This collection began with the Kentucky Oral History Commission’s effort to establish oral history programs in each of the state’s 120 counties. County libraries worked with local volunteers to collect interviews. Since 1987, county oral histories have been generated primarily by recipients of technical assistance grants from the commission that provide training and equipment to volunteer interviewers. Interviews donated by independent researchers are also included. Original collection held at Kentucky Oral History Commission/Kentucky Historical Society. Access copies available at Lincoln County Public Library. Authorization must by granted by KHS to use or publish by any means the archival material to which the Society holds copyright.
LINCOLN COUNTY ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
NANCY STEWART INTERVIEWED BY OLIVIA COFFMAN
May 31, 1981
Ms. Coffman: Would you tell me what your name is?
Mrs. Stewart: Nancy Stewart.
Ms. Coffman: I am interviewing for the Oral History class at Somerset Community College, and I’m gathering information about as far back as you can remember, about you, your family, anything that you can remember that’s been handed down by your mother, or grandmother, or just anything that’s interesting. Was your…anybody in your family born a slave or set free as one?
Mrs. Stewart: Not that I can recall, but I remember my grandmother talking about her mother was a slave.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes); is there anything else that you can add to it?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, I remember she told me about her mother’s fingers, how they were worked down from being a slave.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes). And, about when was your grandmother born?
Mrs. Stewart: 1883.
Ms. Coffman: And, has it been long since she passed away?
Mrs. Stewart: No, it hasn’t been quite a year yet. She passed in September.
Ms. Coffman: Did she have a lot of children or a good sum?
Mrs. Stewart: She had four.
Ms. Coffman: Four children.
Mrs. Stewart: Four girls.
Ms. Coffman: Are they all living now?
Mrs. Stewart: They’re all a living.
Ms. Coffman: Has anything unusual happened to any of them?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, my mother, I don’t know exactly what happened to her, but she is deaf, she can’t hear.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes); and, where did she spend most of her life?
Mrs. Stewart: Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville.
Ms. Coffman: Do you know about when she was admitted?
Mrs. Stewart: I don’t know. I think she went to regular school, and then at the age of nine, I think my grandmother said, she became deaf.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes). Did she spend a great deal of her time over there?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, she finished to school there, and then she went to Louisville and she came back to the Kentucky School for the Deaf and worked until time for her retirement.
Ms. Coffman: About what age is your mother now?
Mrs. Stewart: Let’s see { }….
Ms. Coffman: She was born in 1909
Mrs. Stewart: That’s right.
Ms. Coffman: That makes her probably one of the first blacks to ever go to Kentucky school for the deaf.
Mrs. Stewart: Maybe.
Ms. Coffman: Okay; where do you live now?
Mrs. Stewart: Bonnyville.
Ms. Coffman: Have there been any great changes since…that you can remember?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, there have been several changes in the roads and electricity. When I was a child, we didn’t have electric lights.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: We didn’t have city water. We didn’t have telephones in the community.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: So there’s been a lot of changes.
Ms. Coffman: Can you tell me about what you used for light before electricity?
Mrs. Stewart: We had coal oil lamps.
Ms. Coffman: How did you feel about that, then?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, then, it was good. But, now, I don’t think I could see how to read by a coal oil lamp, being used to the electric lights.
Ms. Coffman: Did you think it was more cozier or more homey or anything?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, really, I don’t see any difference….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: No more than just it was coal oil lighting.
Ms. Coffman: Do you remember any of the lamps and what you used for fuel?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, we used coal oil and the lamps had chimneys on them.
Ms. Coffman: Let’s talk about your early childhood. What were some of the ways you helped around the house?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, I would help with the dishes, helped carry waters.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes); where did you carry it from?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, we’d carry it up from the Simpson Spring and then down at the salt wells, that’s the place known as Miss Martha Saufley’s place and you had to go down there and carry water.
Ms. Coffman: And, this spring is it still in use?
Mrs. Stewart: I don’t think no one carries drinking water from it. Now, people might just go by and get it. The spring is still there. They might just go by and need to stop for a drink of water or something going through the field.
Ms. Coffman: Does the spring have any particular name?
Mrs. Stewart: Simpson Spring was all I’ve ever known.
Ms. Coffman: Do you think that this spring was used for generations, like maybe as long as people have been here?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, I’d imagine it goes back a pretty good piece, but I don’t know whether as long as the community has been here or not.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: But, I know all through my childhood and then I’ve heard my grandmother talk about the Simpson Spring.
Ms. Coffman: Now, let’s talk about Miss Martha’s salt well. Was any salt ever made from this well?
Mrs. Stewart: Not as I can recall.
Ms. Coffman: About what was some of the uses for this well…for this well?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, you could use it for anything. You could use it for drinking water, or you could use it for washing, or for taking a bath, but it was…it didn’t lather soap.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm.
Mrs. Stewart: But, then, why, that was our only choice, so we had to use it.
Ms. Coffman: Do you know about how long this well was there?
Mrs. Stewart: No, I do not.
Ms. Coffman: Are there any other kinds of water out here?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, yes, there’s the sulfur wells that were here.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. Was it used?
Mrs. Stewart: The sulfur water, some people, I’ve heard of drinking it, but I never did drink it. I have used it for wash water.
Ms. Coffman: Did you attend school out here?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, I did.
Ms. Coffman: Would you talk a little about that?
Mrs. Stewart: I had to walk about two miles to get to this school. It was the Bonnyville Elementary School.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; was it a one room school?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, it was; one room school. It had from the first through the eighth grade in it.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; did the teachers change very often?
Mrs. Stewart: No, I can recall one teacher that taught me and then taught my daughter also.
Ms. Coffman: Really?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, I can.
Ms. Coffman: What was his name?
Mrs. Stewart: Professor Johnson.
Ms. Coffman: Is he still alive today?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, he is.
Ms. Coffman: Well. Can you think of anything that the people done as a community, a project or…recreation or anything….
Mrs. Stewart: No, no more than just ordinary games, playing ball and marbles and we would play different kinds of games with groups together such as I’m in the well (sic),or { } had to do yesterday or something like that.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; have you ever seen any children playing these games since?
Mrs. Stewart: Nothing but ball.
Ms. Coffman: When you was a teenager growing up, where there any { }? Sometimes there were slogans, [ ], and popular games. Were there any then?
Mrs. Stewart: No, I don’t remember any.
Ms. Coffman: What were some of the other things that you all used to do for entertainment?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, we would have parties. We’d have parties; people’d have fish fries, something like that.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; since it was segregated out there in your early childhood, did you ever feel neglected or left out or less than other people?
Mrs. Stewart: No, we were just happy the way we were.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. How has integration changed your life out here?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, it hasn’t changed any at all
(tape stops and then comes back on)
Ms. Coffman: Can you tell me some of the way things were when you’d go shopping in Stanford?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, we’d just go to the stores and get what we wanted and come on home. The people treated us nice, so….
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; did you have any problem getting anything on credit?
Mrs. Stewart: No.
Ms. Coffman: Okay, so, it was possible to open bills and maybe charge up things and so forth.
Mrs. Stewart: Yes.
Ms. Coffman: Get major appliances?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, when I became old enough to do so, I did.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes), uh huh (yes); did you have a hard time doing that?
Mrs. Stewart: No, I didn’t.
Ms. Coffman: What about other places like movie houses or maybe { }?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, we had picture shows in town….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: But, the white would always sit at the bottom and we would always have to go up the steps.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: But, it was a nice place.
Ms. Coffman: And, how did you all feel about this?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, didn’t pay no attention to it, as long as they were treating us nice and never tried to push us around or nothing….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: So, we just went on up and watched the movie and come on out when it was over.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
(tape goes off and then comes back on)
Ms. Coffman: Are there any recipes in your family that have been handed down, such as candy pulling or sorghum making or favorite cakes or pies or anything?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, yes, my grandmother always made a pulling candy.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, when I got old enough, I would make it also.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; and have you passed these recipes down to your daughter?
Mrs. Stewart: No, because now they’re not interested in making their own candy. They go out and buy it.
Ms. Coffman: Oh, yeah. Would you share that recipe?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, the best I know, it was one cup sugar….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: One half cup water….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: A teaspoon of vinegar….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: And, you would set it down and let it cook until it become a soft ball in a glass of cold water.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: Then, you would have your plates greased with butter….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: Pull it out in each plate….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: And let it cool just enough where you could work with it, then you pull it till it turned white.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Ms. Stewart: And, then, my grandmother always plaited it, and that’s the way I would do, I’d plait it and put it on the plate….
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And then we would break it in pieces.
Ms. Coffman: Well….
Mrs. Stewart: And eat it.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes). Did you all have any special cures or medicines or anything that you would take when you got sick?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, I can remember that my grandmother would always make camphor (sic)….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: And when we would have colds, she would make us broom sage tea….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: Or if we would take the measles or other childhood diseases, she would make green sage tea in order to make us break out real good.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. Did you think these cures worked pretty well?
Mrs. Stewart: I think they did.
Ms. Coffman: Do you remember a great deal of people dying all at once?
Mrs. Stewart: No, not during my childhood.
Ms. Coffman: Was there a lot of diseases…retardation or anything like that amongst the children?
Mrs. Stewart: No, no more than just regular childhood diseases.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. And, so, what about the church; has there been any changes to the church?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, the churches have been remodeled and….
(tape is turned off and then back on)
Ms. Coffman: Okay, the changes in the church?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, they have remodeled. We have brick churches out here now….
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: Added on; and I know the Methodist Church, it burned one night, struck by lightning, I believe was the cause of it.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, both churches have always worked together.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: So, when that church burned, they would have their regular services at the Baptist church….
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: Until they got that church rebuilt.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; about how long ago has it been since they got the church rebuilt?
Mrs. Stewart: Oh, it’s been about twenty years, maybe, ago.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. And, was it built back on the present site?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, it was, almost in the same spot.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. I think you said a lot of people out here done day work…was there any families that the mother worked for and then the daughter worked for them?
Mrs. Stewart: No, not that I remember.
Ms. Coffman: Can you recall some of the names that the people worked for; some of the employer’s names?
Mrs. Stewart: No.
Ms. Coffman: Did the people out here preserve a great deal of their food?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, as far as I know; a lot of canning going on, quite a bit. And, people had deep freezes so they put food up that way.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. Could you possibly recall who had the first automobile out here?
Mrs. Stewart: No.
Ms. Coffman: There’s always been cars, since you’ve been around?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, there has.
Ms. Coffman: All right.
Mrs. Stewart: Not as many, but there always have been cars.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; been any major floods or earthquakes or anything?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, no, not floods that I know of. I know water has gotten up, but none in nobodies homes or nothing.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, one Sunday we was sitting here and it seemed to be an earthquake. I could feel the ground shaking under me.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: And, then, later on, I heard that one had hit close by, so I guess we got part of it.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: Part of it.
Ms. Coffman: About how long ago was this?
Mrs. Stewart: Was that last year? Maybe two years ago.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. And, has anybody’s home or anything been destroyed by a tornado?
Mrs. Stewart: No, not home, but we had a trailer destroyed by one last year.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; but as far as you can remember, no homes…there have been no tornadoes or any natural disasters out here?
Mrs. Stewart: No.
Ms. Coffman: Would you care to describe the place, where we’re sitting? It’s kind of enclosed in knobs sitting down in the valley.
Mrs. Stewart: Oh, yes.
Ms. Coffman: Has this always been the settlement, or have people come from other parts?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, I think all that’s around is a settlement from generation to generation.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: The older ones have gone off the scene, and the younger ones…and it just keeps giving up that way.
Ms. Coffman: Do you remember some of the older peoples’ names?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, I remember my grandfather Buddy Coffman (sic); well, several.
Ms. Coffman: Would you share the names?
Mrs. Stewart: Miss Betty Helm, and Miss Lucy Coffman.
Ms. Coffman: About how long have they been deceased?
Mrs. Stewart: I really don’t know.
Ms. Coffman: Would you happen to know how this place was actually founded and who it was named after?
Mrs. Stewart: No, I don’t.
(tape goes off and then back on)
Ms. Coffman: Okay, when you were a teenager growing up, can you tell some of the music that you listened to, and the titles and the artists?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, let’s see, I can remember “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: And “The Thrill Is Gone”, but I don’t remember who that was by exactly.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, “Rocking Chair,” I can remember that.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: I don’t know exactly who that was by.
Ms. Coffman:Can you recall some of the dances that you used to do?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, just the jitterbug, and the slow dances, mostly.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: All that was going, but, now, I can see some dances that was done back when I was a teenager, they’re doing them now, but they give names to them.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: Back there, then, why, it was just dancing and that was it.
Ms. Coffman: And that was it, no name.
Mrs. Stewart: Huh uh (no).
Ms. Coffman: Did you all have a pastime of doing anything in the evening, or any special time?
Mrs. Stewart: No, no more than…ball really took the day, because we would get through with our work and even after I got married, get our work done, and all the girls would get together and go to the ball field and we would play ball. The girls against the boys, and sometimes the older women would take the younger girls.
Ms. Coffman: Would you say most everybody in the community played ball?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, except for just sit at home and just sit around and talk.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; was it quite a few people?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, it was.
Ms. Coffman: Did you all ever take any long walks anyplace?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, we would take walks, maybe, during the summer and go swimming or wade in the water or whatever you have, but we would walk, maybe about two miles, I guess to it.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, we would also walk back and forth to Stanford to the picture show.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; was this a few or a lot of people walking?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, it would depend…sometimes it would be a few and then sometimes it would be several.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; a lot of times, the people that lived in the country, people used to have old fashioned baptizing in a pond. Do you remember anything….
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, I do, because I baptized in a pond on Duck (sic) Lane.
Ms. Coffman: Can you talk about that?
(tape is turned off and then back on)
Ms. Coffman: Can you tell me about the baptizing?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, we would go to Church, the morning service and then the Church would walk to the pond.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: And, after we’d get there, why, they would stand around the banks, singing and have prayer and scripture, and we would…each candidate would go under water and be baptized, and there would be someone standing at the bank to lift you out of the water.
Ms. Coffman: Do you remember any of the old songs they used to sing?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, one mostly, “I’m Going Down To The River of Jordan.”
Ms. Coffman: Was there any other ones?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, they would be maybe sing “Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross” or “What A Fellowship,” something like that.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; these songs that you would sing have been in the family for years?
Mrs. Stewart: In the Church….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: Yes.
Ms. Coffman: Do you recall any family traditions?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, yes, we was a…and right after we became converted, we would have prayer service in our home. My grandmother would always have prayer at night. She would never go to bed without prayer.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: So, we started having prayer service in our home. And, it was for more children that were…we all were converted to prayer during Revival….
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: So, they would come to our home for prayer service and we would go to theirs.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, we done that on up until, well, some started heading out and moving away, going to college and first one thing and another, so that broke it up. Still my grandmother would have song and prayer in her home.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. Would you say this has been maybe twenty years ago or longer?
Mrs. Stewart: Longer than that; it’s about thirty, probably.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; and people had prayer services at home then?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, really, I couldn’t say for sure.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm; but it’s not a community gathering in other peoples’ homes.
Mrs. Stewart: No, it’s not; prayer service at church now.
Ms. Coffman: What about ghost and ghost tales? Do you remember any of these?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, I can recall ghost…well, I don’t remember exactly how they went, but I can remember ghost tales. But, my grandmother always taught me to never pay any attention to it, because if you see something strange, go back and find out what it is, because two to one, you have passed it….
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: Day in and day out.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, as for me, I have never seen anything that’s not real.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes). Have there been any feuds in the family that’s been going on for years; feuds or disagreements?
Mrs. Stewart: No, not that I can recall. It seems like the family has always been a close family.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. Can you describe a typical Christmas at your house?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, yes, I can remember the night…
(tape goes off and then back on)
Mrs. Stewart: that I found out there wasn’t a Santa Clause.
Ms. Coffman:Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: I was in the bed and supposed to have been asleep….
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, my uncle [ ] from Ohio …I had an auntie that lived there, so they was putting up Santa Clause, and I heard one say, “Oh, I dropped a brake.”
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: They thought I was sleeping and from that day on, I found out there wasn’t no Santa Clause, but they didn’t find out that I didn’t know until maybe about five or six years later.
Ms. Coffman: Well, (laughing) did you tell your daughter that there was a Santa Clause?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, I did.
Ms. Coffman: (laughs) about how old was she….
Mrs. Stewart:{ }.
Ms. Coffman: I know. Let’s talk about…your work was in tobacco?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes.
Ms. Coffman: Can you tell me…has there been any changes in the work through the years?
Mrs. Stewart: Well, I can say the first factory I worked at, you would take tobacco off of the belt and hang it on a stick.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, we would do that so many months, and then as spring would come, we would move upstairs, where they would have belts, and tobacco would run out on the belt and that was for picking. We would pick trash from it, or pick different leaves, say green or rotten or something like that. We would pick those…we would do that up there.
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: And, then, I went to another factory where we would put tobacco on the belt at that factory.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, from there, to another tobacco factory.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: Well, this was altogether different because I worked in the picking department, where you picked different kinds of leaves, took the trash out, and keep the floor cleaned up.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: The factory that I’m in now, why, we put tobacco on the belts…
Ms. Coffman: Uh huh (yes).
Mrs. Stewart: It has so many different sections to it. One section you put tobacco on the belt, and I have done that.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: Then, I have been in a place known as the equipment (sic) shop, where we would repair casks (sic), that the tobacco would be shipped in, if it had a bad board, then we would take it out and put a good board in it or a band or whatever would be wrong.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, I have also worked in the basement, a place known as the stem machine.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: The only thing we would do there, as stems fill up in the box, the machine would roll them out, we would band them up, push a button, and the stems would go on down the line.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, that is the factory that I am presently working in now.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: I have also worked in a place called a sewing factory….
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: Sewing bib overalls.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: And, I found that was quite interesting, because you would think that you would have to sew a whole pair at a time, but you only have a certain position that you have there. Say, for instance, if you put the bar (sic) tag (sic) on, that’s all you’d do, or if you hem, that’s all you would do.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: If you are on the { } machine, you’d just do that only. You didn’t have to do the { }, the side seams and the bar tags and the pockets and all that; each department carried its own work.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. Would you say the sewing factory was safe and clean and open and spacious?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, I would say it was. I have also worked on seat belts….
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: Just putting…just nailing one end of that.
Ms. Coffman: Do you think that (clears throat) in any of these factories, that it was a fire hazard?
Mrs. Stewart: No, I wouldn’t think it was. They all was safe.
Ms. Coffman: Did you think there were plenty of supervisors and people to help?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes; the factory that I’m in now, we also have fire greeters (sic)….
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: So, therefore, if a fire breaks out, we know exactly what to do and where to go.
(tape goes off and then back on)
Ms. Coffman: Can you tell a great deal of difference in the wages when you began and the wages now?
Mrs. Stewart: Oh, yes, there’s been a big change in wages.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: When I started out, I started out at .75 cents an hour, and now I am up to $6.45 an hour.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. That was you starting out in the factory?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, all those has been all through the factory.
Ms. Coffman: Now, would you say that, for the .75 cents an hour…do you get as much dollars’ value as you do for $6.75 an hour?
Mrs. Stewart: No, I don’t think so. I think I get more value now; more value now than I did then.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm.
Mrs. Stewart: Even though the cost of living is higher, but, we are able to meet the required standards that we need.
Ms. Coffman: So, each spender, he has to get more money out as prices went up?
Mrs. Stewart: Yes, it has.
Ms. Coffman: Hmm mm. Well, Mrs. Stewart, I thank you so much for this interview. And, in about two weeks you can go to the Library in Stanford and hear this. Is there anything else that you like to add?
Mrs. Stewart: No.
Ms. Coffman: Well, I thank you very much.
Mrs. Stewart: You’re welcome.
END OF INTERVIEW