SEGMENT: NON-FARM WORK, FAMILY, & TOWNS

Jeanette Sayre>UIS Collection S>UIS Collection S, Segment 10

SEGMENT: NON-FARM WORK, FAMILY, & TOWNS,

duration 15:15
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NON-FARM WORK
Husband's first job was with the Department of Agriculture in GA. Moved there in an old car & shared accommodation. Husband traveled the south. During WWII he joined the navy and was assigned to P.T. boats. They trained him in Boston for communications. She went back to Illinois for the duration. Gave birth to first child. Back with the Department of Agriculture in Mississippi after the war. He was to become a cotton specialist. Tells the story that they thought there were two different varieties of cotton in the fields -- one white, one pink -- because they did not know the bolls turn color.
TOWNS
Described Scott, MS, as a regimented company town owned by an English company.
FAMILY
Jeanette and her husband grew apart and she did not like the company town lifestyle, so they agreed to separate and she and the children returned to Illinois. The boys graduated from school in Springfield. She describes returning to Petersburg and taking care of her parents in their last illnesses.