OH136 Estelle Adams Oral History
Collection Title
Jackson Purchase Oral History Project - Lifestyles
Series Number
OH136
Interviewee
Adams, Estelle
Interviewer
Anderson, Margaret
Date Interviewed
February 14 & 26, 1980
Processed by
Tara Marcum
Date Processed
September 26th, 2011
Description
1 sound disc (37 minutes)
Abstract
Estelle Adams describes life on the family farm in Murray Kentucky during the 1920s and 1930s. She recalls the chores she performed as a child, such as washing dishes, making beds and canning food. She tells of her father trading pigs, chickens and eggs for dry goods at the local grocery store or with traveling peddlers. She discusses medical remedies, church activities and significant regional events during the Great Depression and Second World War. She speaks of local remedies for common colds such as wild cherry bark, sugar, black pepper cough syrup. She recalls attending a week long ‘Big Meeting’ during a Baptist revival. At height of the Great Depression, she stated there was hardly any farm production and that government programs such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and Civilian Conservation Corps provided jobs which planted trees, built farms and paved the city streets of Murray. Adams made extra money ironing, cleaning houses and babysitting during the depression and war years.
Biographical/Historical Note
Estelle Adams was born on December 9, 1916 at Murray, Kentucky. Her father was Jim Osborn and her mother was Ethel Clark. Her father farmed and later sharecropped. The family grew corn, beans, tobacco, sorghum and raised pigs and chickens. As a child, she attended the Blood River Church. She and her husband lived in Detroit, Michigan during the Great Depression and Second World War
General Information
No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings/Descriptors
Adams, Estelle, 1916-
Farm life - Kentucky - Calloway County.
Depressions - 1929 - United States - Personal narratives.
Calloway County (Ky.) - History
Detroit (Mich.)
Blood River Church (Hamlin, Ky.)
Recommended Citation
Anderson, Margaret R., "OH136 Estelle Adams Oral History" (2025). Lifestyles. 1.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/oh-lifestyles/1
Audio Transcript
