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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Growing Up In Mobile: Depression & Wartime, 1929-1949
Subject
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Mobile during the Depression and World War II
Creator
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Judy Walton, MPL Youth Services,
Erin Kellen, MPL Youth Services,
& George Schroeter, MPL Local History & Genealogy
Publisher
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Mobile Public Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983
Contributor
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USA Photographic Archives,
Spring Hill College,
Mobile Historic Development Commission
Format
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pdf
jpeg
mp3
Language
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English
Rights
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This file may be freely used for educational uses as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this file is permitted without written permission from this institution.
Text
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Text
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The following are excerpts from the diaries of some hypothetical persons who grew up in the Toulminville area during the 1830s and the 1930s and 1940s. The first two excerpts come from the diary of Bill Bates, a slave owned by the Bates family who lived in Toulminville between 1838 and 1839. The last four excerpts come from the diary of Bill Bates V, a descendant of the earlier Bill Bates. These four excerpts explore the life of a young black person during the 1930s and 1940s. Some of the situations and ideas in these excerpts may not be completely factual but they are based on factual information. The purpose of this is to give people an idea of what life was like during certain periods of time, particularly during the Depression and World War II.
January 5, 1838
Today my family and I left Mobile with my master's family and came to our new home in the country . Our home is near a large creek (Three Mile Creek) and there is a lot of wide open space surrounding my master's house. The Bates home (1) is a large two story house with the first story made of brick and the second story made of wood with very high stairs leading to a porch hanging out from the second floor. The brick bottom story was built by my father and some other slave masons about a year ago. The ceiling of the bottom floor is very tall which makes the house seem even larger to me and there are two chimneys. One last thing about the house is the big open "galerie" across the back which allows the Bates family to come out and admire the beauty of their land. My house is in back of the master's house near the kitchen (2). It is nice but much smaller than the big house.
As we came into this new community today I didn't see any schools but it wouldn't matter to me anyway since it's against the law for slaves to be educated. The only reason I can write is because the master's son, my white friend, taught me. My friend is taught by the mistress in the big house since there is no school. Although I didn't see any school, I did find out that there are other rich families in this area other than the Bates family (3). There are the Toulmin lands to the east, the Goldthwaite lands to the northwest and the Files family home on St. Stephens Road which runs north and west (Appendix II). I'd better go now because I have to collect wood for the master's fireplace and the kitchen stove.
July 5, 1838
At this time of year the outside doors of the big house are left open so that any wind can flow into the hall of the house and the kitchen by way of the breeze-way which connects them. The rear "galerie" and second floor porch allow air to also cool the top floor. Each day I have to go to the creek and bring water back to the house for drinking, washing, and cooking. Later today I hope I will have time away from my work to take a swim in the creek. It's a lot of fun and it makes it easier to live in this heat.
There is no church in this area (the first known church in Toulminville was built in 1846) (4) but that doesn't keep us from talking to God and tomorrow a group of us will get together to sing and pray.
July 20, 1930
This morning my family moved into a small house in an area north of Mobile. My new address is 1760 Stone Street (Appendix III). From the outside the house looks long and narrow and has a small porch. It has four windows along each side of the house and there seems to be an extra room at the back of the house which has been added on since the house was built a few years ago. Although the house seems a little closed in because of its size, the porch with its beautiful column designs gives me a feeling of welcomeness (6). When I'm ar home I can play on the side of the house or in the backyard where there is a lot of room. This house we moves into today is smaller than the house we had been living in but we had to move into this house because my father lost his job and couldn't afford the other house. We do have electricity (7) in this house but we don't have running water because we couldn't afford it. Times are hard and it's too bad that many hard workers (laborers) like my father are the first to lose their jobs.
December 3, 1936
This morning after waking up and getting dressed I walked to school with some friends. I had to walk down St. Stephens Road past Gorgas School (Appendix IV), a school for white children, past Finch Avenue all the way to Andrews Street where I go to class at Toulminville School (Appendix V), the school I've been going to since I came to Toulminville.
Our church had a special gathering planned for today so after school I walked down St. Stephens Road pass Craft Highway to Greer Autry and Sons, a small grocery store, and then further down the street to Butler Sea Food Store where I picked up some things for the church picnic. About an hour after I got home my family was ready to go to the picnic. Before going to the church we drove to the Big S Station (2) on St. Stephens Road north of Craft Highway. There my father bought a couple of dollars worth of gas which had to last him for the whole week. Then we drove all the way back down the road until we for to St. Charles Avenue where we went to meet the other members of Ebenezer AME Church. Then the whole congregation drove down to St. Charles Avenue to Stone Street and then to Davis Avenue where we stopped for our picnic at Davis Avenue Playground. After the picnic my family and I went back to our house on Stone Street and brought an end to a very nice day.
January 7, 1942
Today was the day that our family moved into our new house (Appendix VI). The new house is just across the street from our old house on Stone Street but it seems a little bigger than the old house and now we have more yard space. Our new address is 1711 Stone Street (7). We were able to move into the new house because now that my father has a job building ships to be used in the war, we can afford a nicer home. Also, as a result of the growing business and industry in the Mobile area many people have begun settling in Toulminville. Our new house seems bigger because the rooms are spread out more than those in the house we had before with one room right after another. Another nice thing is that now we have electricity as well as running water which we didn't have before (8). The house has a small porch, three windows, and a door in front. There are two windows on each side, and additional room in the back, and a chimney on one side. On the same lot there is another building which can be used for storing things or for extra rooms and between the two buildings is a lot of space to play.
After we got most of our things moved in this morning it was time to do to church so the family piled into the car and we drove to Ebenezer AME Church on St. Charles Avenue (9). After church I decided to have a little fun by going to Davis Avenue Playground to play basketball. So I went home, changed, and walked all the way down Stone Street to Davis Avenue. There is another park that is easier to get to, but black people aren't allowed to go there. It's the Toulminville Recreation Center on St. Stephens Road and it's only a few blocks from my house. Anyway I had a good time at the park and now I think I'll call it a day.
April 8, 1942
This morning I got up and walked down Stone Street to Davis Avenue where I go to Dunbar High School, a school only for blacks. After school was out for the day I walked up Stone Street, cut through St. Charles Avenue and went up St. Stephens Road until I reached Richardson's Grocery. This is where I work each day after school. Today I moved and unloaded boxes and packages and collection and scrap metal to be used for machinery in the war. After working late I went home and that about finishes up my day.
Critique
John Adams's Project
Using an imaginary diary to give an account of growing up in Mobile between the two World Wars was an excellent idea. It would be appropriate to use the word "imaginary" in the introduction, or whatever other word John might like, in order to clarify in the reader's mind what is fact and what is used to portray the facts.
The narrative is interesting, moves smoothly and is well written. There are some mechanical factors that need correction. Since John has presented his sources for the facts interwoven with the narrative, they should be footnoted, even though a real diary would not have done so. The footnotes at the end should be numbered and related to the same number within the body of the text. In that way there can be no doubt in the reader's mind of the authenticity of the material presented. John seems to have gone through his text and marked in red where he wanted the footnotes to go but they did not all relate to the proper references. There was also no distinction in the red corrections to indicate the difference between footnotes and the illustrations. I have tried to indicate in a green pen where these problems occur. Again John may feel that such details would not be included in a real diary, in which case he could give the information in the introduction, leaving the text of the diary without references.
It would be a good idea to put a "c" before the dates of the 20th century houses since the precise dates were not established by chain of title of tax records. Thus c1936 indicates to the reader that the time of construction was about that date but might be off by a few years. I would not be surprised if the 1936 cottage were not earlier, based solely on the style.
The word "galerie" is a French term used in architectural descriptions to mean a porch and is used in connection with styles that have evolved out of an earlier colonial tradition. It is thus distinguished from the gallery of a theater or art museum. It should be written in italics but if not then indicated by " ".
If the map, indicated by the number VII, were intended to be a reference for the location of the Toulminville Recreational Center, mentioned on the next to last page of the Diary, it should have been marked on the map. There was a small 7 placed above this reference in the text but it was not differentiated as to whether it was a footnote or an illustration. These two reference sources should be indicated differently, the footnotes by a simply number above the reference and the illustrations by (ill.VII).
In conclusion, the project was well developed. The research was ably explored for the time interval allowed. I hope that John will continue to study the area as no definitive information has ever been written about the neighborhood and it has a long and interesting history for which prime resources go back to the early 18th century French land grants.
John Adams, a black male, aged fiftenn, chose to do an architectural study for his "Growing Up in Mobile - Depression & Wartime" project. He chose several houses in a Toulminville neighborhood in which he lives as the subject of his study. Until recent years, Toulminville has been a white neighborhood. John focused his report on black residents, nevertheless, which contributes somewhat to the interest of his report.
Notes
1 Bates (Schusse) house description from Mobile Landmarks Inventory, Mobile City Planning Commission.
2 Description of kitchen with covered walkway to the Bates house and adjoining slave quarters from letter to Dot Webster, Webster Realty, to Nancy Holmes, Mobile Historic Development Commission.
3 Information concerning families or property near Bates home from letter from Mobile Historic Development Commission to Dot Webster, December 7, 1971; from Landmarks Survey, Mobile City Planning Commission, Chain of Title, November, 1974; and from "Toulminville One of Oldest Neighborhoods," News Herald, 21 September 1978, p.6.
4 First known church in Toulminville built 1848 . Ibid.
5 Address of house at 1760 Stone Street, Mobile City Directory, 1936. Description of house from photographs, appendix III.
6 Information concerning water service and electrical power from Alabama Power Company.
7 Locations of Gorgas School, Toulminville School, Autry Greer and Sons, Butler Seafoods, Big S Station, Ebenezer A.M.E. Church and Davis Avenue Playground from 1936 Mobile City Directory.
8 Address of house at 1711 Stone Street, Mobile City Directory, 1942.
9 Ibid., Alabama Power Company.
10 Locations of Ebenezer A.M.E. Church, Davis Avenue Playground, Toulminville Recreation Center, Dunbar High School and Richardson's Grocery from 1942 Mobile City Directory.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Bill Bates & Bill Bates V Imaginary Diary Entries - John Adams Project, with Evaluation - 1983
Subject
The topic of the resource
Toulminville history
Description
An account of the resource
Imaginary diary entries for hypothetical persons Bill Bates and his descendant, Bill Bates V, written by 15 year old John Adams as part of his Growing Up in Mobile: Depression & Wartime project, with critique by historian Elizabeth Barrett Gould
Creator
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John Adams
Source
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Growing Up in Mobile: Depression & Wartime, 1929 - 1949
Publisher
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Mobile Public Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983
Contributor
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Elizabeth Barrett Gould
Relation
A related resource
Appendix I - "The Bates House" - John Adams Project
Appendix II - Toulminville one of oldest neighborhoods - John Adams Project
Appendix III - 1914 Stone Street - John Adams Project
Appendices IV & V - St. Stephens Rd. & Andrews St. - John Adams Project
Appendix VI - 1865 Stone Street - John Adams Project
Stone Street Map - John Adams Project - 1983
Format
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pdf
Language
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English
Identifier
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Growing-Up-in-Mobile-John Adams Diary Project-1983
1838
Andrews Street
Bates House
Bill Bates
Bill Bates V
Davis Avenue
diary
Ebenezer AME Church
Elizabeth Barrett Gould
Great Depression
John Adams
Mobile
slavery
St. Stephens Road
Stone Street
Toulminville
World War II