After hearing Senator Harkin talk about the WPA, I emailed my Auntie Pat to ask her about Grandpa working for the WPA during the Great Depression.
Here's her reply:
" Why do you think I’ve worked so hard on some issues? I’m not afraid to talk about things that I’ve been through in my life, The one thing I’ve said for years is that every lawmaker should put every law through a “reality” check before they pass it. WPA stands for Works Project Administration. It was part of FDR’s “New Deal”. It was a school, library, bridge, road infrastructure building project to put adult men to work. Yes, your Grandfather was part of that. I’ve spoken many times how I remember so well when he got that 1st paycheck, your Grandmother, Mother & I went to the grocery store to purchase all the fixings for a Pot Roast, you know; the meat, potatoes, carrots, onions. + milk and dessert. It was the first “real” meal we had. Mom used to say, when we’d ask what’s for supper, “you name it, you can have it”.We invited my Grandma Taylor, Aunt Dorothy & Uncle Bob. Grandma & Grandpa Hoppe couldn’t come, no transportation. Uncle Fred was up near Ely in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) a similar program for young men. The windmill teapot, sugar & creamer I have was the first gift Uncle Fred ever gave his sister. I’ve got a couple of letters he wrote from the camp he was at.
Later , in the 60’s, LBJ started in his “War On Poverty”. His big project to put people to work all over the country was the freeway system. Also, education was his big item, he was the first to start the “Title”. That’s how I got my job at the Finland School under the program that was income & failure based. The Finland School fit the criteria, my specialty was reading and math on a one-one basis.
WPA didn’t get us just food. Some day could you look at your Mom’s birth certificate and see what our address was when she was born? Mine shows Grandpa & Gramma living in a real hovel, then my first memories of my little sister are in a 4 plex in another slum neighborhood at 2313 11th Ave. So. Dad got that for place at a cheaper rate by being their handyman. That place was bigger, but still a cockroach & rodent filled hole. I was so happy when Roberta was old enough to be in a bed, we got bunk beds & they were in the dining room. I was VERY happy I was the oldest so got the top bunk. The big problem to my sister & I was that we were scared to get up at night so we wet our bed instead of taking the chance of stepping on something.
With some money coming in we got a car, now Dad didn’t have to walk to work.They saved their pennies to get us in a house, they finally did in 1942, for $5,000 and payments, I was in 2nd gr.. That’s the house you’ll see in a lot of photos & where we lived until the house was bought to build I35. What that WPA job did was give my Dad a step to a career. He started WPA as a laborer, then he was made a janitor in the public schools. He had to get a 4th class boilers license, (males only ). Dad took the opportunity to continue working on the next higher license, and the next. He would read the textbooks, have me read them too and then question him on the chapters. That kept on until he made the highest license, Chief Engineer. (With my studying with him & testing him made it possible for me to pass the test for the power plant at the mining co. The first woman to even apply for the power plant AND to really change management thinking, passing the exam with the highest score). So that minor WPA job was the step needed so my Dad & our family could improve our living conditions and to be able to help my grandparents too. You are welcome to use anything I write wherever you want. Most of the 18-60+ population has no idea of what real sacrifice means , they need to hear from the older generations of what a depression, a World War &, and no unions REALLY meant for people that lived through those days. Especially the children. I remember how I said one time to Grandma Hoppe that I wish Mike could be a “kid” while he was still one. Her reply? “Why, you never were”."
That inspired me to start a group called "History, Hardship and Hope", for people to share their stories, and their family's stories of getting out of poverty. It gives me strength to know that my family has been through worse and survived. Knowing what helped and what didn't in the past will help us come up with ideas for the future.
So, what's your story?
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