[Questions printed in the book.
Answers written by hand by Alice Mathews Meacham in 1993.]
Where were you born?
Humphrey, Arkansas, USA.
What was the month, day, year, and time?
Oct. 17, 1916. time?
What were your parents' names? How old were they?
Julia Stokes Mathews, 25, and Patrick Henley Mathews, 34
What was your full name?
Alice Marie Mathews
Does your name have a special meaning?
I was named "Alice" for a neighbor - Alice Reiner (sp?)
Where is the first home you remember? What did it look like?
A modest comfortable small home. It was a white frame house located between the Baptist church and an alley on the main street of a small town in Arkansas. Town: Humphrey, Ark.
Who were your neighbors?
"Auntie" and "Uncle Sid" and Aunt Eunice and Uncle Ed Stokes (my mother's brother)
Who was your best friend?
Lizzie Leffler - first grade in school
Who were your other friends?
Dorothy Cooper (see page 17), Mildred Acklen, Dorothy Davis, Louise Fowler
Did you have brothers/sisters when you were very young? When were they born?
I had an older brother Pat (6 years), an older sister Hallie (4 years) and an older brother Harry (2 years), a younger sister Margaret (2 years) a younger sister Joan (6 years) and a younger brother Edward (12 years)
What do you remember about your room?
I shared a room with my sisters.
What were your favorite games?
Skating, a card game "Rock" and "Old Maid"
What was the first present you remember receiving?
Love - from my parents
What was your favorite book?
My little Bible
Did your family have any pets?
Yes, a dog (at times) and a cat (at times)
Did you have favorite relatives?
Aunt Ellen, Aunt Nan, Aunt Blanche (my mother's sisters)
Did you have a nickname? How did you get it?
"Baby Alice." Mr. Gilliam, a neighbor, gave me this one.
Did you like or dislike it?
I liked it.
Who took care of you if your parents were away?
I can't remember both my parents being away at the same time.
Did you have a grown-up friend who was not a relative?
Yes, neighbors who lived across the street. We children called them "Auntie" and "Uncle Sid." They did not have any children.
What was the first movie you saw?
? a western movie, in Stuttgart, Ark. My girlfriend, Dorothy Cooper's mother had died when she was an infant and her grandmother and grandfather Osborne reared her. Her father was a captain on a passenger ship in the Atlantic Ocean. He was in Humphrey visiting Dorothy and her grandparents and he had a date with a Miss Stillwell, whom he dated. They were going to Stuttgart (20 miles away) to a movie and asked Dorothy and I to go with them. It was a first movie for Dorothy and I. Incidentally, it was a movie but no sound. The words were put on the screen and everyone read them (silently of course).
What were your favorite radio programs?
"One Man's Family" - a wholesome radio serial every Saturday (?) night.
What were your favorite TV programs?
There was no TV - and none even imagined when I was a child. We barely had radio.
What indoor games did you play?
"Old Maid" and "Rock" - card games
What outdoor games did you play?
"Hide and Seek" and "May I?"
Who did you play with?
Neighborhood friends in the small town I lived in - population about 500, where I was born and lived with my parents and three brothers and three sisters) until I graduated from high school, then went to Memphis Tn. where I entered Methodist Hospital School of Nursing. All the students lived in a dormitory-like bldg. a short walk from the hospital. The course was 3 years, school and learning nursing in the hospital.
Is there one special early memory you have of your mother?
My mother had 7 children, therefore worked very hard caring for us - sewing, cooking, etc etc. She had a colored lady to help her when we were all little, but when we got older we all had tasks to do. She and Daddy ( 9 years older than my mother) always took us to Sunday School and Church every Sunday and some of the family always went to Prayer Meetings on Wednesday night at the Methodist Church.
Is there one special early memory you have of your father?
Daddy was always sweet and kind and had a good sense of humor, as did my mother. The special memory I have of my father was when I was sick as a child, he sat by my bed and scraped apples and gave it to me.
What grammar school did you go to?
Humphrey Ark. Jefferson county
When did you attend?
Age 6 - First Grade - through Grade 12
Who were your favorite teachers?
Miss Umstead, First Grade. In addition to teaching during the week, she taught Sunday School and would have us to come to her home on Sat. morning to prepare our lesson and books for Sunday School the next day!
Were you in any school plays?
I was in a minstrel once in High School and in a play or two.
What did you do after school?
One of my chores was to churn the milk to make butter and buttermilk - usually after school - and I didn't like it! My mother (or my brothers if they were there) milked our 2 cows and we used a lot of the milk on cereal and in cooking and drinking, but any that was left over was "churned" until the butter formed on top. The butter was taken off, salted slightly, and made into a - or several - mounds and refrigerated to use on the table, on bread, or biscuits or cornbread. My mother did not teach me or my sisters to milk the cows because she said if she taught us, we would have to do it. So, bless her heart, if one of the boys was not home to milk the cows, she did it. Sometime, my brothers were practicing football or at a game.
Who were your best friends in grammar school?
Dorothy Cooper, Louise Fowler, Mildred Acklen, Dorothy Davis.
How late did you stay up during school nights?
As I remember, until I did my homework for school the next day, in winter, and I guess about 9 or 10 pm in summer
What chores did you have at home?
Making beds, sweeping, churning the milk, washing or drying the dishes, setting the table, helping prepare the food, delivering a quart of milk to a lady who lived about 2 blocks away.
What do you remember about your summer vacations?
Our vacations were spent most of the time at home. Occasionally, when we had a car (which was a short time) we drove to Bearden, Arkansas to visit Aunt Blanche Roebuck and family.
What do you remember about the school buildings?
The 1st and 2nd grades (as I recall) were in a wooden structure on the school grounds, but the rest of the school was in a 2-story brick building - grades 3 thru 12
Did you get an allowance?
No, my father and mother did well to clothe and feed 7 children. The 7th was born the summer that Pat, the oldest graduated from High School.
How did you spend it?
If we needed money for something special, it if was a small amount, our father (somehow) managed to give it to us (probably by doing without something he and Mamma wanted)
What High School did you go to?
Humphrey High School, the same school I attended from Grade 1. The town had about 600 people; other children from the country around Humphrey attended the same school.
Who were your favorite teachers?
I can't recall that I had favorites. The Principal, who knew that I planned to go to School of Nursing, kidded me a lot, saying: "Yes, you will probably marry a rich patient."
Who were the teachers you didn't like?
I can't recall any teachers that I didn't like.
What were your favorite subjects?
I don't recall that I had any favorites. My senior year in High School there were 5 students, including me - 3 girls and 2 boys. Another girl (who lived on a farm) and I were about even, grade-wise, but I happened to be Valedictorian.
What subjects did you dislike?
We had a "bare-bones" education at that time. The Great "Depression" had occurred and anything that was not of utmost importance was eliminated (like Home Ec.)
Who were your closest friends?
My best friend as a senior was a little short boy who had a good personality. We enjoyed each other at school but never dated. He dated a girl about 2 yrs. younger.
What were your favorite sports?
Remember the Great Depression had happened - and sports had gone the way of Home Economics (cooking, etc). We did put on a Sr. play but I don't remember what it was.
Were you on any school teams?
No teams after the Depression hit.
Did you belong to any clubs?
The High School in my home town (pop. 500-600) was a "bare bones" school. Atheletic games and other non-essentials were stopped.
Did you win any academic awards?
In a class of 5 I graduated as "Valedictorian." A close competitor was a classmate (girl) who lived in the country.
Who was the most envied person in your school?
I don't know (perhaps I was, because I lived in town (remember 600). Most of my classmates lived on farms.
What teacher influenced you the most?
Perhaps my 1st grade teacher. She was a religious lady and taught our Sunday School class. She had us come to her house on Sat am to study our S.S. lesson and paste the pictures in our class books.
Who did you date?
In high school, I dated a boy who lived about 15 miles away, on a rice farm.
Was there someone you wanted to date but never did?
Not in High School!
What did you want to be or to do when you finished high school?
Go to Nursing School and be a nurse.
What friends had the most influence on you?
? Church friends
Did you fight with anyone?
No.
Did you have any part-time jobs during the school year?
No, none to be had in our little town. Remember there was a Depression.
What did you like best about summer vacations?
Leisure - warm weather.
Did you ever work during summer vacations?
Only helping with work at home. I lived in a small town, no jobs.
How much did you earn?
Food and housing and clothes as part of our family.
What were your favorite books?
I cannot remember.
What were your favorite movies?
I lived in a small town of 600 people and no movies.
What television or radio programs did you follow?
Television was not known when I was in High School. We barely had radio. There was a radio serial that we listened to every week called "One Man's Family."
What were the most popular songs?
(as I write in this book I am 77 years old). I can't remember.
What dances did you do?
Ballroom dancing.
What were your favorite clothes?
Skirts and sweaters and dresses. My mother could sew and had a machine and made most of my and my sisters' clothes.
What were the major clothing fads?
Circular skirts, pleated skirts.
What were the most popular slang terms and phrases?
Oh Heck! Doggone! Darn it!
What did you do in high school that gave you the most satisfaction?
I studied and made good grades. Also, while I was in High School I taught a Sunday School class at the Humphrey Methodist Church. It was a class of students about 2 or 3 years younger than I was.
What was the greatest disappointment you experienced?
I don't remember any.
Did you drive a car?
No. We did not own a car. I learned to drive after I married and we were able to buy a used Chevrolet (many years later!)
Who taught you to drive?
My husband.
How did you get along with your mother?
Fine. We disagreed most when she was making a dress for me. She would say "you want it skin tight!"
How did you get along with your father?
Fine. He and my mother were wonderful, dedicated Christians. My father had been a Catholic but in Humphrey there was not a Catholic church so he became a dedicated Methodist and was Supt. of the Humphrey Methodist Church Sunday School for years.
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