Etoy Evelyn Mann (nee Markum)
Did you have electricity and running water?
No, we had a well. We had to go pack our water and we had rail lamps. Now that's something you probably don't know and I don't know how to spell it. The rail lamp had a round wick and it was a bright light and that's what I studied by. I don't know where it is now.
Do you remember anything about the Great Depression?
Not really because we had all we needed to eat and daddy killed pigs and sold the calves and sold the turkeys. I just didn't know anything about the Depression. I was here and I was alive, but I sure didn't know anything about it.
How did you do in school?
Real good.
Why did you stop going to school?
I didn't like the teacher. (laughs)
What did you and your brothers and sisters do for fun when you were little?
You mean like playing games? Okay, annie over was one, uh my job was to get the chips in cause we had a chimney. We had an under ground cistern and daddy put the gutter on, it was a tin roof and daddy put the gutter on it.
What is the game Annie Over?
Throw a ball over the house. Somebody would be on one side of the house and somebody on the other side and we threw a ball over the house. That's what we called it.
Where did most of your food and clothes come from?
My clothes? Mama made them. Some of them were hand me downs from my aunt and she remade them.
And your food, where did it come from?
Food? Daddy planted gardens and we had, okay, those speckled butter beans, tomatoes, carrots, watermelons, sweet potatoes. I drove the mulls. Daddy middle busted the aisles. If you don't know what that is, it's a plow that makes like that (hand gestures). I drove the mulls with a log to make it flat on the top. That was fun.
What were some of your jobs around the house when you were younger?
Well we had to wash our clothes with a rub board. I didn't do too much. Daddy had a big 'ol pot that he would start a fire under and we'd boil them. Anyways we'd get them out of that, dress them up, hang them up around the clothes line all over the place. Course I helped do that.
Was there segregation back when you were in school?
They had a white school, a black school, and a Mexican school.
Did you ever play with any of the black kids or the Mexican kids?
I didn't see them.
What was the house you grew up in like?
It was just an old family place and it was an old, old house and it had 1 X 12 boards and they called them maps on the cracks. One room, no ceiling and a tin roof, but it was home. I liked it.
What were the occupations of your parents?
Daddy was a farmer, mama did the cooking.
Did most people your age attend school?
Mmm Hmm
What did you wear to school?
Dresses
How did you get your name?
She was kinfolk and she wanted to name my older sister and mama named her Irma Louis, and then when I came along, she came back and then named me after her. So I like my name. I think her name was Etoyal, but I'm just plain Etoy.
Was she your mom's friend?
No, I think more of daddy's.
Do you have anything else you would like to add to the interview?
I used to be shy. Nobody believes it just the kids up in Maybrook over at the school. He told him too, Etoy was very quiet, they didn't believe him either.
I learned a lot about how growing up in Texas has changed over the years.
The most important point made in this interview was that family is everything, regardless of how you grew up.
I learned that she used to be a very shy person, which is hard to believe.
Yes, it made me realize what I have gained as a person having grown up in Texas.
Etoy was very detailed with some of my questions and tried her best to answer all of them.
Her stories showed me just how much Texas has changed over the years.
For verification, I would ask questions in response to her answers.
A benefit to oral history is that we are able to hear the actual story coming from the person who lived during that time. I don't think there are any drawbacks.
Yes, this is an effective way of learning about our past because it is being told from someone who lived through that time first hand.
List a minimum of SEVEN sources. There must be links to each of the sources within the transcription.
Here are three examples of annotated sources plus a source for photos/documents.
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">Map of San Antonio. Geographical and historical maps of continents, countries, counties, cities; maps relating to history and current news events. University of Texas Libraries.
What is a cistern?. . Gives the description of what a cistern is and what it is used for. This site also provides photos of cisterns.. .
Rub Boards. . Gives a description of what a rub board is and what it is used for. This site also provides several pictures.
Rail Lamps Provides a picture of a rail lamp.
Waco, Texas Provides a history of Waco, Texas. It's location and what the small town has to offer.
Speckled Butter Beans Provides a picture of speckled butter beans.
