Dedicated to John and Edith

The day that John and I got married! I can't wait to start a family with the man I love!

Diary,

Though I am so grateful that John and I are finally married, it saddens me that I have to leave my parents and family back in New York. John said we would do better out on the frontier and that he already bought a plot of land.

Little Johnny was born on the 26th of August!

Having my first child on the farm was hard. John had to run into town and get the midwife. I'm just glad he was home. He spends so much time tending the farm I rarely see him during the day.

Edith in front of the barn after she cut her own hair.

Next came Edith, she is a joy to have, even if she takes matters into her own hands and cuts her hair. I was talking to a friend in town and she told me the school teacher died in an accident. I haven't taught since I left new York, but now that the kids are older, we could use the extra money.

A few days after Oct. 29 - We heard news of the Stock Market Crash soon after "Black Tuesday". John immediately began panicking. We hadn't payed of the debt of our farm and it was worth only 10% of what we had bought it for. It seems hopeless for us and we didn't even have any stocks. It is guaranteed that I have to take the job as a school teacher and earn what change I can.

Poverty has struck everyone, everywhere. John struggles getting even 10 cents a bushel of corn. Luckily we can at least feed ourselves if our crops don't get burnt up in the hot sun and dry fields. Many of the farmers around us are filing bankruptcy or foreclosure. I heard over the radio that over 12000 people were being made unemployed every day! So many people around us can't even afford the necessities and have no homes. Boys are being sent far off to work in dangerous manual labor and send home pathetic wages. We have been eating a lot of potatoes and listening to jazz to cheer ourselves up.

The morning of April 14, 1935 I went to the well to draw some water. I left the kids in the barn tending to the chickens and pigs. In the far off distance I could see a giant black mass. Assuming it was a dust storm, I ran back to the barn. I got the kids into the house just as I began to feel the wind pick up. I heard that these storms had winds stronger than tornadoes and I wasn't taking any chances . I kept an eye out for John and got all the stray animals into the barn. I was being pushed and pulled by the strong wind gusts when John came out of nowhere. With his help we forced the door open to our modest home. Inside, Edith was coughing and crying, trying to get the dust and dirt out of her throat. I gathered the children in my arms and watched John close the windows and shove towels in the cracks of the doors. He tried to talk, but the sound was deafening and everything had suddenly got so so dark.I could feel the wind push dust and grime into the cracks of our house and the air was thick with dust. I thought my family was going to die.