Document text
as told to
Dorotht. hest
1:Irs. A. is a middle-azed Negro woman oi average height, rather heavy, with straithe
features, ruddy brawn complexie, and envy dark hair. She wee born in Camden,
where she received a grammar school education, and moved to Charleston, S.C. whee
she was married. For the last six years she has been living in New York, where her
four daughters. two married, te3 single, live. One of her dau„:;hters is the proprietor
of a beauty parlor where Mrs. Pe likes to spend the day, ehen she isii4t too busy.
her prin,ipal interests are her children and church work (she is a eethodist), but she
finds thaL she is too busy with doneseic work to get much time for church activities.
Although her children all live in New York, she is beginning to be anxious to return
to her home in the South, and hopes to leave as soon as her eoungest daughter is
married. In spite of her years in the North, her "teechee" accent is still per-
ceptihle.
Once or twice a year, around where I lived, most women with families
would pack up for three or four days and go blackberry pidking. ,y
mother had son distant relatives in a little place called Ninet:-Six,
not very far on the train from eamden. I remameer the first time she
took no to Ninety -Six when she went to pick berries.
to she did started gettimc ready about a week sfore vie left. She
e)iled her Mason jars (heavy, glass quart jars for cunning) and boiled
the rubber collars (heavy rubber bands which were put on before the cap
was screwed on the jar to make the canned Deeds airtight), and she
boiled the caps to fit an the jars. :hen she packed about fifteen jars
and collars and caps in a biz basket and in suit -eases so she could carry
them without mech trouble. Clothes didn't matter much. You had two
or three gingham dresses and a pair of shoes and two eair of socks vete
that was about all.
The first tine I went, my mother just ,00k me. ,ele loft ev, brother are'
sister at Ilene. I was the yoenzest and she thou At &ds had to telca me,
and she didn't want to take Lae others because she didn't know haw much
roam the lady where we wore goirk to stay had. I was about seven than.
e got on the train and I guess we rode tweethree-houre trains went
slower then t Lan they do now. Ninety -Six is a lit,le flab station and
when we got there, the woman's husband where well were going to stay net
us at the station (it was just a little shed, mealy) with u horse and
buggy. e lived about three miles free, the place where the train
stopped.
Alen we got there, there were two other woolen with their ceildrer. It
was always like that. Uore tbnr one wain came to stay at a house der/4_,
pickint tine. This time you eent to this place, the next time you went
Page 2.
somethere else. And your relatives and maybe one or two of your best friends
were the ones who came to pick berries together. This time I'm telline you
about, there were two other women and their child ran. I believe (she stopped
to count) ttere were twelve or thirteen children in that house at one time.
Mass (Mrs.) Mary (her hostess) herself had seven children, I made eight, and
one women had two children, and the other one had two or three. I tan't
remember exactly.
lite didn't do anythin, but play that first day. The crown folks got their
jars together in the kitchen, and collected big pots and pans to put the berries
in when they picked 'ere I guess they talked the rest of that day since maye
they didn't see each other sore than once or twice a year. "i,een we cot ready
to go to bed, the girls were put eegether in the parlor on pallets to sleep, and
the boys were put in tee dinint-room. I know the e were five of us girls sleeping
an a pallet on the floor once. I don't knee where the eroen folks slept. I don't
remember whether they slept on pallets or not. I :emes not since the children gave
up their beds arid slept on pallets. I do know thee sonetinee as nany as four women
slept to ether in one reore
be got up early in the morniee and had breakfast as soon as it was light me
had salt pork and hominy grits and hot biscuits and maybe one or two other things.
Then the bees helped the women take the pans out and pile 'en in the wagon. One of
the boys drove the =Lies, and two women sat on the seat of the wagon and the other
two sat in the back with as many of the ce.ldren as could ,o. Sometimes the other
children would want to -o* and theld hang an to the side oa die wagon or behind it.
If you didn't have ream to to, you' just walk alon :ehind the wagon.
You'd take rood alone to eat in the middle of the day because you stayed all day.
Everyeody eould pick* the women and the children. You didn't put the berries in any
special asket. You figured out how much everybody would get after you not buck to
the house. And everybody always ;cot the same share. hhen you filled one bi pan*
you'd start filling another oee* and you kept on 'till ;„ou'u picked as many as you
could. 'Course the childrea ate more than they picked, and sometime they'd run off
and play.
I rememaear once I had on shoes and everybody else was barefooted. They called me a
city chap, and they played triodcs on me. Once they ran oil' from the grown folks and
I followed gene he amme to a little orick and they ran right on throueh it to the
other side. I wanted to follow 'em but I had on a nice little 4ncham dress and
shees. They had on overhalle overalle) and no shoes so it was easy for themito est
wet. I stood on the side for minute jast looking at 'en and trying to make up
Ar zind about eettine over to the other aide. They got tired of vaitine on me, and
one of the bie girls came back over and threw m4 in the cricke then she ran on
across and they all ran and hid. ';.hen I finally eot eut of the water. I couldn'e
find 'am anymhere. I stood there cryin' and yellin' and finally, it seamed like
hours to me they came Omsk and eoh ma.
ehen the grown folks got through pickire: they alueeT carried enough utensils
to hold enoueh berries to keep 'am picking 'till suede:wee it the children had
strayed off playing, teey(d holler for the children. Then eoine 'back, sore had to
walk or hane on because the pans mould almost fill the waeon.
Pace 3.
hat't ni,:;:rt we wouldn't de much.
Lo L sup2er, and then ,.;o to
loL ce noise sine $o !Ittici o:
eaeld have Goma in and stop the
ii0U30 was quiet by nine o'clock
vorybody was tired, and we'd havo
-sod. ojre8 the children we el;f1.
ikc
t'ofr: Jere to ;ether and the ._:;ragesi Colkz
_uss, but most ol the tint- Lee vfnale
and -ryboct: was asleep.
Thera uhe next mornir the cannin_, would start, hey t ould r.o.t the waa:
pats ou: in he yard and start a fire rider oin it woman Ji. at
least two -wash pots, and Sark6 had three and fear. T!lect wore hc:avy old
iron, -lack pots about two feet deep, and Vile., stood on three squatty
abo;A six inches tall, ll ence.elh to mice a ot fire under. ,ne
women used to boil their clothes in to rtxtke *eta white or wash—daj. The;
fill these wash —pots with water and out the Mason jars in a,:;ain o boil.
,-.oeetirtes they'd let ,he bi e11.(lren take the jars out en lott, sticks.
Lou Sefas w'aen they boiled their clothes, they had a vmoden stick most
often a broom handle that they stirred the clothes with. heyd use
this stick '.•o put in the mouth of the jar and li.t it out. V.hen ,.;ot
throujh sterilizin,:, the jars, they'd our the water out and put some .:leyse
in, and then put in the berries. They used i tili:si vine
hut Ithi rentt'ailla.
e in d
t'e; :Aide the jelly in tile house in the kitchen. I don't remember that
very eell. They worked almost all day. Then when they were ready to ivide
it. up, one woman would fill a jar, then another one, and so on 'All everybody
had one jar full. Then they'd start atAin and keep or 'till overtbody had
two jars full. You kept that t-) 'till everybody fad as uuch as every ody
else. 'Course it there was a little loft over, you'd eat as much of it as
you could that nicht for supper and the rest you left to the avaaiu vihas-3 house
Lzou were in. You didn't dive her ark'thint. for lettin' you stay there except
that everybody "ViOuld dive nor three or four quarts of jelly or jam or -e'.atever
rye made.
lobody over went home the ni.:;ht the finished carnin,_;. eit a La and
talk, and maybe decide where they'd L;o to can the txt time it -ime only
berries o maybe watermelons if you to ,::oinL; to make watermelon rincl preserves
that: you out out like that to pick and can. Poaches and tipples and plums and
thints like that, you canned at home by yourself beeseure you just boo.bht whatever
you wanted to put up.
Thu ne.,_t day ou went back home. i romeeeer when te went, we iere he only
rolks who came on the train, others came in horse azd waoons. 1..ey would
leave ear' 1, in the .-3ornin„.;„ and nest or 7.ime i erc the lae'L to leave
bemuse we had to 1.-:ait for the izei n.