Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Spring/Section33/Archie C. Waldrep

Overview
Dr. Archie Clayton Waldrep was interviewed for the Federal Writers' Project on July 29, 1939. He was a white doctor from Red Bay, Alabama who had an affluent lifestyle and privileged upbringing compared with the lives of many people during the Great Depression. During the time of his interview, he was married to his second wife, and had a son and daughter.

Early Life
Archie Clayton Waldrep was born on March 10, 1869 in Red Bay, Alabama to Edward and Nancy Waldrep. He was the oldest of five children and started attending a schoolhouse at the age of eight. He was mainly taught by his family members, such as his uncle Bill Waldrep. After attending various private schools, Waldrep served as a teacher for one year at a school called Center Point. After completing his primary and secondary education, he sought a job that would let him have a good horse. Around this time, he met Dr. Collier, a doctor who lived in Red Bay. He told him of his desire for a good horse. Dr. Collier encouraged Waldrep to study medicine. Dr. Waldrep attended the same college as Dr. Collier in Louisville, Kentucky. Waldrep described his college years as being very memorable and enjoyable, often engaging in various mischiefs along with his fellow roommates.

Later Life
Once he returned to Red Bay, Dr. Waldrep started to practice medicine. His office was located in the Waldrep and Epps store. With a steady source of income, he was able to purchase the first car in Red Bay in 1914. From there, he engaged in various financial endeavors, including purchasing land, loaning money, and donating to charity. The land he purchased along Bear Creek, right outside Red Bay, was one of the most profitable areas in the locality. He also became the president of a local bank at some point during this time. However, after some disagreement with some other officials, he quit this position.

During the Great Depression, Dr. Waldrep faced no serious economic issues. His self-employed occupation allowed him to have a steady source of income in the midst of widespread unemployment. He built expensive homes for both of his children in a time where the housing market had crashed.

Dr. Waldrep continued to practice medicine well into his old age. He died on May 26, 1951 at the age of 82.

Personal Life
Shortly after returning from Kentucky, Dr. Waldrep married his first wife; after she died, he married his second wife, Ollie Waldrep. They had a son named Orvard and a daughter. His children brought him some sorrow because his son went to medical school but never completed his degree and his daughter married against his wishes. Nevertheless, he moved on and reconciled with them. His second wife, Ollie, was a religious woman. Dr. Waldrep, on the other hand, had been a drinker and had jealousy and hatred toward certain individuals. In his later life, however, Dr. Waldrep quit drinking and adopted the religiousness of his wife to some degree.

Dr. Waldrep was described as a rude, carefree, and easygoing man. He would often make indecent remarks about his own patients to others. When asked about socialized healthcare, he stated that he did not care about the issue and did not want anything to do with it.

Income Inequality in the Early 20th Century
During the Gilded Age, the US economy underwent tremendous growth, which resulted in the United States becoming the world's most powerful economy. This influx of wealth created an upper class that owned a disproportionately large share of the nation's wealth. At the same time, a large portion of the American population lived in poverty. Two distinct social classes arose between the rich and the poor. . To mitigate this issue, the government introduced the first income tax bill in 1913. Initially, this bill did not have a significant impact in reducing income inequality. By 1915, 15% of America’s income still went to the nation’s richest 1%. By 1928, this number increased to 23.9%. Although the Great Depression reduced income inequality, it also destroyed the nation's total income which led to mass unemployment. This in turn created a call for reform, which resulted in President Roosevelt’s New Deal, which gave workers more bargaining power. It was not until after the Great Depression that income tax rates on the wealthy were increased. In 1944, the marginal tax rate for people with incomes over $200,000 was 94%. This actively discouraged individuals from pursuing a higher income so as to not fall into a higher tax bracket. These factors lead to the Great Compression, a period in which the share of total income held by the nation’s 1% became progressively lower from 1940 to 1970. The effects of the Great Compression continued into the 21st century, and it was only by the late 2010s that top 1% income shares increased to levels higher than that of the pre-Depression era.

White Privilege during the Great Depression
Throughout the Great Depression, white Americans had many privileges that other races did not have. Many African Americans were still tied to the land in the form of sharecropping. Racist attitudes prevented black Americans from having the same economic opportunities as whites. The unemployment rate for black Americans was double the rate for white Americans. White Americans may have also had an easier access to opportunities by finding support in large, racially homogeneous, like-minded groups. As a majority group, white Americans were also better equipped to deal with labor market shortages than minorities, as hypothesized by the resource-constraint hypothesis.