September 17 - US Constitution Day

September 11 - We Can Never Forget

US History: Are We There Yet?

We are still feeling the effects of the housing collapse in 2007-2008.  While a lot of new housing is going up, it's targeted towards those who have the means to afford the higher prices - whether it's a house or an apartment.

Family History During The Depression

I came from blue collar roots, and still consider myself to be blue collar now.

My Mother was born in 1934 in Cincinnati, Ohio during the depression.

My Father was born on a tobacco farm in Jonesboro Tennessee in 1932.

Neither had money, but worked and sacrificed in order to provide a good home for us kids.

We didn't do home movies, but the family sure did pictures.  Here are just a few.

Henry Earl Robinson - Mother's Father, with Frances Isabelle Kersey - Mother's Mother.  He died his hair black to make him look younger, but he was old enough to be her father.  Grandma left behind a home with the means to survive the depression (her father buried money in pickle jars in the back yard because he didn't trust the banks) to marry a man she felt sorry for - and lived with a dress and a full slip to switch out.  That was it.  In her previous life, she had a closet full of clothes.

Mom was born in a rough shack of a house in Cincinnati.  This was while my grandparents were newly married and he still provided for the kids.  By the time the youngest, Eddie, came along, he had left Grandma to provide for herself and four children during the depression.

My Father, Charles Sells, as a kid in Tennessee.  They were blessed with farm land to plant and grow their own food.  My Mother faced starvation in the city.

The only way for my Father (and for many men during that time) was to go into the military to get away from the farm and learn a new skill.

The way for my Mother to get away from the rat trap housing projects forced on the family by welfare was to marry young.  Mom was about to start her senior year of high school when she and Dad married.

They were a team and life partners to the end.  Here they are at my ASU graduation in December, 1999.

U.S. History - World War II

World War I was supposed to be the war to end all wars, but sadly that has been proven wrong.  This ugly war took our Greatest Generation to Germany to take down a madman committing ethnic cleansing, and taking over Europe.

FHE - Movie Night - Depression Era Style

One of my all time favorite movies.

Depression Era Cooking

Where my mother was raised, they ate potatoes, had re-constituted dehydrated milk, and relied on the government and charities to get by.  She would get 1 pair of shoes for the entire year, her clothes became the hand - me - downs for her younger sisters.

My dad was in overalls through most of his childhood, and since he was raised on a farm, they grew what they ate.

The Great Depression - In A Nutshell

The Stock Market Crash of 1929

Most of us living today didn't live through the Crash of 29, much less the Great Depression.  That means that many of the stories of how people survived (and didn't survive) that period of U.S. history are either lost, or recorded.  My parents were children of the Great Depression, and yes, I know many of their stories, such as my mother fainting on the street from hunger and how worried my maternal grandmother was that her oldest child was having to experience this.

This American Experience show from PBS is very good at explaining what happened that led to the Crash of 29.  More on the Great Depression at a later date.

The Roaring 20's

FHE - U.S. History

With all of the books and movies made regarding historical events and people in the United States of America, there is no collection that compares with the U.S. National Archives.

Interested in learning the real history behind our nation, our customs, our laws, our leaders and our citizens?  Search the archives here.

FHE - A Little Constitutional History

If you've never seen this before, you're in for a treat.

Please have a safe and happy President's Day.