Ellen Lynn Mills (nee Johnson)

Ellen (23) and pregnant with Larry Mercer (24) at her mother's house- 1974

Floresville, Texas

February 23, 2005

Joshua Bailey

Palo Alto College

History 1302 - Spring 2005

INTRODUCTION

TRANSCRIPTION

ANALYSIS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

My mother Ellen Lynn Johnson was born on January 22 1951 to Norma Lee Hiene and Warren Joseph Johnson. She had two younger brothers, Gary Warren Johnson and Steven Joseph Johnson. She was born in San Francisco, California and lived there for the first two years of her life. Her family moved to Texas because that's where Warren found work as a trucker. After that she moved to Del Rio, then to Kansas City where she only stayed a total of three years. The majority of her life she lived in San Antonio until the last three years where she resides in Floresville, Texas. My mother graduated from Highlands High School and began to go to college at South West Texas (Currently Texas State) which wasn't very common for a woman in her times. She got an equivalent of two years before quitting and going to work full time. Her first job was as a grocery checker in a small store when she was 16. After she graduated High School she got a job as a secretary at a Hospital and eventually became the hospitals Business Supervisor. After that job she got on with South Western Bell and became a warehouse manager. When SWB no longer was SWB she got a job at the HEB arsenal as a secretary until she climbed the ladder to where she is today as an HEB analyst. During these years my mother was married three times. Her first marriage was to Larry Mercer. They had two kids together. My brother Steven Allen Mercer and my oldest brother Mark Mercer. After they were divorced my mom married my dad Phillip Bailey. They had me and then were divorced after a year. During her time at HEB she met my step dad Miles Ray Mills. He works at the arsenal as well with the data management department. They dated for a while and then were married in San Antonio TX in 1997. Ray had two kids already Kelli and Kristi Mills. My mom enjoys reading, sowing, gardening, and watching TV.

TRANSCRIPTION

Describe a typical day for you as a child?
Well it wasn't to different then things are today for a child. We went to school, played with our friends and normal things like that. The only difference really was that we had to do more around the house chores wise.

Now tell me about some things that changed during the cold war when people became more politically conscious.
Well the only change that really sticks in my mind s the changes at school. We had to do things like prepare for bomb threats and stuff like that which was pretty scary as a little girl.

What was the next event that effected how your life was going?
Probably the Vietnam War. That war effected everyone in those days because due to the cameras and the press we actually saw what was happening over there and it was devastating.

Was there any particular reason that the war affected you?
Well, my first husband Larry was shipped over to fight in Vietnam from '69-'72 and any wife would be worried .

How did you feel about him enlisting into the service?
Well I definitely wasn't happy with the idea. I was more scared of losing my husband then anything. It's just something he wanted to do to make his father proud.

What was life like when he was gone?
Well, I was constantly scared and I felt a lot of pressure. I was scared that he wouldn't return home which was in every woman's head. I felt a lot of pressure to keep the house and boat shop running.

The Boat shop?
Yea Larry owned a nice boat shop and when he left i was trying to take care of it but I just couldn't handle the pressure and having no expertise in the area of boats didn't help either. I eventually left it to Larry's brother to run until he got back.

Were you ever happy during this period of time?
At first no... not really because I couldn't handle everything and i began to feel very depressed until I met Michelle .

Who is Michelle?
Michelle is a woman who was pretty much in the same boat as me during the same time. She was also having financial problems as I was so she moved into my house and we helped each other cope with our financial and personal situations.

How were things when Larry returned home?
When he initially got home everything seemed perfect until he started drinking. He was always a wild man but this time it was different. When he began to drink he would get angry and very unpleasant to be around. The drinking is what eventually led to the divorce.

Mom at age 35 in our house in Live Oak, Texas- 1986

Is there anything else you would like to add?
I am glad that everything happened the way it did in life because all of this made me the person I am today. I have wonderful kids a good husband and a happy life and if it weren't for what I have been through things might be totally different.

ANALYSIS

There are many things that I have learned from doing the Oral History project with my mother. I learned that she has had a pretty rough life and many hardships that she had to overcome. The most important thing that sticks in my head is just how hard it was for her and many other women in the same situation to deal with life during Vietnam. The thing that i learned from my Mom that I didn't know was that her first husband was in Vietnam. During the interview my mom really didn't get emotional when talking about the subject. Maybe because the time that has passed and that she feels that everything happened for a reason. The stories that we discussed showed me that while the soldiers were fighting the women were struggling here at home. The benefits that you get from oral history is that you get the story on a personal level and not from a book that only states the facts. The bad part about it is that over time there stories may change as their memories go a little. I would much rather learn about history this way because you learn about history of the average person and not about presidents and wars.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Floresville, Texas The Handbook of Texas Online is a multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture sponsored by the Texas State Historical Association and the General Libraries at UT-Austin. It was produced in partnership with the College of Liberal Arts and the General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin. Copyright © The Texas State Historical Association. Last Updated: May 6, 2004.

San Francisco, California I added this link to show where she was born and the things that are going in in California at this time. Although she didn't live there long it was still her birth place. Copyright © 1999-2005 City & County of San Francisco. All rights reserved.

Highlands High School My Mom graduated from here in 1969. the homepage where you can find information about Highlands high school, then and now. Portions Copyright © 1993-2005 Allison Royce and Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Portions Copyright © 1993-2005 HighlandsHighSchool.com. All Rights Reserved.

South West Texas The official site for Texas State which used to be South West Texas

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