Interviewee(s): Barbara Hayes
Interviewer(s): Liz Wiley, Lorenz Iversen, Patrick, Rachel Treglia
Transcriber: Rachel Treglia and Liz Wiley
Date of Interview: 06/06/2016
Location of Interview: Barbara Hayes’ House
Interview Accession Number: SQ-2015-Hayes-Barbara-I-01
Transcribed Stories
Interaction With Houghton Family Children
Liz Wiley: Did the Houghton family have any children?
Barbara Hayes: Oh yeah
LW: Did you play with them at all?
BH: Oh no! No No No No No…You got to have your roles dear. So there was no playing with
children. But I guess my mother might have had some interaction with the children. Maybe she
did. But not any of her children. None of us.
Church During the War
BH: I never had to stay home from school, church was still going on – you know, we were still
singing in church, still going to church, so nothing stopped. We weren’t prevented from going
anywhere. Right, I went to John Wesley United Methodist, which is right down the road, and the
elementary school. That’s where I went for six years.
Hayes’ School Life
BH: It was a one room school; there were six rows of chairs, with probably five or six chairs in
each rows, a woodstove to keep us warm, a cloak room to keep our coats in, and a storage room
to keep books and things like that in. A teacher and maybe twenty-five kids or twenty kids. Her
name was Winnifred Green. She was good, I liked her. I remember that my parents had to get on
her, yes they did, because my brother had been misbehaving, and she gave corporal punishment.
Which, she didn’t do it right. And she was scolded. She didn’t do it anymore to anyone else. [My
parents] believed in protecting their children. It wasn’t that my brother should not have had a
crack on his hand, but it was the way she did it. She didn’t use the flat end, but the side. It wasn’t
good. So, you can punish, but it has to be safe.
Recalling Procedure for Hear Planes During the War
BH: Well, I knew [the war] was going on, but it just wasn’t a fear factor for me, at my age, at my
tender age. So, what I remember was about the lights. There were times when a storm came, and
the lights were turned out. We would all huddle together. And that was respecting the storm. And
as far as when planes would fly over, lights had to be off. And we were quiet. The next day if
[my parents] talked about it, it was not something that connected to me. I was more just playing
and jumping – I really just had fun on the farm. I really did. I had fun on the farm.
Parental Political Party Affiliation
Patrick Nuget: I got to go back. You brought up how your teacher wanted to know
whether…she was real nosey and wanted to know whether your parents were democratic or
republicans. So I’m wondering whether they were a democratic or republican, but also what that
meant. What was on the line for her when she asked that…at that point of time.
BH: Well she was just being nosey, but but probably they were republicans and then became
democrats. And they were probably republican because the boss was republican. So there were a
lot of black people who were republicans and I don’t think they have changed…people don’t
really talk much about what they are.
PN: Back then it was very different. In terms of political alliance changed.
BH: It’s changed. But I think probably my parents voted the way the boss voted. Probably. It
was their bread and butter. I don’t even know if they said this is how you have to vote. I don’t
know. But I think probably you do things that, for you, you make decisions, choices. I don’t
blame my parents for the way they had to vote. They had 11 heads, well 10 my oldest brother
died by the time that he was three so I never got to see him, but they had 10 mouths to feed. If
you got to decide if it means me being a republican or a democrat to feed my family, I am going
to take the one that, as long as you are treating me well, if that is the only thing that is holding
this up. You have to make decisions.
Talked about Franklin Delano Roosevelt Positively
PN: Do you remember talk of FDR?
BH: oh yeah my gosh. He was a lifesaver as far as my parents were concerned. [He was] the best
president ever. From their point-of-view, he looked out from the little person. The person who
didn’t have a voice, a person who had needs, and who needed help. They had high praises for
him. I heard nothing negative about him. So FDR FDR FDR. After I did listen to some of the
other politicians after that, they said oh this is what FDR did. His name has been brought up. I
don’t know if they still use it. I do remember them saying that he was a lifesaver.
Listening to Edward R. Murrow on the Radio
PN: Did you have a radio?
BH: Oh yes.
PN: Do you remember radio shows from the 40s or 50s?
BH: On Sundays, we would listen to Edward R Murrow. That was my mother’s favorite. She
loved this man. On Sundays, we would have to listen to him. I know that that voice had to be
heard on Sundays…Edward R Murrow had her ear.
PN: I wonder why?
BH: I’m sure he said a whole lot of political stuff that she agreed with. Apparently she believed
in whatever it is he said because we listened to him every Sunday. If there is somebody that you
don’t like you turn off from them. So she listened to him. And I am sure at work they would have
discussions about it. She would probably take it to work and talk to the people that she worked
with.