Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 12/Sarah Bucksby

Overview
Sarah Bucksby was interviewed for the Federal Writer's Project by James S. Beaman on December 15, 1938. Bucksby was born near Benter, North Carolina, and has had multiple occupations throughout her life, including nursing at a mental facility and dairy farming. After having lost her dairy farm just before the Great Depression, she spent the rest of her life living and working at the Huckney estate in North Carolina.

Early Life and Primary Education
Sarah Canopy was born to Earl Johnson Canopy and Sarah Canopy near Benter, North Carolina at the end of the 19th century. She was born into a family of landowning farmers and had the somewhat rare opportunity to attend private school as a little girl.

Adult Life and Career
After her primary education, which she graduated right after the Civil War ended, Canopy went into training to become a nurse and worked for the duration of her training at a mental hospital. In her second year of training, she met Ken Bucksby when he was visiting the nurses’ house. Sarah Canopy and Ken Bucksby soon got married and had a little girl named Nellie. They moved to a green one-story house on Brady Street and lived there for fourteen years. There, they had two more children together, Mary and Maude. Wanting to start their own business, Mr. and Mrs. Bucksby moved to a large residence at the edge of town. They worked with Mr. Bucksby’s brother, Bud Bucksby to open a large dairy farm that had up to fifty or sixty cows at a time. This was until a traveler pointed out that the cows were all sick and had to be killed immediately. The cows had been completely healthy, but nevertheless, Sarah and her husband lost the farm, their house, and any profitable produce they had at the time. The sinking economy of the time made it very hard for the Bucksby’s to get new jobs and have the means to support their family. One day, however, a man named Buster Maner stopped by the Bucksby’s residence and informed Mrs. Bucksby that Dr. Hardingwell would allow them to farm and live on his estate. Since then, Sarah Bucksby had lived for many years at Dr. Hardingwell’s Huckney estate. The property encompassed 565 acres and contained a mansion, a few smaller houses including the Bucksby’s residence, a large stock and dairy barn, and fields for crops. She tended to turkeys and chickens and worked on the fields. A few years later, Sarah Bucksby’s husband and mother died at the estate, prompting her daughters to urge her to live at their house instead. Bucksby refused, wanting to grow old and die at the estate as her husband and mother did.

Lack of Public Education
Throughout the entirety of the nineteenth century, public schools were not as accessible as private schools because more social emphasis was put on providing for the family and working towards one’s career, rather than studying and theoretical knowledge. Because of the social and cultural importance of getting a job as soon as possible, there were many more apprenticeships and fellowships offered than formal schooling opportunities. In addition, receiving a formal education was rarely a requirement for physical labor, which was the most in-demand. Furthermore, until the early 1900s, most major legislature that was presented in North Carolina calling to increase universal public education funding was voted against or denied. During the Civil War, especially, schools were not seen as having priority over more urgent social matters, so they did not receive adequate funding. This setback was so drastic that "by the end of the [Civil] War, only a handful of schools remained open." This left those who wanted their children to receive an education to pay for the expenses themselves, creating a learning curve for those who were not able to afford the luxury of private school.

Nursing in the Late Nineteenth Century
Before the time period surrounding the Civil War that spanned from 1861 to 1865, nurses were commonplace but not extremely in demand or a particularly coveted profession to have. However, the War brought in many more sick and injured, which led to a newfound respect for nurses and their role in society. This was clearly shown when Congress passed a bill in 1892 which provided Civil War nurses with pensions. Consequently, a new emphasis on health and medical care workers caused more people to strive to become nurses or medical professionals. This new growth of demand in the nursing field led to "an explosion of nursing schools in the late nineteenth century." As there was an increase in the supply of nurses coming into the workforce, more found jobs at places other than regular hospitals, such as nursing homes and mental facilities. Many of those who worked in mental facilities found that the treatment of mental illnesses during this time was based heavily on natural remedies, mainly including "exposure to natural light and proper air circulation." Because of this, nurses mainly took care of menial tasks such as scrubbing the floors, cleaning laundry, and checking up on patients.

Effect of the Great Depression of Society
The Great Depression began in the late 1920s and caused high unemployment and general panic throughout all of the United States. The majority of small businesses and many privately-owned farms had to be shut down permanently, which negatively affected many non-essential or recreational businesses and much of agricultural production. Times were especially tough for farmworkers, as they "had stocked up on supplies and invested in their crops, sometimes many years in advance," but were not able to sell products when the time came. As many people were losing their jobs, they were also having an extremely hard time finding jobs again. Most businesses that were surviving during the time of the Depression were "cautious in their budgeting and expenses and were not looking to hire new employees," but instead to lay off workers. This caused record-high unemployment, and the economy did not start improving until the late 1930s.