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Dorthy Dottie Dowdell Gabel: Interviewed April 19, 1992 Interviewed by : Teanna Kurtz 001 074 135 200 220 286 316 337 356 365 413 449 470 Story of growing up in Burmingham Alabama. She graduated two years ahead of her class. Dating was a group thing. Burmingham was a quiet and small and Dottie talked about segrigation and prejudice. She visited her old black maid and introduced her to her baby daughter. Catholic school in Washington DC; Dottie told me how she liked catholic school, she was sent there by her aunt. Dottie had very few choices of study in school. Dottie met her husband through a family friend who introduced them so that they could go horse back riding. Dottie describes dating and what they did on a date. Frank, her husband to be, too~her to concerts, operas, and on walks. Her parents were leinient, and the conduct of people on dates hasn't changed but they didn't talk about it. Birth control was mainly rubbers and she didn't learn about the diaphram until she got married. she decided whe wanted to get pregnant so she stopped using the jelly that came with the diaphpram. her experiences in the depression, her father still had a job but he didn't work very often. Her parents rented a lot across the street and grew a garden. She married Frank out of love and they moved to Washington. When she moved out to work at Hanford, no one knew what the plant was for. When she moved out to the west she thought that it was going to be cold so she only packed winter and fall clothing. When she arrived, it was 95°. 480 488 510 519 541 566 586 594 607 623 654 664 684 707 Moving was part of the war. She describes what hhe towns were like and where she lived. The houses were so new that the first time they were heated, the sap ran out of the wood. Dupont promised Dottie a job when she moved out to Hanford. They wanted everything secret so they first decided that you could not bring a car. So Dottie and Frank sold their car. She met people from the area when she arrived but the people were arriving by the hundreds and she kept seeing people that were from Alabama. You couldn't by anything because there were no stores so they ordered things, the first thing she ordered were paper drapes. The two social clubs were Corps of Engineers and Dupont company started. She didn't have much time to play because she was working long hours. She was working as a secretary fot the contractors building homes in town. Your pay scale depended on the rank of your boss. There were two types of jobs available the, secretary and clerck. This changed later, her boss hired a woman engineer to work in the reactor. This woman had written letters to get hired. These letters accused the company of being predjudiced against women. She was proud of the bomb her company made because it ended the war. She was brainwashed by her company to always think of saftey first. She was working 300 feet from a reactor at the time. The scientists at the reactor released radioactive iodine into the air. She thinks they were wrong but it is now hindsight. The Tri-cities was the best place to raise a child because there was no crime and plenty of area to play. Everyone was neighborly. 742 758 791 817 860 862 916 938 1017 1036 1047 1084 1108 There wasn't to much to do but it was a very casual way of living. Houses were assighned on the basis of the size of your family. It wasn't until her parents moved out to live with she and her husband that they were alotted a bigger house. The neighborhood was all the same age with two to ten year old children. Now the familes are the same but the younger kids have moved away. General Electric started a women's organization. They met once a month to see speakers or style shows. Eventually there was a yacht club and a rod and reel club. Fianlly they formed a Coast Gaurd Axuilary. There was finaly a Business and Proffesional woman's club which she was a memeber of until she retired. When she first arrived it was an hour ride to and from work and a nine hour day. There were no applaiances so you spent your only day off cleaning house and washing clothing that you didn't want to send the laundry because they lost things in shipping. Saturday night was the only social night and they drank and danced. No real radio stations were to be found within reception so they listeded to a lot of records. Her parents moved up to live with her becuase her father was ill and her parents couldn't work. She went back to work and left her daughter home with her mother. She only took time off have the baby. Maybe 25% of the women were working. Yes it was easier to raise a child and work when whe was younger becuase it was strictly a 9 to 5 job. She was in charge of setting up word processing in the area. There was a huge turn over in her employees because her girls were either getting married or were promoted out of her office. She understood the problems that her girls had but the work had to be done. She tried to be kind but she did have a job to do. She only ifred one girl. 1138 1155 1168 1178 Holidays were inexpensive because you couldn't buy decorations or presents. The first chirstmas was horrible becuase she was home sick and sick when the water main broke so they didn't have any water. By the second christmas, here were stores in towns nearby. By the third christmas, the war was over. Pople liket to shop in Walla Walla more than Yakima but she doesn't remember why. First she had the babybuggy, Then her husband bought an old Model A coupe. She could never get it started so she has to always get a push.
Object Description
Rating | |
Title | Gabel, Dottie Oral History Interview, 1992 |
Interviewer | Teanna, Kurtz |
Date | 1992-05-01 |
Description | 87 minute oral history with Dottie Gabel, conducted for a Women in the West (HST 398) course at Washington State University. Discussed her schooling in Birmingham and Washington DC; she did not see much segregation towards black students. She discusses meeting her husband and moving to Washington (State) to work on Hanford. Working at Hanford she discusses the secrecy of what they were helping build and housing provided by the government, she worked there until she retired. |
Subject | Working mothers; Employment |
Coverage | North and Central America--United States--Alabama--Jefferson County--Birmingham; North and Central America--United States--Washington (State)--Franklin County--Pasco; North and Central America--United States--Washington--Benton County--Richland |
Type | Sound |
Genre | Interviews |
Publisher | Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries: https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc |
Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
Rights Notes | In copyright. Item is in copyright until 95 years after 2011 publication date. |
Identifier | ua220b07f49 |
Source | Is found in Archives 220, Women in the West Oral Histories https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc/finders/ua220.htm at Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc |
Holding Institution | Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries |
Contributors | Digitization and description funded through a National Endowment for the Humanities We the People grant for Washington Womens History to the Washington Womens History Consortium, a part of the Washington State Historical Society. |
Language | English |
Digitization | Original audio cassettes were converted to wav files using Audacity and a USBPre interface. Mp3 files were then created from the wav files for online access. Film clips were created as mpeg-4 files using Adobe Premiere Elements 9 to add selected images to the wav audio files, and then converted to flv files for online display. Print documents were scanned to 300dpi pdf format using a Xerox Workcentre 5030 copier/scanner. |
Description
Title | ua220b07f49_Abstract |
Full Text | Dorthy Dottie Dowdell Gabel: Interviewed April 19, 1992 Interviewed by : Teanna Kurtz 001 074 135 200 220 286 316 337 356 365 413 449 470 Story of growing up in Burmingham Alabama. She graduated two years ahead of her class. Dating was a group thing. Burmingham was a quiet and small and Dottie talked about segrigation and prejudice. She visited her old black maid and introduced her to her baby daughter. Catholic school in Washington DC; Dottie told me how she liked catholic school, she was sent there by her aunt. Dottie had very few choices of study in school. Dottie met her husband through a family friend who introduced them so that they could go horse back riding. Dottie describes dating and what they did on a date. Frank, her husband to be, too~her to concerts, operas, and on walks. Her parents were leinient, and the conduct of people on dates hasn't changed but they didn't talk about it. Birth control was mainly rubbers and she didn't learn about the diaphram until she got married. she decided whe wanted to get pregnant so she stopped using the jelly that came with the diaphpram. her experiences in the depression, her father still had a job but he didn't work very often. Her parents rented a lot across the street and grew a garden. She married Frank out of love and they moved to Washington. When she moved out to work at Hanford, no one knew what the plant was for. When she moved out to the west she thought that it was going to be cold so she only packed winter and fall clothing. When she arrived, it was 95°. 480 488 510 519 541 566 586 594 607 623 654 664 684 707 Moving was part of the war. She describes what hhe towns were like and where she lived. The houses were so new that the first time they were heated, the sap ran out of the wood. Dupont promised Dottie a job when she moved out to Hanford. They wanted everything secret so they first decided that you could not bring a car. So Dottie and Frank sold their car. She met people from the area when she arrived but the people were arriving by the hundreds and she kept seeing people that were from Alabama. You couldn't by anything because there were no stores so they ordered things, the first thing she ordered were paper drapes. The two social clubs were Corps of Engineers and Dupont company started. She didn't have much time to play because she was working long hours. She was working as a secretary fot the contractors building homes in town. Your pay scale depended on the rank of your boss. There were two types of jobs available the, secretary and clerck. This changed later, her boss hired a woman engineer to work in the reactor. This woman had written letters to get hired. These letters accused the company of being predjudiced against women. She was proud of the bomb her company made because it ended the war. She was brainwashed by her company to always think of saftey first. She was working 300 feet from a reactor at the time. The scientists at the reactor released radioactive iodine into the air. She thinks they were wrong but it is now hindsight. The Tri-cities was the best place to raise a child because there was no crime and plenty of area to play. Everyone was neighborly. 742 758 791 817 860 862 916 938 1017 1036 1047 1084 1108 There wasn't to much to do but it was a very casual way of living. Houses were assighned on the basis of the size of your family. It wasn't until her parents moved out to live with she and her husband that they were alotted a bigger house. The neighborhood was all the same age with two to ten year old children. Now the familes are the same but the younger kids have moved away. General Electric started a women's organization. They met once a month to see speakers or style shows. Eventually there was a yacht club and a rod and reel club. Fianlly they formed a Coast Gaurd Axuilary. There was finaly a Business and Proffesional woman's club which she was a memeber of until she retired. When she first arrived it was an hour ride to and from work and a nine hour day. There were no applaiances so you spent your only day off cleaning house and washing clothing that you didn't want to send the laundry because they lost things in shipping. Saturday night was the only social night and they drank and danced. No real radio stations were to be found within reception so they listeded to a lot of records. Her parents moved up to live with her becuase her father was ill and her parents couldn't work. She went back to work and left her daughter home with her mother. She only took time off have the baby. Maybe 25% of the women were working. Yes it was easier to raise a child and work when whe was younger becuase it was strictly a 9 to 5 job. She was in charge of setting up word processing in the area. There was a huge turn over in her employees because her girls were either getting married or were promoted out of her office. She understood the problems that her girls had but the work had to be done. She tried to be kind but she did have a job to do. She only ifred one girl. 1138 1155 1168 1178 Holidays were inexpensive because you couldn't buy decorations or presents. The first chirstmas was horrible becuase she was home sick and sick when the water main broke so they didn't have any water. By the second christmas, here were stores in towns nearby. By the third christmas, the war was over. Pople liket to shop in Walla Walla more than Yakima but she doesn't remember why. First she had the babybuggy, Then her husband bought an old Model A coupe. She could never get it started so she has to always get a push. |
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