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By: Laura Mulhern Above,
is a portrait of my grandmother Elizabeth
A. Mulhern, who was formally known as
Elizabeth MaGee. She is a strong woman and
I love her very much. My grandmother,
Elizabeth M. Mulhern, who was formally known as
Elizabeth MaGee, was born on April 21, 1933 in
Dedham, Massachusetts. My grandmother has lived for
seventy years, and she is filled with a wealth of
experience. She has worked hard in life and has
survived many traumas. For example, my grandmother
lived during one of the most difficult periods in
history, World War Two. Although my grandmother was
only five years old in 1941, which was when the war
started for Americans, there were many adjustments
she had to make because she was fighting the war on
the home front. A day in the
life of the former Elizabeth MaGee was a lot
different than the lives of children today. My
grandmother's day started with school. She
remembers, "My teachers would talk about the war
with us to see what we thought about it, but they
didn't elaborate on it because the teachers didn't
want to frighten the children." After school, my
grandmother would go home and play outside with all
her friends like a normal school girl. However, her
playtime would be cut short because everyone had to
go in his or her house due to the blackouts.
Blackouts were enforced during the night. Sirens
would indicate that there could be possible air
raids. In order to stay safe from possible attack,
my grandmother's family had to draw their shades
and turn off their lights to make the proper
precautions.
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At
first, my grandmother lived in Dedham,
Massachusetts, which was farmland. In
Dedham, food was more obtainable. But,
when she moved to Boston, Massachusetts,
the capital, things were more urban and
food was rationed.
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When my grandmother was a resident of Dedham, Massachusetts, food was plentiful because she lived on her own grandmother's farm. However, half way through the war, she moved to Boston, MA. Boston was a lot different from Dedham due to the fact that it was a big city. My grandmother and her family had to wait in food ration lines. Food rations were set up because food needed to be sent overseas to soldiers, and people were only granted so many ration stamps. Food rations only granted people one pound of butter and five pounds of sugar to last them a few months. These items were to be used at every meal in the MaGee house. After waiting in long lines my grandmother would have to go home for dinner.
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Above,
is a typical week's ration. People living
on the homefront had to get their food
from rations because they were only given
a certain amount of ration stamps and had
to save their food for soldiers fighting
overseas. One can really see the sacrifice
by looking at this ration
kit. Food was not as
plentiful at this time for my grandmother's family.
Popular foods such as meat, sugar, butter, and a
lot of canned fruit and vegetables were rationed. A
typical week's ration consisted of one egg, four
ounces of bacon and ham, two ounces of butter, two
ounces of lard, three pints of milk, eight ounces
of sugar, and two ounces of cooking fat. Some
foods, such as eggplant, were available to
Americans, but these items were unfamiliar to them.
As a result of the food shortage, the government
strongly advised women to persuade people to
consume the unfamiliar foods. The government set up
health and nutrition classes for women, which were
to be taken in their free time. Additionally,
families were urged to grow "victory gardens" which
would improve the quantity of food. They also had
to grow more than they needed for themselves so
some could be sent to the soldiers fighting
overseas. "Victory gardens" were a lot of work.
When my grandmother lived on her own grandmother's
farm, they grew many vegetables, but their
vegetables were not sent overseas. All in all,
despite food not being as plentiful during World
War Two, farms made it possible for families to
consume more food because they grew items on their
own time and there were a lot more materials for
the food to grow.
After dinner the MaGee's learned about the war. My grandmother's parents also read the newspaper to see how everything was. Considering people on the home front were away from the war, and not fighting in it, they needed to see what was happening. People relied heavily on newspapers, the radio, and word of mouth. US citizens grabbed the newspaper in particular to see how their country was doing in the war. U.S. papers had no less than 500 correspondents covering the armed forces, which was five times more than in World War One. Reporters wrote 500,000 words a day and were brave. They did a lot of heavy-duty work to find out this information such as flying bombers through Berlin and riding on landing craft onto Pacific Islands and European beaches. Reporters did it all because they knew people on the home front were curious about war. Small children, like my grandmother, would read headlines and begin to understand the traumas of war. My grandmother told me, "I remember reading headlines that said the Japanese were torturing children and women, and murdering babies. It made me very scared."
Above,
is the famous "Rosie the Riveter" poster.
This poster was used as a motivation to
get women involved on the
homefront. Other children
listened to their parents discuss the status of
every country overseas. My grandmother said, "I
remember overhearing my parents talk about my
uncle, who was fighting in the Philippines. My
parents said he got shot in the leg." At the time
my Grandmother was frightened, although that's what
war was like for many people. My grandmother's
family depended on the radio to hear about
everything overseas. Many other families would
carefully listen to hear the President's thoughts,
or have other radio hosts speak and share their
opinions. Papers, and
magazines were also very important because through
these items other things could be advertised. For
example, America was very eager to raise a lot of
money through war bonds. Because of the war bond
posters, the U.S. was able to raise 100 billion
dollars of war bonds. Also, posters advertised for
women to join the Red Cross and to can foods that
could be sent abroad to US soldiers. In particular,
there was an advertised mythical heroine, "Rosie
the Riveter," who was often seen in newspapers. On
the poster it shows "Rosie" with muscles and the
key quote, "We Can Do It!" which was used to
provoke women to help out on the home front. News
was significant to people on the home front because
it kept them involved with war and helped clue them
in on what was going on. As a result, many people
saw the advertisements or news updates and wanted
to help their country at home.
My grandmother reminisced about many people getting drafted for war, from people's brothers to other's friends. America needed men to enlist in war. If the war continued up until my grandmother was a teenager, she would have done her part too. She would have had to leave school, work somewhere to make supplies for war, or possibly be a part of the Red Cross Association. This was the time where women's reputations were changing and my grandmother benefited from this later.
Seven
women working in a factory in Daytona
Beach, Florida. Women from all over the
United States had to unite and work
together to help their country survive
during World War Two. Before World War
Two, women stayed at home and acted as housewives.
However, as the war continued, the country realized
how hard women worked. They also became aware that
they truthfully needed women to help them win what
is known as "the taxpayer's war." Major businesses
and factories had to hire women. In factories,
women helped produce weapons and other war supplies
for men. Because the men were gone, women had to
take their place to keep the country alive and
operating up to its full potential. My grandmother
specifically noted, "I was very young at the time,
but everyone always thought women were really neat
because they were doing a man's job while raising a
family." Other women
formed religious groups such as the USO, to provide
recreation for the soldiers before they fought in
the war. Women also formed the Red Cross
Association. This was one of the reasons the
Americans won World War Two. The Red Cross
Association sent two million wrapped bandages
overseas and put together millions of kits
containing food and water for the soldiers. The Red
Cross women also helped contribute a substantial
amount to the 100 billion dollars raised in war
bonds. Women were showing great responsibility and
making sacrifices. My grandmother especially
admired that. In women's free time, women had to go
to sessions where they would become educated about
nursing so if a neighbor was sick, they could take
care of them and relieve nurses and doctors so they
could journey abroad.
My grandmother was a very courageous schoolgirl in 1941, who was not afraid to ask questions about what was going on. Despite the fact that my grandmother was living during a confusing time for little children, she still did her best to keep up by reading the newspaper, sacrificing food for fellow American soldiers, and staying strong while hearing about what happened to her uncle and other citizens. I am honored to carry on my grandmother's story and I am so happy that she shared it with me. Today, my grandmother, Elizabeth Mulhern, lives in Dedham, Massachusetts and has gone on to become the mother of seven, one of which is my father, and she is the grandmother of thirteen, one of which I can proudly say is myself.
Bibliography:
1). Editors of Time-Life Books. This Fabulous Century 1940-1950 Volume V Time-Life Books. Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1969.
2). Elizabeth A. Mulhern is currently living in Dedham, MA.
-Date of interview: 11/14/02
3). Harris, Mark Jonathan, Franklin Mitchell, and Steven Schechter. The Homefront: America During World War II. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1984.
4). Picture of the United States of America:
CIA World Fact book. "Flag of United States." 2001. http://www.globosapiens.net/subapp_countries/app_data/flags/fullsize/united-states-flag.gif. (21 January 2003).
5). Picture of Women Workers:
Hollem , Howard R."Women working in Daytona Beach branch of the Volusia county vocational school." http://www.archives.gov/research_room/research_topics/world_war_2_photos/world_war_2_photos.html (13 December 2002).
6). Ration Kit Picture and other information:
Hshf. "The Hardship of Rationing." http://www.homesweethomefront.co.uk/web_pages/hshf_rationing_pg.htm (13 December 2002).
7). Rosie the Riveter Picture
O'Donnell, Laurel. "Rosie the Riveter." http://www.archives.gov/research_room/research_topics/world_war_2_photos/images/ww2_19.jpg (14 December 2002).
8). Zeinert, Karen. Those Incredible Women of World War II. Connecticut: The Millbrook Press Inc., 1994.
