Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2019/Fall/Section 1/Idella Posey

Overview
Idella Hemphill Posey (1896-September 22, 1966) was a middle-class white woman who lived during one of the US's most severe crises: The Great Depression. Posey was a participant in the Federal Writer's Project, which was a collection of publications focused on various citizens of different economic, racial, and social backgrounds that were living during the period of the depression. She represented the small portion of the population who still managed to do well with her living, despite the crashed stock market causing mass unemployment across the nation.

Early life
Idella Hemphill Posey was born around 1896 in Birmingham, Alabama. Growing up, her main focus was on her education. This was a sentiment not many others shared during this time, and a privilege only a small portion of the population was given. She was born to two parents who were uneducated, with her mother not being able to write and her father being out of the picture. Posey started school in the 4th grade at age 13, moving out of her house with her mother to live with her aunt in order to be able to attend school. She worked vigorously at home in order to stay with her aunt. She went to a Presbyterian college in Maryville, Tennessee, completing her degree in Home Economics.

Adult Life
Idella Posey gave birth to two children, William and Mary Violet Posey, shortly after her marriage to Thomas Gayle Posey in 1921. Mr. and Mrs. Posey traveled from Alabama to Oklahoma, where Mrs. Posey solidified her life as a non-working woman while her husband worked in the oil industry with a $175 salary. She and her husband moved back to Alabama to take care of her aunt in her old age, and remained following her death. Posey continued to uphold the importance of education by sending her children to school, despite her husband not sharing the same value. She remained in Birmingham, taking care of her children and the house until her death in 1966, at the age of 70.

Education
While education rates had been increasing in the general public in the US during the 1920s, the Great Depression brought this trend almost completely to a halt. The federal budget for education had to be severely cut and prioritized elsewhere in efforts to fix the broken economy. This caused many schools to lower their operation hours or simply cease to run altogether. Additionally, the mass unemployment known to the country at the time meant that citizens could no longer afford to pay their taxes, which further reduced the allocated budget for education.

Schooling itself also changed significantly during the 1930s, particularly in public schools. The amount of time that children were sent to school in a year changed, requiring students to attend school less than the average 9-month system used today. Children also didn't attend what would currently be considered the first and last years of public school, kindergarten and 12th grade. Most parents wanted their children to attend school in their neighborhood, finding issue with some of the other schools available during the period. Travelling for school, regardless of the level, was unusual.

Women's Employment
During the Great Depression, many individuals found themselves facing sudden unemployment nationwide. This was true regardless of an individual's race, social status, or any other determining factor. Even as the nation began to recover from the impact of the depression, this fact remained true for women. The majority of the jobs that were created as means of repairing the destroyed economy were geared towards the male population, leaving few jobs open for women. As a result, most women were forced to remain in the home, taking care of typical housework duties such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children. This was viewed as means of employment and simple occupation, as the economic state of the nation left people (especially women) lacking in alternative daily pastimes.

Remaining in the home was the role of the women during this time, because it became crucial that they take care of things like making food, repairing and maintaining clothes, and providing medical care that people could no longer afford to see a doctor for. Women were also needed to stay in the home to care for the few children they had, though birth rates dropped as children became an expense most couldn't afford.