Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 12/Mary Hines

Overview
Mary Hines grew up in Alabama and worked as a teacher until she married. Hines and her family struggled to pay for food, healthcare services, and their home. She was interviewed by Annie L. Bowman in Escambia County, located in Atmore Alabama, for the Federal Writers Project Papers.

Early Life
Mary Hines was born in Monroe County, Alabama, to former slave, David Cants, as well as a mother. Her given last name was McCants, which came from her father's slave master. She was one of seven children. At four years old, her father and his family moved to Wilcox county to work as tenant farmers. They then moved to Escambia County and continued to work there until Hines' father died. Hines stayed with her mother and attended a school for black children – after begging her parents to let her go - and was eventually able to become a teacher.

Marriage
Hines was married by 25 and had nine children, five of which survived. Hines sometimes had regrets about her marriage, as she was still in love with another man. Dock Hines became sick after 25 years of marriage and developed cataracts. . They could not afford to pay for a procedure, as healthcare services were extremely expensive. Mary and her four children began to work in fields, picking cotton, to keep from starving. Eventually, one of Dock’s old coworkers had offered to take him to the hospital to hopefully fix his eyesight. Dock was able to see out of one eye, but not the other, after the surgery. Hines and her children were given the responsibility to raise all the money to keep their family alive and well.

Later Life
Hines, along with her 4 children, continued their work in the fields picking cotton, but eventually the girls all became teachers. This allowed them to bring in above average income for an African American family during the late 1930’s. They paid the government five dollars a month so that they could eventually get their house back that they lost during The Great Depression. Even though Hines had a larger income than most, they were still only able to afford two meals a day. Hines’ death date and cause of death are unknown.

Healthcare Services During The Great Depression
During the 1920’s, hospitals mainly served those in the middle class and suffered financial instability. Healthcare was extremely expensive during The Great Depression and very few people were able to afford private duty nurses. In fact, hospitals in the Unites States were considered to be at maximum capacity. Before and during The Great Depression, the number of beds needed increased around six times as fast as the general population. A hospital census showed that there was a larger need for public institutions rather that privately owned hospitals. Many doctors and workers were receiving reduced wages because institutions could not afford to pay every worker.

Home Mortgage Distress During the 1930's
There was a growth of mortgage debt during The Great Depression. Many homeowners lost their homes or would have to pay the government a sort of fee each month to eventually gain their home back. The foreclosure rate - when a homeowner can no longer pay for their house and must give up ownership to the lender - reached its highest in 1933. More than one million homeowners were victims of foreclosure and people were forced to build houses made of scraps like cardboard and newspaper. It was found that there was about a $400 million demand for homes in the United States. The starting value of new family homes had decreased significantly by 1933 and outstanding mortgage debt increased by millions throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Quality of Education for African Americans Throughout the 1930's
In 1932, many citizens of the United States were facing unemployment or extremely low incomes. Teachers specifically faced lower budgets which resulted in a larger number of students in each class, and shorter class hours. Teachers could not afford to buy new materials for their students, and their salaries were cut. Although all students were affected in some way, black students had to face racism and neglect. As stated by James D. Anderson, "The most oppressive feature of black secondary education was that the southern local and state governments, though maintaining and expanding the benefits of public secondary education for white children, refused to provide public high school facilities for black children." More than half of large cities in the south did not provide any high schools for black children. In 1930, only 9% out of the 47% of children enrolled in public secondary schools were black children.