Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2021/Summer/105/Section 10/Julia Rhodes

Overview
Julia Rhodes was a 35-year-old textile mill worker, wife, and mother of 8 who was interviewed by Maude Caine for the Federal Writers’ Project in 1938. At the time of the interview, she worked at Avondale Mills in Alexander City, Alabama and lived in a small 4-room cottage with her family in Avondale Mills Village.

Early Life
Rhodes was born in 1903 on a farm in Tallapoosa County, Alabama. When she was young her father moved her, and her family to Alexander City, Alabama in hopes of being able to provide for the family more efficiently by getting Rhodes’ older siblings to work at the mill. Rhodes was not old enough to work so she went to school. She eventually quit school because of her teachers and her parents never forced her to go back. In 1918 when she was 15, she met John, who was 20, and they decided to get married. Her first born, Herbert, came a year later when she was 16.

Later Life
By 1938, Rhodes and John had 8 children and were living in Avondale Mill Village. Rhodes, John, and their oldest, Herbert, all worked at Avondale Mill to provide for the family. John was a weaver and Herbert worked in the mornings before school. Rhodes’ oldest daughter, Myrtle, had to give up school to take care of her siblings while Rhodes went to work. However, Myrtle was able to get private lessons from a Works Progress Administration (WPA) teacher that lived in the community to help her catch up in school. Rhodes wanted all her kids to have a meaningful education. Despite the family's financial struggles, Rhodes’ family were all in good health and she was content with her current stage in life as well as hopeful for the future.

Married Women at Work
Throughout most of history, women have always had fewer rights and opportunities as men. Wifehood and motherhood were perceived as the women's most significant jobs. However, at the end of the 19th century there was a surge in participation in the workforce by married women. There was a shift from agricultural jobs to factory jobs which caused economic gaps in the financials of many families. Women began trying to fill these gaps with a range of different methods, all pertaining to participating in the labor force. Women who weren't outright working in a factory job participated from home in other ways, such as making products to sell. Many women made boxes, hats, lace, paper flowers, garments, and a variety of other products to sell. Some became housekeepers and did chores around the house such as cleaning and cooking for non-family members. According to research collected by DeVault, married women in the working class made up to a third of their families total income.

Post-Civil War Mills
After the Civil War, the South became the most dominant textile manufacturing region in the United States. As the number of mills rose and production expanded, large numbers of southerners were drawn out of agriculture to work in factories for the first time. The mill owners adopted a new business model called “welfare capitalism, which used incentives to recruit, cultivate, and retain the best workers.” They created mill villages for their employees which were called “workingman’s paradise” by historian Margaret Crawford.

Rhodes worked at Avondale Mills with her family. Avondale Mills was founded in 1897 by Braxton Bragg Comer. Comer and his family built housing, churches and schools for the workers to live. Avondale Mills village was home to Rhodes’ family and she enjoyed the community and housing provided by the mill.