Mon 1. I washed this AM then Gerald & Miriam did theirs. They were all here for dinner. Got a letter from Elizabeth.
Tue 2. Went to Ladies Aid at Hoffs.
Wed 3. Did my ironing today. Went to prayer-meeting at night. Wardle says Hellfire is not literal. Says we must not take the Bible too literal as we’ll get into trouble.
Thu 4. Have taken care of a half hog today. Am tired. Am looking for my SS Boys tonite.
Fri 5. The boys came but did not make many definite plans. Dad & I went to Eldora—stayed for dinner. Attended a Steward Board meeting in the PM. Went to a basket ball game at night.
Sat 6. Dad & I went to Eldora in the PM to see Dean Pisen. Dad is so discouraged over financial affairs. We have no business. Notes are due and nothing coming in to pay them.
What a tough situation to be in! A couple of years into the Great Depression, it’s starting to hit home.
Sun 7. Went to church & SS in the AM and to church at night. Garnet Short was down awhile in the PM—also Betty and Peggy.
Mon 8. Did my washing today. Started some hemming. Dyed some hose for my rug and had four boys here for a com. meeting. We played Old Maid.
Here’s a 1930s-era rag rug made with stockings and cotton strips. When you don’t have much, you make beauty out of whatever is at hand!
Old Maid is a card game that is distinguished by having one loser rather than one winner. Whoever gets stuck with the unmatched card in the deck is the “old maid,” which was a term used to describe an older, unmarried woman.
Tue 9. Gerald & Miriam washed here today. I got dinner for them. Also have been making some hominy. Started with 6 qts of shelled corn. Will have [___] qts. Went to choir practice in the evening.
Hominy is whole kernels of dried field corn that have been nixtamalized—dried, then soaked in an alkaline solution to remove the hulls and germ. The process turns the inner kernels tender and plump, improves the corn's nutritional content, and keeps the corn from sprouting during long storage. Here’s a recipe. Grits are coarsely ground hominy, and masa is finely ground hominy flour.
Emma didn’t write in the total number of quarts, but based on the information I could find, 6 quarts of dry corn would likely have made about 15-18 quarts of hominy.
Wed 10. Have written to Elizabeth S. this AM sending her “Peter & the Angels.”
Thu 11. Mrs. Robertson & Mrs. Tober came down this forenoon.
Fri 12. Cleaned up the upstairs this AM. Put up clean curtains. Lottie and Mrs. Walker called in the PM.
Sat 13. Mrs. Tober came down to help me make doughnuts. We sold 6½ dozen. Robert Grooters was here all PM and for supper. Garnet and Leo practiced here in the evening. We went to the Charity Basket ball game at night.
Sun 14. Another Sunday has arrived.
Mon 15. Washday. It is nice but I hung my clothes in the house.
Tue 16. A rainy day. Did not go to choir practice. Ironing done.
Wed 17. Went to Mrs. Mohler’s in PM and to prayer meeting at night.
Thu 18. Dad & I went to Eldora in PM. I went to WFMS at Hoff’s & Ruth went to a party at Bogardus when they gave up the League social.
Fri 19. Have written Katharine. Baked rolls and cookies today. Robert Grooters came down for supper & stayed all night. Mrs. Mohler came down and we made some salve for Miriam’s hemroyd.
Sat 20. Dad & I went to Eldora today. Stayed for dinner. Ruth had Ona stay with her. They had a beauty parlor for themselves. Fixed me up when I got home.
Sun 21. We went to SS & church. The lesson was on the Good Shepherd. I read Pore Lil Black Sheep. Stay at home all day. Ruth went to Robertsons for dinner.
“Pore Lil’ Brack Sheep” was a poem written by Ethel Maude Colson, who was an author and poet in the late 1800s-early 1900s. Here it is set to music in a 1900 book called “Make His Praise Glorious.” I believe it’s based on these verses from Matthew 18: 12-13—”What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”
I found a clipping of the poem among Emma’s files, and was struck by the use of “Negro dialect” in this and many other items that were included in older family scrapbooks. This led me down a curiosity trail about this topic…there's a whole much longer conversation to pursue around language and race and stereotypes, which I hope to dig into when I get some time. If you'd like to learn a little more, here are a couple of interesting references I found.1
Mon 22. Washed this morning. Was too tired to go to choir practice. Dad went to a school board meeting. Probably his last one. Mrs. Wardle called today.
Tue 23. Did a part of my ironing. Talked with several people. Mrs. Olmstead wants my little Black Sheep “pome”. Mrs. Mohler & Alice Neil called. The Mid winter SS picnic is on tonight. Went to church basement to the MWSSP. Kids—Noise—Eats—Late—Tired—Sleeplessness. Not very profitable.
Wed 24. Wrote Kathie this AM. Gerald is hauling wood for Jim.
Thu 25.
Fri 26.
Sat 27.
There were no entries for three days in a row…the longest I’ve seen Emma go without writing in the journal.
28. Went to Eldora twice today. Will be so glad to get our finances settled in some way. Rev Wardles went to Wilton Jct. today. I have to lead the prayer meeting.
Mon 29. We were in Eldora twice today. Gerald moved to the farm this PM. It has been a wonderful Spring day. The three kiddies will stay all night here.
In the 1930 census, Gerald was living in a rented house in Hubbard. Giving that up and moving to the farm would have been a big change for Gerald, Miriam, and their three children. I’m not sure what the farm had by way of utilities and conveniences, but I know it was more rustic than what they were used to.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of Emma’s journals. See you next week for March 1932.
This article discusses two African-American poets in the 1920s and their use of Negro dialect.
This is an interesting dissertation entitled Dialogue and "Dialect": Character Speech in American Fiction.