My Grandparents' Oral Interview

Note:  Years ago, I did a phone interview with my paternal grandparents Claude and Beaulah Armstrong. In their memories, I found this file and decided to share with the world what their lives were like and the memories that we will always honor and cherish. - The Family 

Like most people, our senior citizens love to talk about how life once was and the changes that have occurred during their lifetimes.  They all have experiences that perhaps will be never be shared again; in their younger years, there was no email, no compact disc players, nor any of the "necessities" of our time.  As a matter of fact, Webster defined a computer as " a person who performed calculations"! Some people made it through high school and college, while others headed to the cotton fields to work after school because having an education was a luxury. Both of my grandparents, Claude and Beaulah Armstrong, lived through that era and amazingly, both say we as today's generation should be grateful for what we have.

Claude Armstrong was born October 13, 1916 - during the climax of World War I - to a poor tenant farming family in rural Faulkner County. He is the youngest of seven and is the only one still living. At an early age he realized the value of hard work, which he has successfully instilled in his three children and many grandchildren; otherwise, he said, the family would not have made it through the rough times. Unfortunately, he had to quit high school at the segregated Pine Street School in Conway in order to work in the fields and take care of home. When he turned eighteen, Claude enlisted in the Air Force as a pilot where he trained in Florida for thirteen months. It was at this time he finally started to really see the world by flight; by that time President Hoover was on his way to death ("he didn't know anything about fighting, he wasn't worth much" - Grandpa). His journeys took him to California, India, and Australia, where he played baseball and won that country's World Series! Quite an athlete, especially in such a racially divided world!

Technology wise, the radio to have was a Bacharach; all the listener had to do was charge it was not on. The television was not invented until 1956, but its presence was huge in the house; he had moved into the home where he is still living at the previous year.  As far as radio, Claude didn't listen to it often enough to pick a favorite program. The first automobile he remembered driving was a Dodge coupe, which he recalled was used exclusively for going to church. Also, he served in World War II; again, he was a fighter pilot. This time, he was stationed in India for 23 months after leaving Fort Smith. Interestingly enough, he actually liked war and its very idea; he enjoyed shooting up the bad guys because once they would quit, that would be all for the particular time. At first, war was pretty dangerous since he didn't know where shots were coming from, but it eventually became an everyday thing. The amazing thing was he never was hurt despite all the carnage surrounding.

About some of the great American leaders, his responses were favorable of all except President Hoover, who didn't know anything about war. Roosevelt was "a good guy who did a lot for his country and kept it stable"; Kennedy was a young man who turned out to be a great President but was simply not recognized during the war. Martin Luther King, in his words, "did a lot for Black people...and all people as well, paving a way for Blacks and Whites to mingle and live together". His advice to us:  Get an education because that can take you far in life and it gives the qualifications to do things, such as fly.

My grandmother, Beaulah Armstrong, does not fit the age criteria, but her life is also valued. She was born January 26, 1924 in Faulkner County to another family of sharecroppers.  Life in Arkansas, like the rest of the Black South, was rough, so she moved to Atkins, Arkansas as a child to work with the family to make ends meet by picking cotton in the fields. Atkins is a small town today, so imagine life there before 1935; there was nothing huge as far as social events were concerned. In contrast to our marriages, she married at the age of fifteen! People centered their lives around picking cotton, eating, attending church, and listening to the radio programs. Grandma recalled having to go outside when her mother wanted to hear her program so she could have quiet time to herself. Beaulah's teenage years other than the marriage were normal; work as a maid to acquire enough money to support the family and riding in a Ford Model T her parents owned. Work came first, then pleasure...if there was time for any. Unfortunately, she never did get to fly on an airplane but has seen 'a bunch' of them fly over the house and at the local airport.

About the great American leaders, Grandma did not remember President Hoover for anything other the dam; Roosevelt was "a good, stable President especially when times were rough"; John F. Kennedy was "pretty good, he improved the country enough"; and Martin Luther King was wonderful, saying "he overcame"! Pearl Harbor did not affect her as much because time were already rough around the county as well as the rest of America. Her advice:  Be grateful for what you have and you'll do fine. Working and living this long has taught her to work for everything and be proud.

My grandparents, as well as anyone else who lived through the Twenties, Great Depression, World War II, and the baby boom, could tell us of a different time, one of working in the fields, hatred toward foreigners, and in the case of African-Americans, living with Jim Crow laws. There were no compact disc players, no antilock brakes, and televisions were in their infancy as late as the Fifties; meaning the church was truly the center of small towns and in general, the lifeline that kept people going. Where all that "Southern hospitality" went is unknown, but the spirit of giving thanks for what we have is still prevalent in the family. Their hard work and efforts instilled in all of us the true value of 'getting paid'.