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Jeane E. Harless Date: March 18, 2005 Interviewed by: Melissa Neff SIDE I 000-004 004-020 020-042 042-061 061-072 Introduction Background- Jeane lives in Marysville, Washington. Both her grandmothers came from Norway and both of her grandfathers came from France. They immigrated to the Midwest and moved to Washington during the Great Depression. Jeane's dad moved to Washington and began to work in the saw mill. Her mother was a stay at home mom and had seven children. They lived on a five acre farm and raised everything that they ate. There were two cows, one pig, chickens, and goats. They were self supporting. Family - Jeane had six siblings, three sisters and three brothers. Oldest sister was twelve years older than Jeane. First five children were born during the Great Depression, and then there was a five year gap before the last two kids were born. School- Jeane started school out in the country, where the schoolhouse was a two room building. Grades 1-4 were in the smaller room and grades 5-8 were in the larger room. After eighth grade, the kids went to Snohomish for high school. But the family moved into town when Jeane was in third grade. 072-081 081-097 097-108 108-139 139-168 Differences- Everything was a lot different in the city. For example, Jeane's mom used to bake at least three times a week and they never bought any of their food. So store bought bread was different, especially because it was sliced. Remembered- Jeane remembers when World War II started for the U.S., when Pearl Harbor was bombed. The family could see Payne Field from their house on the hill and they would have black outs. In the country, she also had to walk four to school and four miles home again. School was different in the city. Each grade had its own room and Jeane liked it that way. The classes were more structured and organized for the separate grades. Dad's work- When the family moved out to Alaska, Jeane's dad started working in Alaska. Sometimes he would be gone for a long time. He was a millwright and a carpenter. After the family moved to town, he worked mainly in Ketchikan, Alaska. Jeane's sophomore summer was spent in Alaska with her mom and dad. He got disabled and was unable to work anymore. Then Jeane's mom had to go and work. She used to stay with families and help them. High School- Jeane had a lot ofbookkeeping, typing, and selling classes. During her senior year in school, she attended school until 11 :00, and then she went to work. Jeane worked at the B&M in Everett. First she worked in the shop that sold various objects, and then she worked in the restaurant. 168-179 179-222 222-231 231-241 241-281 Jeane was always encouraged to work, not to go to college. She worked since she was in sixth grade, picking berries all summer. She used the money that she earned during the summer to buy her school clothes. Siblings - Jeane's oldest sister joined the service. Rhoda had just gotten married and her, her husband, and Jeane's oldest brother, Bud, volunteered. But the military didn't accept Rhoda's husband, so she was in the navy for four years, without her husband. Bud spent 15 years in the service. When Bud got out ofthe service, he worked at the paper mill before becoming a driver for a potato chip company. Then her brother Jack was a career man in the air force for twenty-three years and then he retired. Pat had five kids and became a housewife. After the kids were out of school, Pat started working outside of the home. Leroy worked for the GTE telephone company in Everett, and then he went to Guam to work for a telephone company there. Then he went to Alaska to work, and he retired up there. When Jeane used to work at the B&M, most of the cashiers were women and only the men had the managerial positions. So that was the big difference in the work force. Jeane's family wasn't always very close because they were always spread out. A lot of the kids went into the service, and others settled in other parts of the country, so it was hard for the family to stay close. They used to spend Christmas together, but that just got too hard. Housing - In high school, Jeane stayed at home. That house was a two story, large house. It was very close to the mill and had a big 281-305 305-324 324-372 garden. It was also very close to the train tracks, and the fire department was just down the street. Jeane said that it was a very safe neighborhood, where all of the kids would play games until late in the night. It was a very small community and nobody locked their doors because there was no need to. There was no television or video games, so all the kids would get together and play games. The first time that Jeane's family got a television was in 1955. There weren't very many shows on television, so they did watch it very much. Jeane mainly enjoyed listening to records. The family's first car was bought in 1950. Jeane bought her own car her senior year in high school. It was a 1952 Ford and she bought it in 1955. Jeane almost got to go to Hawaii, but never actually made it there. Gary went into the service and she was going to go visit him with his mom. But his mom was unable to go, so Jeane wasn't allowed to go see him alone because she wasn't married. It wasn't accepted that she went to Hawaii. Jeane met her husband because they lived in the same neighborhood. Jeane and Gary used to talk a lot and go places with groups of friends. Gary proposed to her on their third actual date, in 1952. Jeane was in ninth grade and she told Gary that she had to finish high school first and then she would marry him. Most people got married right out of high school and started families back then. When Jeane and Gary got married they had 35 dollars combined to start their life. Their marriage ceremony was in a church with about 150 people there. Then they had three kids; Carrie, Gary Jr., and Krissy. 372-378 378-384 384-434 434-468 468-524 Jeane was Lutheran and Gary wasn't. She went to church, but Gary's family never went to church. So, when they were raising their kids, Jeane took the kids to Sunday school, but Gary never went, so eventually Jeane stopped attending church. Gary's family went on vacation a lot. Every June, the whole family went to Canada to go fishing and camping. Jeane had to work outside of the home, and she had to take care of the house and kids. Gary worked too, but there wasn't enough money if only one person worked. The roles were uneven because men didn't have to do anything in the house. Jeane worked at the B&M until after Gary Jr. was hom and then she went to work at a photo finishing outfit. Gary worked for his parents at their photography business. After working for his parents, Gary really got into the photography business. The first place that Jeane and Gary actually owned together was an 8ft by 42ft trailer, with two bedrooms. They had bought the trailer after they lost Gary Jr. After they lived in the trailer for a while, they moved into Jeane's old house to take care of her mother and they bought that place in Lowell, Washington. Then they bought the lot and a half next to the house. After Jeane's mom passed away, they thought about moving, but Gary's parents were just down the street and the parents didn't want Jeane and Gary to leave. Carrie was hom on December 19, 1957. Gary Jr. was hom January 2, 1959. Krissy was hom September 24, 1961. Jeane and Gary did everything with their kids. And they took them on vacations 524-537 537-558 558-570 570-588 END OF SIDE I around Washington also. Carrie was pretty good in school and always did her homework, but it was harder to get Krissy to do her work. Neither child went to college and both stayed at home until they were about 25 years old. Jeane figured that Carrie would go to college, but Carrie wanted to travel and in order to do that, she needed money. So Carrie got a job right out of high school. Jeane and Gary were always together. They lived together, worked together, and did everything together. They weren't able to travel very much, only in Washington State. After Jeane had kids; she had no time for herself. Jeane had to work and have someone look after her kids. She had to hire a babysitter for Krissy, so it was harder to make a profit. Eating habits also changed because it was always a rush to make dinner after Jeane got home from work. When everyone was home, the family usually went for a drive. They always went fishing together. They had different appliances in the places that they had lived. In the apartment, Gary bought Jeane a washer, a dryer, and a stove. But they lost those wonderful items when they moved to the trailer. But Jeane still kind of enjoyed the trailer because everyone was always together because it was so small. But she enjoyed the house because it was nice and large. SIDE II 000-017 17-57 57-105 105-133 133-152 Jeane wasn't very social because she was so involved in her family. But Gary's brother, Bob and his wife, Marlene, lived next door, so Jeane spent a lot of time with them. Jeane always wanted a big family. But she wasn't able to get pregnant right away. It always took her a long time to get pregnant again. After Jeane had Krissy, the doctor thought that she might be pregnant when she was about 35 years old. But by that time, Jeane decided that she didn't want kids anymore. There was too much of an age gap. But it turned out that she wasn't pregnant. When Jeane was in labor, Gary was able to be in the room. But when she was actually about to give birth, they took her into a room by herself. She had no medication or anything, it was all natural. She wasn't allowed to have medication because the doctor didn't think that medication was good for the children. But Gary was able to see his grandkids come into the world. The house and kids were the mom's responsibility, so Jeane also had to discipline the kids. Gary was just a softy. But they were good kids and didn't have to be disciplined often. Jeane resents the load work she had because it was so much more than Gary's. Jeane never left the kids when she wasn't working because she felt guilty for working. Gary had to work for money, but then after he was done with work for the day, he could do anything he wanted. Jeane just felt that Gary should've helped out more, but the weekends were his days off, so that was his time to play. 152-236 236-246 246-269 269-291 291-325 After the kids left, Jeane missed them. Life was a little easier when they left, but it wasn't really hard before. Jeane and Gary had some more times for themselves, and they went out to eat a little more often. Jeane really enjoyed grandk:ids because it was like the best of both worlds. But she's not able to seem them as often as she would like to. Her favorite time in her life was when the kids were little, because that's when she felt closest to them. But the worst time was when Gary Jr. passed away. There were few things that Jeane would change if she could. Jeane said that she never left her kids because she worked, and she thinks that now she would've taken a little time for herself to just get away. But that's really the only thing that Jeane would change with her life. Jeane did notice a change in women's roles. Now there are more opportunities for women in the work force than there used to be. And in some marriages, the housework is more split up, so there isn't a big difference in work load between the husband and the wife. Jeane also thinks that the Women's Movement was good and that women should definitely have the right to vote. Jeane doesn't really enjoy retirement. Gary is more dependent on her and he can't do as much for himself, now that she is always home. Now that Jeane is retired, she wants to go out and enjoy life. Go on vacations, or drive around, or just do anything, but carry feels safest and most comfortable at home, so Jeane doesn't go 325-422 END OF SIDE II anywhere. Jeane sort of enjoyed working because it gave her something to do. Jeane was affected by the Great Depression; it really made her more conservative. She saves everything and spends her money wisely. Cities are also a lot larger now, than they used to be. For example, Everett used to be run by mills, but now there's only one mill that is operating in Everett. Cars have also changed drastically. Television is a lot different, now there are so many channels, and there isn't even anything good to watch.
Object Description
Rating | |
Title | Harless, Jeane Oral History Interview, 2005 |
Interviewer | Neff, Melissa J. |
Date | 2005-04-30 |
Description | 77 minute oral history with Jeane Harless, conducted for a Women in the West (HIST 398 course at Washington State University). She talks about growing up on a farm near Everett, Washington and discusses the differences between living on a farm and the city. After high school, she married and raised two children. To supplement her family's income, she worked outside the home. |
Subject | Economic & social conditions; Working mothers; Rural women |
Coverage | North and Central America--United States--Washington (State)--Snohomish County--Everett; North and Central America--United States--Washington (State)--Snohomish County--Marysville |
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 | ua262b08f89 |
Source | Is found in Archives 262, Women in the West Oral Histories https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc/finders/ua262.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. Print documents were scanned to pdf format using a Xerox Workcentre 5030 copier/scanner. |
Description
Title | ua262b08f89_Abstract |
Full Text | Jeane E. Harless Date: March 18, 2005 Interviewed by: Melissa Neff SIDE I 000-004 004-020 020-042 042-061 061-072 Introduction Background- Jeane lives in Marysville, Washington. Both her grandmothers came from Norway and both of her grandfathers came from France. They immigrated to the Midwest and moved to Washington during the Great Depression. Jeane's dad moved to Washington and began to work in the saw mill. Her mother was a stay at home mom and had seven children. They lived on a five acre farm and raised everything that they ate. There were two cows, one pig, chickens, and goats. They were self supporting. Family - Jeane had six siblings, three sisters and three brothers. Oldest sister was twelve years older than Jeane. First five children were born during the Great Depression, and then there was a five year gap before the last two kids were born. School- Jeane started school out in the country, where the schoolhouse was a two room building. Grades 1-4 were in the smaller room and grades 5-8 were in the larger room. After eighth grade, the kids went to Snohomish for high school. But the family moved into town when Jeane was in third grade. 072-081 081-097 097-108 108-139 139-168 Differences- Everything was a lot different in the city. For example, Jeane's mom used to bake at least three times a week and they never bought any of their food. So store bought bread was different, especially because it was sliced. Remembered- Jeane remembers when World War II started for the U.S., when Pearl Harbor was bombed. The family could see Payne Field from their house on the hill and they would have black outs. In the country, she also had to walk four to school and four miles home again. School was different in the city. Each grade had its own room and Jeane liked it that way. The classes were more structured and organized for the separate grades. Dad's work- When the family moved out to Alaska, Jeane's dad started working in Alaska. Sometimes he would be gone for a long time. He was a millwright and a carpenter. After the family moved to town, he worked mainly in Ketchikan, Alaska. Jeane's sophomore summer was spent in Alaska with her mom and dad. He got disabled and was unable to work anymore. Then Jeane's mom had to go and work. She used to stay with families and help them. High School- Jeane had a lot ofbookkeeping, typing, and selling classes. During her senior year in school, she attended school until 11 :00, and then she went to work. Jeane worked at the B&M in Everett. First she worked in the shop that sold various objects, and then she worked in the restaurant. 168-179 179-222 222-231 231-241 241-281 Jeane was always encouraged to work, not to go to college. She worked since she was in sixth grade, picking berries all summer. She used the money that she earned during the summer to buy her school clothes. Siblings - Jeane's oldest sister joined the service. Rhoda had just gotten married and her, her husband, and Jeane's oldest brother, Bud, volunteered. But the military didn't accept Rhoda's husband, so she was in the navy for four years, without her husband. Bud spent 15 years in the service. When Bud got out ofthe service, he worked at the paper mill before becoming a driver for a potato chip company. Then her brother Jack was a career man in the air force for twenty-three years and then he retired. Pat had five kids and became a housewife. After the kids were out of school, Pat started working outside of the home. Leroy worked for the GTE telephone company in Everett, and then he went to Guam to work for a telephone company there. Then he went to Alaska to work, and he retired up there. When Jeane used to work at the B&M, most of the cashiers were women and only the men had the managerial positions. So that was the big difference in the work force. Jeane's family wasn't always very close because they were always spread out. A lot of the kids went into the service, and others settled in other parts of the country, so it was hard for the family to stay close. They used to spend Christmas together, but that just got too hard. Housing - In high school, Jeane stayed at home. That house was a two story, large house. It was very close to the mill and had a big 281-305 305-324 324-372 garden. It was also very close to the train tracks, and the fire department was just down the street. Jeane said that it was a very safe neighborhood, where all of the kids would play games until late in the night. It was a very small community and nobody locked their doors because there was no need to. There was no television or video games, so all the kids would get together and play games. The first time that Jeane's family got a television was in 1955. There weren't very many shows on television, so they did watch it very much. Jeane mainly enjoyed listening to records. The family's first car was bought in 1950. Jeane bought her own car her senior year in high school. It was a 1952 Ford and she bought it in 1955. Jeane almost got to go to Hawaii, but never actually made it there. Gary went into the service and she was going to go visit him with his mom. But his mom was unable to go, so Jeane wasn't allowed to go see him alone because she wasn't married. It wasn't accepted that she went to Hawaii. Jeane met her husband because they lived in the same neighborhood. Jeane and Gary used to talk a lot and go places with groups of friends. Gary proposed to her on their third actual date, in 1952. Jeane was in ninth grade and she told Gary that she had to finish high school first and then she would marry him. Most people got married right out of high school and started families back then. When Jeane and Gary got married they had 35 dollars combined to start their life. Their marriage ceremony was in a church with about 150 people there. Then they had three kids; Carrie, Gary Jr., and Krissy. 372-378 378-384 384-434 434-468 468-524 Jeane was Lutheran and Gary wasn't. She went to church, but Gary's family never went to church. So, when they were raising their kids, Jeane took the kids to Sunday school, but Gary never went, so eventually Jeane stopped attending church. Gary's family went on vacation a lot. Every June, the whole family went to Canada to go fishing and camping. Jeane had to work outside of the home, and she had to take care of the house and kids. Gary worked too, but there wasn't enough money if only one person worked. The roles were uneven because men didn't have to do anything in the house. Jeane worked at the B&M until after Gary Jr. was hom and then she went to work at a photo finishing outfit. Gary worked for his parents at their photography business. After working for his parents, Gary really got into the photography business. The first place that Jeane and Gary actually owned together was an 8ft by 42ft trailer, with two bedrooms. They had bought the trailer after they lost Gary Jr. After they lived in the trailer for a while, they moved into Jeane's old house to take care of her mother and they bought that place in Lowell, Washington. Then they bought the lot and a half next to the house. After Jeane's mom passed away, they thought about moving, but Gary's parents were just down the street and the parents didn't want Jeane and Gary to leave. Carrie was hom on December 19, 1957. Gary Jr. was hom January 2, 1959. Krissy was hom September 24, 1961. Jeane and Gary did everything with their kids. And they took them on vacations 524-537 537-558 558-570 570-588 END OF SIDE I around Washington also. Carrie was pretty good in school and always did her homework, but it was harder to get Krissy to do her work. Neither child went to college and both stayed at home until they were about 25 years old. Jeane figured that Carrie would go to college, but Carrie wanted to travel and in order to do that, she needed money. So Carrie got a job right out of high school. Jeane and Gary were always together. They lived together, worked together, and did everything together. They weren't able to travel very much, only in Washington State. After Jeane had kids; she had no time for herself. Jeane had to work and have someone look after her kids. She had to hire a babysitter for Krissy, so it was harder to make a profit. Eating habits also changed because it was always a rush to make dinner after Jeane got home from work. When everyone was home, the family usually went for a drive. They always went fishing together. They had different appliances in the places that they had lived. In the apartment, Gary bought Jeane a washer, a dryer, and a stove. But they lost those wonderful items when they moved to the trailer. But Jeane still kind of enjoyed the trailer because everyone was always together because it was so small. But she enjoyed the house because it was nice and large. SIDE II 000-017 17-57 57-105 105-133 133-152 Jeane wasn't very social because she was so involved in her family. But Gary's brother, Bob and his wife, Marlene, lived next door, so Jeane spent a lot of time with them. Jeane always wanted a big family. But she wasn't able to get pregnant right away. It always took her a long time to get pregnant again. After Jeane had Krissy, the doctor thought that she might be pregnant when she was about 35 years old. But by that time, Jeane decided that she didn't want kids anymore. There was too much of an age gap. But it turned out that she wasn't pregnant. When Jeane was in labor, Gary was able to be in the room. But when she was actually about to give birth, they took her into a room by herself. She had no medication or anything, it was all natural. She wasn't allowed to have medication because the doctor didn't think that medication was good for the children. But Gary was able to see his grandkids come into the world. The house and kids were the mom's responsibility, so Jeane also had to discipline the kids. Gary was just a softy. But they were good kids and didn't have to be disciplined often. Jeane resents the load work she had because it was so much more than Gary's. Jeane never left the kids when she wasn't working because she felt guilty for working. Gary had to work for money, but then after he was done with work for the day, he could do anything he wanted. Jeane just felt that Gary should've helped out more, but the weekends were his days off, so that was his time to play. 152-236 236-246 246-269 269-291 291-325 After the kids left, Jeane missed them. Life was a little easier when they left, but it wasn't really hard before. Jeane and Gary had some more times for themselves, and they went out to eat a little more often. Jeane really enjoyed grandk:ids because it was like the best of both worlds. But she's not able to seem them as often as she would like to. Her favorite time in her life was when the kids were little, because that's when she felt closest to them. But the worst time was when Gary Jr. passed away. There were few things that Jeane would change if she could. Jeane said that she never left her kids because she worked, and she thinks that now she would've taken a little time for herself to just get away. But that's really the only thing that Jeane would change with her life. Jeane did notice a change in women's roles. Now there are more opportunities for women in the work force than there used to be. And in some marriages, the housework is more split up, so there isn't a big difference in work load between the husband and the wife. Jeane also thinks that the Women's Movement was good and that women should definitely have the right to vote. Jeane doesn't really enjoy retirement. Gary is more dependent on her and he can't do as much for himself, now that she is always home. Now that Jeane is retired, she wants to go out and enjoy life. Go on vacations, or drive around, or just do anything, but carry feels safest and most comfortable at home, so Jeane doesn't go 325-422 END OF SIDE II anywhere. Jeane sort of enjoyed working because it gave her something to do. Jeane was affected by the Great Depression; it really made her more conservative. She saves everything and spends her money wisely. Cities are also a lot larger now, than they used to be. For example, Everett used to be run by mills, but now there's only one mill that is operating in Everett. Cars have also changed drastically. Television is a lot different, now there are so many channels, and there isn't even anything good to watch. |
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