Gladys an American Story 19341946 Mary Brooks 9781618633217 Books
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Gladys An American Story, 1934-1946 is a series of letters from a young woman to her family. The story opens on the day her luck changes because of a new WPA project, enabling her to go to college. Even though Washington State College in Pullman is only thirteen miles from Colton and the farm, Gladys writes of her experiences as if she had settled in another corner of the country, reflective of the emotional distance she sojourned to become a college coed in 1934. Eventually, she lands a job on the west coast near a little town called Silver Lake. She soon finds herself as the home economics and English teacher, the drama coach for the school plays, and the heart of the school lunch program. She survives. She marries, but her husband receives his 1-A draft status. Gladys returns to Colton alone and teaches there during the war years. The 40s gave America back its resiliency, a way to transcend the Depression. Through the letters, we can reconstruct an era. Gladys studies, she reads, she listens to jazz, she goes to the movies, she makes soup for school lunches, and she dances. We can feel the period, the poverty, the New Deal, leaving the farm, and the thrill of finding employment. We can understand the price of goods and even the care for the rubber on the tires. This historical context is the crucible of the greatest generation.
Gladys an American Story 19341946 Mary Brooks 9781618633217 Books
Gladys Brooks grew up in the Depression and began her career as a teacher during the Second World War. Her letters home to the southeastern Washington ranch where she was born shows in microcosm how life changed so dramatically for for young rural Americans of that period, especially for young women as many of them were became the first of their families to attend college and move off the farm to urban workplaces. The tone of the letters are loving but they chronicle the difficulties and pleasures of the writer's changing life as a school teacher in small towns far from home.Product details
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Tags : Gladys, an American Story: 1934-1946 [Mary Brooks] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Gladys: An American Story, 1934-1946 is a series of letters from a young woman to her family. The story opens on the day her luck changes because of a new WPA project,Mary Brooks,Gladys, an American Story: 1934-1946,Bookstand Publishing,161863321X,Biography & Autobiography Personal Memoirs,Biography Autobiography,Memoirs,Personal Memoirs
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Gladys an American Story 19341946 Mary Brooks 9781618633217 Books Reviews
Gladys relates the story of a woman during the 1930s and 40s, told largely through letters with family. The correspondence in Gladys reminded me of letters during similar times in Russell Baker's Growing Up. I read that book ages ago and loved it, but what really stuck with me was that, even during times of great crisis and tragedy on a grand scale, such as during the Depression and wars, the issues discussed in correspondence always focused on the personal and mundane - What's happening on the farm? How is the harvest? - probably to keep everything in focus. The book is a great insight into that generation and I look forward to discussing it with my own mother.
Gladys is a steadfast and solid woman who diligently writes home to her family as she embarks on her journey to college, a summer job at Yellowstone and working as a teacher in eastern Washington. She is hardworking but fun-loving. The daily activities and challenges from the historically eventful 1930-40's seem distant but also accessible as seen through her experiences. Reading this book at bedtime had a calming effect on me as I thought of the important ties of family and my own grandparents and the times in which they lived, and the stark contrast to our current living.
Gladys Brooks grew up in the Depression and began her career as a teacher during the Second World War. Her letters home to the southeastern Washington ranch where she was born shows in microcosm how life changed so dramatically for for young rural Americans of that period, especially for young women as many of them were became the first of their families to attend college and move off the farm to urban workplaces. The tone of the letters are loving but they chronicle the difficulties and pleasures of the writer's changing life as a school teacher in small towns far from home.
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