Other
Pack, Della (audio interview #3 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the last of three interviews conducted with Della Pack as part of a project for a women's history class. This interview, like the first, was conducted at the Salvation Army Temple in Long Beach. This interview focused on her marriage, widowhood and retirement. Because of the sequencing of the three interviews, there is some overlap and the interviewer notes that they lack a definite pattern of progression in chronology or subject matter. 7/23/1976
- Date
- 2021-01-29
- Resource Type
- Creator
- Campus
- Keywords
- Handle
- Language
- Notes
- SUBJECT BIO - Della Pearl Pack joined the Salvation Army at the age of eighteen and eventually became a Major. Born in Missouri, she moved with her family to Trinidad, Colorado when she was a teenager. This is when she first encountered the Salvation Army. Despite her parents opposition, she joined the organization when she turned eighteen. After graduation from the training center in Chicago, Pack was stationed at several different posts in the west. In 1921, she married James Ray Pack, who then entered into training, after which they supervised various Salvation Army centers together. Their daughter was born in 1924 and their son four years later. After her husband's death in 1941, she continued her Army work, spending most of her time in social work. Her assignments included Secretary of Welfare in Portland, Oregon; working at a home and hospital for "unwed" mothers in Oakland, California and an Emergency Lodge for Women and Children in San Francisco. Pack officially retired in 1957 but continued working until 1968. At the time of the interview, she was in fair health and was still participating in Army activities. TOPICS - parents; single life in Salvation Army; married life; gender roles/ideology; gender discrimination; retirement and continuing activity; and personal reflections and life review;reflections on societal changes; changing status of women; WWII; son; life without children; grandchildren and great grandchildren; graduation ceremony; commissioning of cadets; and current cadet crop;
- *** File: refdpack5.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-6:50)... Packs notes that there was a great difference between single and married officers, the former having only themselves to think about. She and husband had a wonderful year together before going back into service. He worked for Standard Oil until he quit and they moved to Portland and then to assist at Tacoma. Army duties, of course, took away from their time, but they still spent a lot of time together. Evenings, for example, they frequently went for a ride just to be together. And the first child didn't come for a few years. After her husband died, she had to do her best to do the duties of her work and still be father and mother, knowing that the children needed a father, especially her thirteen year old son. Her daughter married young and moved, but her son stuck around, sometimes too much, because she wanted him to get out and meet friends his age. (6:50-8:10)... Pack discusses in mother's and father's roles, noting that, of course, the mother was always with the children. She taught her children that the father was the head of the family, not only in providing their material needs but in guiding them spiritually. Although the latter was the mother's duty as well, Pack felt that it was important for the children to feel that father was both material and spiritual family head. (8:10-13:25)... As a single officer, living with another single, Pack always had a place to live. She had a very nice time with anyone with whom she roomed. Each had her responsibilities, and they got along well. They'd put money from their weekly salaries in the food cup and planned and bought groceries. There wasn't any difference in HQ treatment of single women. They were given any jobs they were qualified for, and that is even more true now. Pack She and her husband tended to socialize with other married couples, and that was a hard thing for her to handle when he died. She didn't feel she belonged to either group. She got over it as she became more familiar with the young single officers. It's not a problem now, but at first she didn't know what to do with herself at officers' councils. (13:25-18:37)... Pack discusses Officers' Councils, where all sorts of things related to their work are discussed. She never had the experience of having to deal with an officer junior to her who refused to carry out an order. It could happen but she was not aware of it. Nor was she ever unable to carry out an order to her. She was very fortunate when she was single in never having a problem with fellow officers assisting her. The only problem she ever had was as a lieutenant in Roswell, New Mexico , where there was another lieutenant almost as old as Pack's mother. The problem wasn't between them. Pack continually had to resolve problems between the lieutenant and other young people, whom she just didn't understand. (18:37-22:38)... Pack never faced opposition from other Christian groups over being an ordained woman minister. Years ago that was a problem and Catherine Booth wrote a strong letter to a minister who had preached a sermon about women not being equal to men. He wrote to the founder saying he would have to think over her letter before answering. Catherine, the founder's wife, started the army based on women's equality, and the founder agreed with her. She couldn't comment on Paul's epistles except to say that it was his personal opinion. There were active women in Paul's day, like prophetesses, and the army has always felt God wanted women to be active in doing His work. And some churches today feel that way. (22:38-27:57)... Although Pack retired in 1957, her life didn't change because she kept working. Women retired at sixty, but the western territory commissioner asked her to continue her appointment at Pinehurst Emergency. Then she went to San Francisco as women's social secretary for five years, after which she worked in the correctional service secretary's office from 1962 to 1968. When she was sixty five, Pack took social security and her army retirement and worked on editing men's bible lessons until her eyes got so bad she couldn't read the drafts. After she quit she tried to find things to do and never really felt idle. Pack spent some sixty years in the Salvation Army since she first became an officer. (27:57-32:02)... Packs duties in women's social services and at a women's hospital in Oakland included writing letters, office responsibilities, and interviewing. She couldn't say what work she enjoyed most because she enjoyed it all, no matter where she went. She considered Church work with her husband at the top of her list, but because of her bad throat she couldn't continue after his death. Pack found her Portland welfare work was enjoyable, but it was possibly her hardest. There were difficult and unpleasant cases -like the people who came in so dirty and smelly that she could smell them before they got into the office. She wasn't sure she could stand them, but she helped them and got them out of the office as soon as possible. (32:02-34:05)... The years that Pack and her husband had several appointments together were the happiest. If she had her life to live over, there are always things that could be done differently. For example, when she went overseas with the band, she could have gotten so much more out of it. But she enjoyed her life, and if she had it to do over again, she'd do the same thing. End of tape. *** File: refdpack6.mp3 (0:00-7:47)... Pack described the changes that she's seen in her lifetime include not having electric lights or a washing machine. Her mother worked so hard without those conveniences, but it might have been better for the family that women stayed home more then. The present working women may not be good for the family, although she herself was one. It was really something when the middle class could have automobiles. Prohibition came and went but didn't affect her family. Even as an officer, they frequently had to provide and purchase their own conveniences to make life easier. It was quite a thing for women to get the vote; they felt they were getting somewhere. She did vote, tried to keep current, but never became active. She says army women were too busy to get involved in politics. (7:47-13:44)... Pack comments that things are better for women because they have better jobs and salaries, which were hard to find in the old days. WWII did not have much effect on her personally. If her son had had to leave and serve at age 18, the war would have had a drastic effect. The hardest time she went through was when both children were gone. She felt she had little left, going home to an empty house, no one to work or care for. She eventually came out of it. (13:44-19:35)... At the time of the interview, Pack had nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren, with more on the way. She saw all of them except a grandson in Seattle. She talks about the plans her grandchildren have for joining the army, and sending one grandson to a Billy Graham crusade in San Diego, a congress for young students on Christian leadership. A good worker, he ran the day camp when his father was gone. Pack has sisters in San Francisco, Portland, and Sullivan, Missouri and sees the ones in San Francisco and Portland regularly. None of her brothers are alive. (19:35-25:27)... Pack visited San Francisco more often when the commissioning of cadets took place there, but now that has moved to Los Angeles. It is the graduation ceremony from training school. The Salvation Army bought a college from a Catholic institution at a beautiful site. Now they take married couples, which they didn't do when she went into training. The young people going into the army now are more educated and many have grown up in the army. Training in her time included bible, Salvation Army history, and special meetings at different corps. Today learning sessions are longer, and field training now occurs. [Note: as the interview ends, Pack notes that she has nothing more to tell. She comments that she enjoyed having the interviews conducted and meeting the interviewer.]
- Rights Note
- This repository item may be used for classroom presentations, unpublished papers, and other educational, research, or scholarly use. Other uses, especially publication in any form, such as in dissertations, theses, articles, or web pages are not permitted without the express written permission of the individual collection's copyright holder(s). Please contact the CSULB Library Administration should you require permission to publish or distribute any content from this collection or if you need additional information or assistance in using these materials: https://www.csulb.edu/university-library/form/questionssuggestions-the-digital-repository-group
Relationships
- In Collection:
Items
| Thumbnail | File information | Actions |
|---|---|---|
|
0081632833506531-refdpack5.mp3 Public
|
Download |
|
|
2183169116692242-refdpack6.mp3 Public
|
Download |