Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2021/Spring/105i/Section 22/Mary Hines

Mary Hines (Federal Writers' Project)

Overview:
Mary Hines was a Black mother of nine children and a teacher in Alabama Page text1.

Early Life
Hines was a teacher in Atmore, Alabama. She had nine children with a man named Dock Hines. Four of her children died, but her other four daughters became teachers. Born in Monroe County, Hines was one of seven children in her family. Her father was once a slave. When she was just four years old, Hines and her family relocated to Wilcox County, where her father worked as a tenant farmer.

In 1911, Hines' family relocated to Escambia county to have better environmental conditions for her father's farming. Her father later died for unknown reasons during an undisclosed year. Hines had stayed alongside her mother the longest out of all her siblings. When Hines decided to become a teacher, she had to convince her mother to go to the Colored Industrial Seminary at Snow Hill. Her mother agreed to let Hines start school, and Hines finished her eleventh-grade year, took her state exams, and began to teach students for three years2.

Motherhood and Teaching
When Hines decided to become a teacher, she had to beg her mother to go to the Colored Industrial Seminary at Snow Hill. She finished her eleventh grade year, took her state exams, and began to teach students for three years. When she was 25 years old, she got married. Previously, she had a passionate yet passionate love affair with another man she married Dock Hines. When his wife died, Hines decided to marry him. She had nine children with Dock Hines. Four of her children died, but her other four daughters were also teachers.

Dock and Hines moved to Camden where Dock taught students. They moved back to Escambia county when the school shut down, but Dock continued teaching. When he quit teaching, he worked at a sawmill that closed down in 1926. Meanwhile, Hines was raising their children3.

Later Life
By the time that four of Hines' children died, her husband stopped getting employed because he gradually became blind. The family suffered losing money and other economic hardships. Hines and her family began to pick cotton and strawberries in order to gain more money. However, the family was relatively comfortable compared to other Black families in Alabama since most of the children were either employed or married. Nonetheless, they had to compensate for the loss of their home during the Great Depression by working more jobs. Dock died due to sickness. It is not disclosed when Hines died4.

The Conditions of Teaching in Black Schools in the South During the Early-19th Century
From the 1890s to the 1940s, Black schools in the South were drastically underdeveloped compared to White schools due to system racism. Consequently, Black teachers had unrealistic expectations and responsibilities placed upon them to salvage their students' education. Teachers in Black schools were burdened with dealing with non-academic extracurricular activities, the lack of school supplies, the low wages, and the surplus of students. Administrator, S.L. Smith from the Rosenwald Fund, reported that 93.4% of the 24,079 Black schools in all Southern states were rural from 1925 to 1926. Of those schools, approximately 83% of them had one teacher per school. Many Black teachers had to work in two rural schools to accommodate for the lack of teachers 5.

"Jim Crow" laws contributed to the disproportionate supply of resources in Black schools versus White Schools. Apart from the Black educators and activists involved in combating racism, a few Northern philanthropic organizations helped improve schools' situations. For example, The Jeanes Foundation trained local Black educators to take on "supervisors" in the Black Southern schools starting in 1909. These supervisors completed administrative work, led fundraising efforts, and trained Black educators to teach. As a result, literacy rates increased among Black students, and funding increased for Black, Southern schools6.

The Great Depression and Black Alabamians
The plight of Black Alabamians worsened due to The Great Depression. Birmingham, Alabama, had become one the hardest-hit cities in the United States in terms of economic downfall. The agriculture industry suffered as farming families received lower incomes, and many farmers lost their homes and moved to cities. Surprisingly, Black farmers were able to increase their land ownership due to falling land values and more Black people moving to the South. Black farmers still owned smaller and less successful farms. Farm sizes decreased in size and costs as tenant farmers increased from 58 to 65 percent. Industries, such as the steel and iron industries of Alabama, also faced economic failures. Many mills saw the loss of job opportunities and profits. For example, the steel and iron mills experienced a 28% decrease in employment rates. In response, many of the farmers who moved to the cities began moving back to the farms in Alabama's rural parts. Amid the economic turmoil, there was a rise in impoverished families in Black, rural Alabama communities. Community organizers, church groups, and clothing distribution programs began offering assistance to those in poverty. Black Alabamians living in urban areas were more likely to receive relief payments than those living in rural parts7.