Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2023/Fall/Section20/Roy Harris: Loss of Faith

Overview
Roy Harris was a middle-aged divorced father from North Carolina, living among the New Bern working class. Interviewer Mary M. Phillips explores Harris' struggles with his familial relationships and follows his journey to becoming financially stable during the U.S. Great Depression.

Biography
It was never specified where Roy Harris was born however during the time of his interview, he was living in New Bern, North Carolina. Raised working in his family store, Harris began his life of work after dropping out of school in the seventh grade. Harris's mother struggled to manage the family store following his father's death at age eleven and she would eventually resorting to selling the store for real estate. Driven by financial success, Harris displayed remarkable adaptability in his trade, taking up careers in both business and agriculture. After marrying his wife Esther Taylor, he soon opened his grocery store off the coast of North Carolina, in 1913. Unfortunately, his store was destroyed by a hurricane only a few days after opening. Harris was able to rebuild his business and was very successful, even allowing him to build a house and reside in a countryside home. With time his entrepreneurial luck would soon take a turn for the worst, and his business storefront went under. Harris foreclosed his store causing him to fully transition into farming and he would focus on raising his three sons. Esther and Harris' marriage ended due to her infidelity and he moved out of his country home to his own apartment to financially support himself and his sons. Throughout all of this, Harris' interpersonal relationships were deteriorating. Towards the end of his life, he had limited contact with his family.

Child Labor in the Time of Industrialization:
In the early 18th century, especially in the South of the United States, education was not as prioritized as highly as it is today. “The 1870 census found that 1 out of every 8 children was employed…This rate increased to more than 1 in 5 children by 1900.” In rural areas the birth of a new family member held significant value, representing both a future laborer and a safety net for aging parents. For most families during the great depression, the financial burden of raising a child from infancy to adulthood was eased through the child's compensating labor, reflecting the economic realities of the time.

History of Hurricanes on the Atlantic Coast:
Every year the eastern coast of North Carolina is hit with intense and destructive hurricanes. In September of 1933, a category two hurricane hit coastal towns such as New Bern, leaving twenty-one people dead and thousands of properties severely damaged. Coverage from an archived 1933 The Times newspaper article wrote, “No class suffered more from the recent hurricane than the fisherman along the coast whose nets and boars were destroyed without any means of making a living.” Natural disasters such as this was a massive setback for southern towns and cities harboring the Atlantic.

Old New Bern - Built on Trade:
New Bern was founded in 1710 by Swiss and German settlers. Its location allowed for the blossoming town to act as a “major port and trading center in the 1800s.” Into the early 1900s, this was a very lucrative town for southern merchants and store owners and was home to a thriving middle class.