing in .the laundry -3e-
J. at this time a large Negro woman in .a blue
uniform brought a shirt,t(2, the O'fice with the bottom part torn from
the yoke. "Why, Lucindy wnat did you do tnat for/0 Witnout a word
tne woman spread tesni,qri the corner of the desk, covered ner
.face witn her hands and walked away.
"All the ironing is done by steam preasure and they .are
touched up by hand. 'that i 3 Tnat tAe negro women dos.P. We nave
one woman who does nothing i!k else but fold, inspect and
sew buttons on shirts. Oh, we nave to buy Iniumi'Dy tie wholesale.
Winualortur=m-Lt:Lrratam===
_.-1.1a-gas.pka4 ktts-
Witsm people will even send
JD
wnole suits of clothes as well as-otner garments to US !ithout a
outton on hem. We replace .1.1 free of cnarFe.
"In_dxx, nleautag tn.? .olotAeq. Wien ,t-nce7----it-laP---4*.votifetAr-4n. they
are searched and all rticIeSsaved for the customers. TnIt-ere
brusned and pre-spo:Lttd, .1*T.ttley. areC1aaned'and ta-en to tne
second floor for insPection and spotted again, before tney are
tageft-40.44 pressed. We nave Anan WhO does notnin else out
inspect and spot/ the dry clepninF.
"'ge en clean fifty suits at one time in same claltbila
tub, ;I:i.B97 sometimes called te -heel. After tney are taken 2
from the wheel ,they are nut in an extractor. -.nis talces out all tne
xriNi surnlus solv/nt. This macnine makes 18,000 revolutions a
minute. After that tney are put in a tumbler,, hicn ot air
4;444.14,..22444.ip44-14,-.
l'ney are tumbled until ._ne\,...eolv,,nt od0r0.s out
of tne Ferments. ter iis they pre 'taken to tne second floor,
inspeced aFain and steamed pressed. r2npfn they are inspected by
two girls to s'7,,e if all spots are removed anP. prssed co-Tectly
oefore checking out. 'Then they ore checked tney pre placed on their
respective route -men's line. Te also do repair work at a small
charge. If tnere is no material used ne on not 0nel-we for repairs.
"Ine laundry is handled practically the same way. mach driver
nas hiS
smaller pieces are put in a net-anditlimftritn tne igotesogg mark on
it.
own laundry vat, and every family has ,1.44o4r own mark. The
4
.114'Inen we first moved to tnis builL..ingt was just a one -story!
1t -To-fte-intt-444***4 was Frowilw rapidly., Our ppr-t,ner s-tarted drink-
Inge finally when he was on one of his 'drinking sprees, one night
somebody backed a truck up to the back door, broke in and toOk
off every garment we had in the plant. They were dry cleaned and
hanging one the respective drivers' lin6, The clothes stolen
amounted to over,000. Agiwarrmattits my husband and the police
searched everywhere for a trac& of the clot:J-1es. Theitonly found
three of the" they were in a pawn shop in Atlanta. When the
search was ended we paid our partner his part of tne business
and ran him off.
"Taking the u3i4a.i in charge OUr3eIirei;.w0/orked hard
dE.1.y and night to build up our business Andtg,p.40PRIrtline paid
very one of our customers task for their lon in a years timede
7
-.7;p7. A
.V Jr 2,
dIA friend of ours wilmilmod.44, come into business wltn us as a 1
6)1
partner. -4Z4petm-dorzammu=ta=4461- business out grew the ground floor.
Thp we added the second story. We surely have had to work hard low,
1) {4hatiwe have and it has taken cooperation on the part ofilus,ti.17
1
We do nave a nice/business
and take in between eight and nine hundred dollars a week. Our
pa roll runs around 830
a week.
"3ince we nave added the second -story tne business has in-
creased to the extent it has enabled us to buy a nundred acre
farm with a good house and out -buildings on it. There is a nice
_
pasture and good farming land. '4e rent the house we live in =at
in town. However, our partner ammo owe;his home nere.1421111M
-4=aumwmetelemutere=*.mone-4.iipea-a.Pe-mpfrrIed. Hi 3 7ife
works in the plant every day.
mit
-10-
"We are members of tne lethodist cnurch, I was brought up t%m
go to church and Sundayschool, and still en/oy attending our chur
lvere-tir-MAIreipm.
"Last year we decided to specuIate.and-ga-into another
business. sellin fish and poultry. We found out we couldn'; handle
two businesses successfully. After tnree months we u m gpve_tnat
up finding we nad sunk $15c900 in tnat enterprise with no hopes of
getting it back. twappaatxxadx0txxitxtigraxtaxmxr We contributed
that failure to our entering the businss in an off season.
Ilan the last few2.aars
our busines4"efforded- Pleasure
Detroit, Cnarleston and 3avannah. We
one nice trtlipEl.„
We Tent to Florida,
take lots of trips on 3undayS
and always take our children with us. I/Am not the kind to want W.
leave them at home while we are ruqng around. ife do enjoy the
privilege of a family car.
"Going back to our claw cleaning and laundry, we decided our
pick-up business in the coyitry didn't bring. in TufficiAnt revenue
so we have calledA in.now0 we have four trucks working in.town
nnd it surely keeps us busy keeping up with them and their vork
when t/ley come in from gathering laundry and ddry cleaning. We
are very proud of our business and hope it will continue to grow."
"Veona," called -Mr. Brynnt. "Hurry and edi=temzetiu=nd.-
'46
deposit this money before .116 closes." He came in the office with
a handful/of checks.?- "Nowif have finished with the story,
‘fko;
come on and II II Five you a 1 t."4 AF•gegt) in tne xi 3tudebaken.4
oh, what a nice car/I said tamales. "Tills don't belong to
4
1.441-1...*
-11-
rs is a Packard, it Ars .in the garage brOng overhauled to take
trip in 3unday. I do hope i wont rain. e JIM* rea....cil_e_d :the Pos
office, tnis is whr-re I get 4I told her "You-4011-47-lhav-e--art-
ettle-e -1-1a----t-ite—prrs-t-- office do you?* -No, in the cdurt hcuse. "Oh,
was her parting --Pe as I closed the"door, she
fte fi;fst and wasOn her way to the bank.