Interview of Education in the 1930s
1) When and where were you born? I was born the 12th of October, 1919 in Lincoln, VT. Five generations of Purintons have been born and raised in Lincoln. I had two brothers, John and George. John was five years older than me and George was three years older. John died a couple years ago, but George is still alive and well and living up in West Lincoln making maple syrup. My father worked up in the woods clearing land and he also helped out on a farm. My mother mostly stayed at home and cooked and cleaned, like most women did in those days. She would often get together with the ladies from town to bake and sew while sharing the latest gossip. I remember getting up around 5:00 every morning to go outside and get wood for the fire. There was always plenty of work for us kids to do. The boys always did the hard labor, for example, the wood. The girls mostly stayed inside, helping their mother with whatever chores she needed to have done. We only had three boys in our family, so what I remember about what girls did is based on what our friend Carol Ann Rose told us. Carol was two years older than me but she was really go
There was very little leisure time, but what leisure time we did have was spent with the neighbor kids, playing baseball, going swimming, stuff like that. Most students were relatively poor that went to school, but there were a few “well-to-do” kids in the schools. The reason that kids did not go to school was no so much that they couldn’t afford it, but because it was more necessary for them to work and support their family. 14) What did you do after school? Sundays? Holidays? Well, it was the depression, so there wasn’t a lot of money to be spent on unnecessary things. Especially in a small Vermont town, people did not have much money, not like they do now. 10) What educational experience helped you most in life? 8) Were there problems with drugs? What about divorces?
Some common words found in the essay are:
Bristol School, God Parents, Especially Vermont, Bible Family, West Lincoln, Judith Robinson, Ann Rose, Fair Tunbridge, Sundays Holidays, Studying Bible, bristol school, school one-room schoolhouse, george john, grammar school, school one-room, one-room schoolhouse, day school, don’t care, bible taught, schoolhouse lincoln, little towns,
Approximate Word count = 1840
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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