I Could Be a Rosebud

There’s something true about

Red, white, and blue about

Rosie the Riveter

     I had the pleasure to see a presentation on Rosie the Riveter by Carol Cain, during today's DAR meeting.  Ms Cain was extremely entertaining and inspirational, while educating us about "Rosies" during World War II.

    When Ms Cain was first asked, as a teacher, to give this presentation, she didn't know anything about Rosie and her role during the War.  Since then, she has met many real life Rosies and helped inspire the creation of the American Rosie the Riveter Association.  This is a society that I had never before heard of, but which is much like the DAR.  One big difference: the original women that the society honors are alive today and can join along with their descendants.

     Ms Cain's presentation reminded me of a few family members.  First, my Great-Aunt Ollie, who was herself a Rosie.  I only know of her work thanks to her certificate of graduation from the San Diego Vocational School, where she completed a course in Aircraft Construction and Assembly, as well as a reference card that states that she worked on commercial and Air Force aircraft for Convair. Ollie didn't have any surviving children, so I am happy to have these documents to remember her service.

     Otherwise, I know that my maternal Great-Grandparents and their children grew Victory Gardens.  For my Great-Aunt Ree, this service would allow her to join the society as as "Volunteer Rosie" and allow me to join as a "Rosebud."

     Lifetime membership is only $10 for Rosies and $20 for Rosebuds, which seems a small price.  The money helps the association to "recognize and preserve the history and legacy of working women, including volunteer women, during World War II."  I appreciate their mission and will be looking into membership.

They're In the Army Now

Week 11 of the Book of Me, Written by You blog prompt series.

     This article, and others like it, appeared in The Hartwell Sun newspaper, of Hart County, Georgia.  Published on 3 Aug 1945, this article lists 57 men, "the largest group of men to leave Hart County in months," who had just been drafted into the army.  Included in this list is my Grandfather, Thomas Craft.  He served in Germany as a truck driver and, thankfully, return home a year later.

The largest group of men to leave Hart County in months went to Ft. McPherson, Atlanta, Monday, where they are being inducted into the armed services.      Names of the 57 white men are reported by the Local Draft Board as follows: William C. Stowe, Cleo Harris Sanders, Dorsey Partain, Pelzer H. Herring, George Harper, Charlie H. Sanders, Inman E. Reed, Lucius B. Alewine, Thomas S. Craft, James H. Estes, Bernice T. McCurley, Fay H. Cleveland, Charles S. White, George E. Hilley, Charlie T. Pilgrim, Joe G. Hailey, Fred Y. Norton, D. C. Phillips, Jr., Artis D. Ertzberger, Frank H. Thrasher, James M. Wicker, Jack Cordell, James V. Cantrell, Thomas J. Bailey, Jr., Charles M. Cobb, Robert A. Floyd, Billy J. Floyd, Howard W. Earwood, Fletcher Dove, Billy E. Clark, Clifton Floyd, Jr., Herbert W. Maret, Luther Thompson, Jr., J. B. Weaver, Jr., Beverly J. Bailey, Charles L. Whitaker, Jr., Frank D. Pulliam, Asa L. Childs, Dwain E. Gurley, Owen M. Teasley, Dewey H. Beggs, Kyle J. Crook, James M. Brown, Jr., Early B. Sanders, Edward D. Kesler, Edgar W. Kay, C. B. Alewine, C. L. Brown, Jr., Hansel D. Cole, Prue M. Banister, Jr., T. J. Carnes, Leonard M. Seymour, John E. Kelly, Larry E. Senkbeil, Herschel B. Sayer, Harold R. Bailey, Thomas H. Bowers.

Talking with Aunt Ree about the 1940s

     I visited with my Great-Aunt Ree yesterday and made a point to talk to her about our family history. I've interviewed her before and she's always willing to talk about anything she can remember.

     I asked her about growing up in mill towns.  Most of her memories come from when she was between 10 and 15 years of age, around 1940 to 1945.  This is great information considering my interest in the upcoming 1940 Census release.

     Her family worked in cotton mills in Greenville, South Carolina, such as Brandon Mill and Judson Mill, before moving to Atlanta around 1945.  Her mother, Auline, worked as a spinner and her father, Vernon, worked as a doffer, while Aunt Ree worked as a battery hand. My Grandaddy, Ree's brother, also worked in the mills though I'm not sure what job he did.

     Apparently Vernon was involved in a (failed) effort to start a Union during the depression, which got him blacklisted from mill work. The family had to move to Clinton, SC to find work for a while until they could find work in Greenville again.  Aunt Ree said that a mill worker might make $20 a week, spent $2 to rent a house in the mill village, and spent $5-$7 on groceries. During the war families never ran through their ration coupons (except sugar) simply because they didn't have the money to do so.

     I recorded our conversation and will create videos about them. If you haven't seem them yet, you can view some of the videos I've made from previous conversation with Aunt Ree, many of which pertain to World War II. Click Here.

Two Joes, Thanks to the USO

    The 1940 Census Community Project recently blogged about the USO and their role in World War II. Some of their activities involved celebrities boosting troop moral with performances. 
    My aunt has the original of this photo, which belonged to my Great-Uncle (by marriage on my paternal side), Joe Funston. Here he is posing with Joe E Brown, a popular comedian from that time.
    I'm not sure the date or exact location of the photo, except that it would have been after Nov 1941 when Joe Funston enlisted.
    And I believe that my Great-Aunt Ree (maternal side) mentioned that the women in her family volunteered with their local USO during the war. I'll have to ask her more questions about that.

Replacement WWII Medals

     My grandfather, Thomas Craft, did not want to fight in World War Two. At 25 years old he was married with two children and a farm. He tried to avoid service because his crop was due to come in soon, but was drafted in the end. On 31 Jul 1945 he was enlisted into Cannon Company, 7th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division at FT McPherson, GA, and served as a Truck Driver Light in Germany. Lucky for my grandfather, he came late to the war and was quickly home again, not quite one year later. Unlucky for him and his family, his crops were stollen while he was away.

    When I first started researching my grandfather's WWII service, I requested his free service records from the National Archives. I received back his separation paperwork, which listed all sorts of information. Included in the document was the fact that his "decorations and citations"were "World War 2 Victory Medal, Occupation Ribbon (Germany)" and that he had a "Lapel Button Issued." I asked my dad and my aunts about these items, but no one knew anything about them.

     I started doing some more research and discovered that these (lost?) awards could be replaced. I followed the instructions on the National Archives website and very easily ordered the awards (again, for free). They arrived in the mail yesterday.

     My grandfather's medals include: World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal & Germany Clasp, Honorable Service Lapel Button WWII, and Marksman Badge & Rifle Bar.

My Genealogy Day

     My boss told me that I could take a day off today and use some sick time, which I never get to use and an about to hit my cap on. So, I thought I'd spend the day doing some genealogy. And I did kinda do that, but not the way I'd planned.


     So, my original plan was to visit the local Family History Center. I've never done this before, even though they are only about five minutes from my house. I spent yesterday evening browsing the online catalogue and finding resources that might be valuable to me. I was specifically looking at researching the Albea family of Lincoln County, GA and Iredell County, NC before that. I printed out some sources and a bit of family tree info and planned to go by the next morning.


     However, in the morning I checked my email and saw that my associate degree diploma was ready to be picked up. Yay! This pretty much trumped any other plans for the day. By the time I drove halfway around Atlanta and back, got home and ate lunch, the FHC was closed. However, they open for a few hours in the evening, so I thought I'd go then.


     But then, I got a call from my Aunt June (my dad's sister, as opposed to my mom's sister, also named June). She had previously mentioned that her sister, my Aunt Charlotte, would be in town sometime soon and they wanted to get together and talk genealogy. Now she knew that my Aunt would be in town starting tomorrow, so we set up a time to meet this Friday. This was a bit earlier than I'd expected, so I wasn't prepared.  I have since spent the rest of the night creating reference notebooks for each Aunt.


     As I was printing out my records about their Dad (my grandfather), I started thinking about some comments that my dad had made earlier in the day. From my grandfather's WWII army separation notice, we know that he received a WWII victory medal and an Occupation Ribbon for Germany. My dad had asked my aunt about these, but she didn't have them and, logically, she's the only person that would have them.  Since she doesn't, it's assumed that they were destroyed in the house fire in the 1960s.  So I thought I'd look into possibly ordering replacements for these. After about 10 minutes on the National Archives website, I had finished doing so. I'm not 100% that we'll receive the medals - the form just seemed too easy! But, we'll see what happens.


     I'm now sidetracked with putting together genealogy information for my aunt's visit, so the FHC visit has been put on pause. Hopefully I'll get to it next week, when I legitimately have Tuesday off.  :) Does anyone have any advise for me or tips on what to expect?

Ree's WWII Memories Pt1 - Amanuensis Monday

This past Saturday my mom, Ruby, and her sister, June, went to visit their Aunt Ree. I had to work, but I sent along my audio recorder and some questions about World War II that I wanted to ask my Great Aunt. Here's part one of her response, first in a video and then transcribed below.

Ruby: Well, she [Valerie] was wanting me to ask you about - 'cause you has said somethin' - we had, you know, she had asked you about Daddy [Roy Albea] and not bein' able to get into the, the war. And you had said somethin' about all - all the young boys had… once - once Pearl Harbor, uh, the the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, all the boys were wantin' to go enlist. So she was just wonderin', um, what it was like when you first heard about Pearl Harbor and how you found out.

Ree: Oh well, uh, for a while the, uh, President Roosevelt, came on the radio and, and announced it.

Ruby: So you heard it when he made his announcement?

Ree: Yes. On the radio, 'cause that's all we had back then.

Ruby: Yeah.

Ree: And Daddy [Vernon Albea] didn't go in the service because he had four children. They weren't takin' the men that had, you know, that many children. Daddy's health was fine. He - he, as far as a physical, he passed the physical. But he had a different rating because he had four children.

Ruby: So did he go to volunteer or was he, like part of the ---

Ree: Everybody had to sign up.

Ruby: Everybody had to sign up?

Ree: Mmm hmm. They had to sign up and take a physical. And they had to be graded or, given uh, you know, uh…

June: Classification?

Ree: Yeah.

June: That was your Daddy?

Ree: Yeah. I think it - I think that card's in those things you had. He was healthy enough and everything, it was just the number of children he had. [Pointing to a photo] That's Linda right there. [intelligible] lets see… [looking at Vernon Albea's WWII Draft Card] Local board… I need to go get my glasses.

Ruby: So anybody - an - ev - everybody over a certain age had to al - over a certain age had to go sign up?

Ree: Yeah, they drafted… they drafted people and uh, they said when they got to be 18 they had to sign up. Daddy was already older than 18 and why… but I think everybody had to register under a certain age. And uh, this was in… He was 3AH was his classification. 3AH. And he - that, that told him that he was 3A, but he had children children or somethin'. This, this is it [indicating draft card]. If I go get some glasses I can see.

Ruby: I think that the date it was mailed out. July 8th 1943.

Ree: This is Director of Register. This might be part of that. I think this' prob'ly part part of that. Ella Mallard she was our, uh, school principle. That's uh, I think that and that's was folded over.

Ruby: The registration certificate.

Ree: Mm um. And that part of it… registration

Ruby: Yeah, he was s'posed to keep this with him at all - yeah it's his registration certificate.

Ree: This is where he registered to vote [indicating voter ID card]. That's what that is. Well, lets see. Oh, he's 40 years of age. He was registered to vote at Brandon [Mill].

Ruby: And Brandon was the name of the mill.

Ree: Yes. Brandon Mill.

Ruby: And then - and then she asked, um… She was wonderin' if you remember who you were with whenever you heard.

Ree: I was, uh, in the, uh, bedroom at home. And I don't know how many of 'em were in there with me. Uh, me… I don't know. Well, it was… during the daytime when we heard it.

June: You first heard about it on the radio?

Ree: Yeah.

June: Y'all had the radio on all - uh, a lot?

Ree: Yeah, that's all we had. You know, back then we didn't have no TV, no nothin'. We we didn't have no telephone. You know, we just lived in a little four room house with a little fireplace that you burned coal in to keep warm. And uh, it was - it was just - everything was different. This [Vernon Albea's unemployment card]- well, that when he was outta work, he applied for… for uh, you know

June: Unemployment.

Ree: Unemployment. [laughter] Don't mind me!

Ruby: He wasn't unemployed for long, 'cause he's only got one report date on here.

Ree: Yeah. That - they probably somebody gave him a job to keep him from drawin' it. [laughter]

Ruby: And then she's got um… Now, now when he, when he made that radio broadcast did he, he declare war at the same time? I know I've heard that, that broadcast so many times, but I don't remember… or did they come back later and just whatever-

Ree: I don't know, you know I was 11 years old.

Ruby: You were 11? Yeah, that's young. 

Ree: I say I was 11 then in uh, July. That happened in December. So, um… That um, the speech he made about… somethin'… infamy. That one word stuck with me and - and uh, I know that there was words before that and I couldn't used to remember but I can't remember 'em now but that word's never left me. But uh, yeah he said that, um, the Japs had bombed Pearl Harbor. But I don't remember exactly what he said either, 'cause I was so young. But I remember I was in the front bedroom and the radio - it was one you set on the floor, you know, it was a cabinet radio. We just had a little radio - little speakers. But it, it all was settin' against that wall. [gesturing] well, really it would have been that wall because there was [gesturing left to right] a back bedroom, bedroom, living room and kitchen. But um, yeah, I remember it. I was there in that room when that happened.

Monday Memories - Notes from Aunt Ree

My mom recently had a simi-interview with her father's sister, her Aunt Ree. I fed her a few questions during her conversation and we learned the answer to some questions that we had been wondering about for quite a while. All we had to do was ask and then listen.

• Q: We recently came across a marriage record for your [Ree's] father, Vernon Albea, to an Alice Budell Hooper. We only knew about his marriage to your mom, Auline. Were you aware of this marriage?
• A: Auline moved to Atlanta with Roy [her son] and Auline and Vernon got a divorce. He married "that Budell woman.". They had been seeing each other and that's why Auline left Vernon and divorced him.

• Q: He died only six months later...
• A: Vernon had galloping pneumonia. His sister, Evelina and her husband, called uncle "Dooby" Duvall and their daughter Sarah all had TB. Sarah was the only one to survive. They had come out with a medicine that would have cured Vernon's TB, but they came out with it too late. That's what cured Sarah.

• Q: We visited the Edgwood Cemetery in Greenwood last year. We saw the graves of Vernon Albea and his parents. There was also a grave marked "Infant." Do you know who this baby was?
• A: The grave was Coleman's son that was stillborn. [Q: from which marriage?] It was Shirley's brother [from Coleman's wife, Marie]

• Q: Roy Albea [her brother, my grandaddy] didn't fight in WWII. He had told me something about having a broken nose keeping him out of the war. Is this true?
• A: He was 4-F. They said that he had broken his nose as a child and he wouldn't be able to wear a gas mask. He wouldn't be able to breath with it on. If you couldn't wear the mask, they wouldn't let you go to war.

• Q: How did Roy react to this? Did he want to go to war?
• A: He wanted to go. He went down right after Pearl Harbor and tried to sign up. All the men did when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Vernon tried to sign up at the first of the war but they wouldn't take him because he had four children. At first they had so many people trying to sign up that they wouldn't take anyone with so many children. But he was 1-A.

Wordless Wednesday

Roy's WWII Draft Card

Ancestry.com has been adding WWII "Old Man's" Draft Cards to their collection for a little while now. With most of my ancestors having lived in the south, I was disappointed to learn that I would not have access to their cards, as, according to ancestry.com "the original draft registration cards for the following states were destroyed several years ago and were never microfilmed before they were destroyed. Therefore, there will never be records for these states in this database." How sad!

But, the draft card that I was really interested in was my Grandfather's - and he didn't belong in the "Old Man" category, so, I had to go outside of ancestry.com anyway. I found this page, at the Selective Service System's website. It detailed how to apply for a copy of WWII draft cards, so I filled out the form and sent it off. For $15, the request was forwarded to the Southeast branch of the National Archives, where they searched for my Grandfather's draft card and classification. They didn't find the classification (which I really wanted! - why was he rejected?), but did find his draft card. Here it is:

A Sign of the Times

Searching City Directories from Greenville, Greenville, SC, I found my Great-Aunt and Uncle, F. N. "Tootsie" (Albea) and Doyle L. Clary in a number of volumes. In the 1943-44 volume I saw that Uncle Doyle's occupation had changed. In previous years, he had been listed as a worker at Brandon Mill, but now his occupation was "USA" (though his wife did still work for Brandon).

I showed the listing to my mom, who immediately said that it must stand for United States Army! She then pointed out others on the page listed with "USN" (Navy). I checked my files and, sure enough, Uncle Doyle joined the Army on 6 Oct 1942 at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC.

I then noticed how very many men in the directory had USA, USN or USMC listed as their occupation. With WWII well under way at this point, it makes sense that so many men would be in the military - but it's another thing to look through a city directory and see the names of those men (and women). So many! It really shows how many folks were affected by the war and makes me wonder how life in this town was affected. I wonder how a person might feel to be looking through the directory and see their spouse's name listed with there own, while they were actually half-way around the world. It makes me sad to think of it.

In the abbreviations section, the different military abbreviations are listed, though I imagine no one would have needed to look up these particular abbreviations at the time!

Also, under "U" (United States Government), interested individuals could find out where to sign up for their military unit of choice and find the listing of the local Army Air Force Base.

And proof of World War II wasn't limited just to official government and civilian listing. Throughout the directory, there was proof of the war effort in advertisements. Patriotism was at an all time high, and you could "take a direct part in building the defenses of your country" by purchasing War Bonds, "needed so urgently for Victory."

Images and information from Hill’s Greenville (Greenville County, SC) City Directory 1943-1944, Hill Directory Co., Inc., Richmond, VA., Ancestry.com