Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 013/John Benton

Early Life
John Benton, known in his interview for the Federal Writers’ Project by the alias William Franklin, was a Black, disabled laborer and churchgoer, born in Union County, North Carolina. Benton describes that for most of his life he was a farmer1, in part because it was one of the only jobs available. He also describes his childhood and that his family lived on subsistence farming .2

Work & Family
Benton and his wife moved to Charlotte, North Carolina c. 1912. From the time he moved to Charlotte up until his stroke, Benton worked for the Express Company, where he made, over the years, anywhere from $35 to $95 per month, his best wages made during World War I. Since his stroke left him incapacitated c. 1936, his children take care of him. Benton had four children with his wife, all of whom went to school for some period of time.3

Religion
Benton also speaks of his church’s pastor, Daddy Grace, known in this interview by the alias Daddy Judah, who came to Charlotte c. 1925. The interviewer describes that Daddy Grace is half-white and seems to insinuate that he takes advantage of less educated people using evangelical stunts.4

Prevalence of disability in Black people
Societal issues raised in this interview are the lack of support for disabled people as well as the prevalence of disability in Black people during the time period.5 This reflects the larger issues of the era in that Black people were left with so few possibilities that they may not have realized that other opportunities were even reachable. Many Black men of the era were more prone to becoming disabled to the point of being limited in everyday activities.6

Lack of access to education for Black people
Minorities were exploited because of their lack of accessibility to education. Church leaders took advantage of the lesser educated through self-proclamations of having “powers of healing” and of being a “frequent visitor to heaven,” which drew people in and led them to believe that they could heal them and restore their abilities.7