SEGMENT: WOMEN'S WORK & FAMILY

Judy Stark>NIU Collection>NIU Collection, Segment 19

SEGMENT: WOMEN'S WORK & FAMILY,

duration 09:01
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WOMEN'S WORK
Discussion of work done by mother in-law including raising chickens, selling eggs, housework, driving tractor, & gardening. People came from neighborhood, suburbs, and Chicago to get eggs. Main work was in house. Did not do fieldwork except for driving tractor for baling hay. Mother in-law's work was cleaning the house. Her main goal was to be a wife and mother. Tended garden and chickens. Did a lot of canning. Later she did some freezing. Became ill and slowed down. Had 300-400 chickens. Had two chicken houses at first but went to one as she got older. She really enjoyed taking care of the chickens, found it relaxing. She graded the eggs using a scale and cleaned them with a wet rag. Boxed them according to the weight. Attempts to describe "candling.".
FAMILY
Mother in-law had four children, 1 boy 3 girls. The boy farmed the girls did not farm or marry farmers. Judy's husband's parents bought the farm they live on now. His father died before they moved there. Mother passed away a year after she moved into the new house. His grandparents lived on farm in Cloverdale then moved to Malta. His grandmother is at a Pine Acres nursing home in DeKalb.