Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2021/Summer/105/Section 15/Lillian Mauldin

Overview
Lillian Mauldin was a mother of two children living with her parents and two of her siblings in Newberry, South Carolina. Her experiences reflect a period of economic hardship that many Americans faced during the Great Depression. She was interviewed by Leland Summer for the Federal Writer's Project papers on December 20, 1938.

Biography


Lillian Mauldin was a 27-year-old mother of two young children. She and her children lived with her parents and younger siblings. They managed to rent an old building in Newberry, South Carolina, and had requested charity from the town in the past.

Mauldin's father had been deaf and dumb all his life, and he worked in construction in the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In the past, he had switched jobs multiple times but had stayed at the WPA for longer. Mauldin said her father had a hard time “getting along,” and people could not understand him. In addition to her father’s meager income, Mauldin's two younger brothers worked different jobs to make money. The interviewer noted that “[t]hey find it hard, sometimes, to get along with what her father and the two boys [her brothers] make, but get by.”

Mauldin never divorced her husband, but he had left her and the two young children a while ago. She only knew that he was somewhere in North Carolina. “[N]o sir, I ain’t got a divorce,” Mauldin said in the interview. The interviewer noted that she “seems to be reconciled to the situation, even though she gets no help from her husband.” She then began to work inside her family’s home with her mother to do the chores, including the cooking, gardening, washing, and splitting wood. The family also got water from a neighbor, as they were not connected to the town’s water supply.

In order for her kids to get an education, Mauldin relied on the teacher to pick them up for school each day because she did not have a car. Her children did not go to the school in town because they did not like it there. However, Mauldin stressed the importance of education for her children. Mauldin said that her mother wanted the children to attend school because she did not have a chance to go herself. Even though Mauldin's family struggled during the Great Depression, they did maintain a household with supportive incomes.

Divorce, Marriage and Motherhood
According to an article from Insider, divorce rates fluctuated during the depression, and some of it tied back to the culture. In the 1920s, women felt more independent and stayed single for longer. However, “[w]hen the Great Depression hit in the early '30s, a poor labor market meant that many women had to rely on men again for money.” This meant that the divorce rates decreased temporarily before increasing again by the end of the decade. According to one article from HISTORY, “The 1930s would see a spike in policies and laws that discriminated against, even forbade, women to work when they were married.” More women would later enter the workforce during World War II.

During the depression, motherhood and child raising was considered an important responsibility. One research study interviewed people who had grown up during the Great Depression to describe their perspective on child raising. “Though the participants felt it was most desirable for a child's wellbeing that the mother be at home when children are, they admitted that both parents working today was an economic necessity. Still, they emphasized that it was important that parents spend quality time with their children after work.” Results indicated that “quality parent-child time was most important than any other factor relating to childcare” for the interviewees as well as a good childhood education to build their self-confidence.

Social Study Movement and Educational Surveys
During the Great Depression, the public education system faced an evolution of changes that are still seen in modern times. During the 1920s and 30s, prominent leaders such as Herbert Hoover were interested in social surveys for democratic purposes. During this time, a rise in educational surveys also increased to help improve the schools. “[T]hese studies were often conducted by some prominent expert who came from outside to evaluate something about the district. Many of these studies focused on particular problems such as needed curricular changes or innovations in building facilities.”

Additionally, some involved in the social sciences argued the importance of a newly developed concept called standardized testing. Some said that “the best test of the social science program was the responses students made to social situations throughout their lives.” Others argued that “tests could help develop a student's understanding if they were built in ways that asked the students to draw some inferences in order to answer the questions.” The debate on this issue would continue between social science influencers of the time.

WPA and Worker Disability Rights
During the Great Depression, unemployment rates climbed to staggering levels and even reached 24.9 percent in 1933. Under the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the government released “emergency work” to employ workers. One was the Works Progress Administration, where “workers performed various jobs, but most of the labor was geared toward conservation, infrastructure development, and other forms of public service.” Additionally, during “February 1939, the Public Works Administration had engaged in 17,780 projects, totaling $1.8 billion of direct investment.”

It is important to note that the WPA achieved more than just construction. The administration gave out general and work relief, and the recipients of these programs also received food stamps.

The WPA was designed to provide work for the unemployed, but at first it excluded those who were physical handicapped. “The New Deal had decidedly mixed results for people with disabilities. It provided needed therapy and specialized health services, education, training and other programs including the start of the supplemental income programs.” In 1935, a group called the League for the Physically Handicapped protested in New York City with sit-ins and rallies. 15,000 Jobs were created for those with disabilities by 1936. By 1938, the league disappeared as work conditions improved.