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Bowman, Clella Juanita (audio interview #4 of 4)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the last of four interviews recorded with Clella Juanita Bowman in the living room of her home in Long Beach where she lives alone. The house was built during WWII for defense workers and the Bowman family had been its only occupants. Although the living room is open and relatively uncluttered so that she is able to maneuver her wheel chair, it abounds with family photos and momentos. Bowman was quite comfortable with the interview process and was quite prepared to share her recollections, including very personal experiences. Her propensity to deliver long monologues made it difficult, at times, for the interviewer to follow the details and provide direction. Nevertheless, she and Bowman established good rapport and spent time after the interview visiting and eating. 8/31/1980
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- *** File: rrrjbowman11.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-4:27)... Bowman believes that 25,000 people were let go during the first round of layoffs. She was disappointed when she was laid off from Douglas in 1945, but turned down a transfer to the Santa Monica plant because she did not want to leave her family during the week. Douglas representatives instructed her to apply for unemployment. She went to an office at 1616 Pine Avenue and filled out an application. She was asked about her skills and previous job experience. She was offered a couple of jobs, but she turned then all down. There were very few jobs available in the area because so many people were looking for work after the war. She drew unemployment for several weeks and reapplied after her first schedule of payments expired. She eventually went to work in real estate. (4:27-12:33)... After the war, Bowman's husband quit working in the shipyards and they were both unemployed for about a year. They supported themselves on her unemployment checks and borrowed money from the bank to pay their mortgage. Her husband eventually decided to go into carpentry and he worked steadily in that field until he became sick. She began working in real estate in 1946. (She digresses and talks about her sister and brother-in-law's post-work as domestic servants for the wealthy and also about about the president of a women's group who cared for elderly people, some of whom left her money and property when they died.) (12:33-24:09)... Bowman attended a real estate school in LB (located on what was then American Avenue and 10th) during the summer of 1946, at the end of which she passed an examination and received a license to rent and sell apartments. She details the real estate agencies she worked for and some of the transactions she negotiated during her career. On occasion, more seasoned agents convinced clients to sign contracts with them instead of Bowman. However, unlike these agents, she vowed to be honest with her clients and disclose housing problems. She discusses the unprofessional and unethical deals that transpired in real estate during her two-year career. (24:09-28:25)... Bowman talks about her inability to make a lot of money in her various business ventures and notes that she was never persuaded to get involved in various pyramid and get-rich-quick schemes, or to place bets with bookies. End of tape. *** File: rrrjbowman12.mp3 (0:00-1:45)... Bowman applied for a job at the Long Beach VA Hospital during the Eisenhower administration. She believes she was laid off during the Kennedy administration because she was a Republican. She encountered resistance from at least one co-worker during the Nixon-Kennedy presidential campaign because she refused to support the Democratic Party just to keep her position at the hospital. (1:45-4:43)... Bowman worked in the ward kitchen at the VA Hospital preparing the meal trays for the nurses to deliver to patients. On her first day, she objected to the fact that leftover hard-boiled eggs and unopened milk containers from the tuberculosis ward were being used. She complained at a staff meeting, only to be told by the head supervisor that the hospital was given authority to serve leftovers by Washington, DC. (4:43-12:13)... Bowman believes that her political views had something to do with why she was not hired at the VA Hospital until a Republican president was elected. She went to work at the hospital in 1952. Although she was was laid off on administrative disability (in 1961), she believes that people forced her out because she was a Republican. She talks about the work injuries she sustained at the hospital. After she was laid off, she received twenty-five dollars a month for disability and a civil service pension. (12:13-16:01)... When Bowman was employed at the hospital, she purchased a $50,000 medical insurance policy with Aetna, payments for which were deducted from her service service payments. Her husband was eligible for half of these benefits, which he used when he got cancer. In addition to her civil service check, she also receives social security payments. After her husband died, she applied for a widow's pension from his social security fund and was granted $25 for several months. (16:01-17:19)... After she left the VA Hospital, she was never able to work again because of her disability. She busied herself taking care of her husband who died of lung cancer in 1964. She was grateful that the doctor told her what to expect during his illness so that she was prepared. (17:19-22:46)... Bowman describes being crowned Queen for a Day in 1946. She notes that it was one of the thrills of her life. (22:46-27:32)... Bowman describes the red carpet treatment she received when she was Queen for a Day, including a Max Factor makeover and $50 in cosmetics. She did not get home from the festivities until after midnight. She invited her chaperone to stay the night so that he could get some sleep before returning to the studio the next morning. She made breakfast for him in the morning, after which he drove her downtown to pick up her unemployment check. She went back to the studios with him in case the host of the show wanted to interview her. When she was unable to cash her unemployment check, she had to hitchhike home. (27:32-29:38)... Bowman's husband was ambivalent about her reign as Queen for a Day. She remembers calling a neighbor, asking her to tell her son that she had been crowned Queen for a Day and to make sure that he cleaned the house in case they had visitors. Apparently, this woman resented Bowman's good fortune because she did not notify her son. End of tape. *** File: rrrjbowman13.mp3 (0:06-7:05)... Bowman talks about going to visit her mother in Indiana in 1946. She did not tell her husband that she was going back East because he was working in Palm Springs. She figured that he would find out when he came home. Instead of using the $25 that she received from the Queen for a Day sponsors to purchase a suit, she used it to help finance her vacation instead. She stopped in New Orleans on the way to Indiana to visit her son who was stationed there. During her visit, she went to Mardi Gras, which was quite an experience. (7:05-14:02)... Bowman describes travel experiences she had on different occasions when she went east to visit her mother. She notes that people made comments about her traveling alone. Nevertheless, she never felt it was necessary to travel with an escort. (14:02-15:05)... Bowman was aware of McCarthyism in the 1950s, but wasn't knowledgeable about the issues. She did not read the newspaper and, generally, was not knowledgeable about the political issues of her time. Her only political activity was voting. She did not discuss politics with her husband. (15:05-18:10)... Bowman's social activities did not change much after the war. She joined the Blue Star Mothers after she stopped working at the VA Hospital. Although she was friendly with her neighbors, she was too busy to participate in card games or other activities that were planned in the neighborhood. The neighborhood children spent a great deal of time at her house while she and her husband were at work and ate all of their food. Bowman was constantly at the store purchasing more groceries. (18:10-19:13)... Bowman and her husband rarely spent time out together. She went to church alone or with her children and usually went to the movies by herself. When her eldest daughter moved out, Bowman went with her husband to her house for card games. Bowman spent a lot of time in downtown Long Beach running errands. She rode the bus everywhere and occasionally took her youngest daughter with her on these outings. (19:13-27:59)... Bowman's youngest daughter married in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1956 and lived there for a year before she and her husband moved to Kansas where they had their first child. During the Christmas holiday of 1956, Bowman's husband was hit by a car. He was never the same after the accident and his health continued to decline. Her life was consumed with his care and her own disabilities. She discusses her son's marriages and his problems with caring for his children. (27:59-30:13)... Bowman felt that she lost her husband after he was struck by a car in 1956. His health declined after that and they decided not to have sex anymore. She slowly taught herself to think about her life without him to prepare for his death. He was sick for many years before he finally entered the hospital; it was difficult for her to take care of him at home considering her own disabilities. She handled his death well and she was not afraid to spend the rest of her life without a man. The interview ends just as Bowman is talking about her husband getting easily upset by neighbors' comments about her. End of tape. *** File: rrrjbowman14.mp3 (0:06-2:59)... Bowman talks about remarks her neighbors made to her husband to cast suspicion on her fidelity. Her husband was naturally jealous and easily affected by things that people said. (2:59-4:54)... Bowman describes her activities after her husband died. She was very rarely home because she liked to go out and explore new things. Her favorite activities at home revolve around listening to the radio and watching television. (4:54-10:19)... The Queen for a Day Club was organized in 1945. The group disbanded for a few years and when it was reorganized, Bowman was elected historian. There was a split in the group when a few of the women felt slighted about not being elected officials of the group. Bowman and two women signed a new charter for the organization which prohibited the other group from using the Club name. The club's main function was to raise funds for the Los Cerritos Hospital and the Children's Hospital. Bowman recalls that when wealthy women were members of the group, they were able to make substantial gifts and contributions to the hospitals. (10:19-12:42)... Note: there is the background noise of an airplane flying overhead during this segment. She did not recall going through any significant physical changes during menopause. There was a time in her life where she experienced migraine headaches, but she did not know if this was related to menopause. She refers back to the arthritis she developed during her first pregnancy. Bowman's husband suffered from asthma and she decided that moving out west would be a better climate for their health. (12:42-17:23)... After she gave birth to her youngest child, Marilyn, her older children Eileen and Lowell decided they wanted to pursue careers in medicine. Lowell went to several different schools before he received his medical degree. While he was in medical school, she decided to donate her organs and be cremated after she died. Her husband's body was donated to medical research after he died. Bowman relates stories she heard about medical students stealing cadavers from grave sites. She recalls her experiences digging graves with her father when they lived in Indiana. (17:23-18:52)... Although Bowman does not support the ERA, she states, "I'm very much for the idea that when you do the same type of work a man does you should be paid the same." She worries that the ERA will change the way men and women interact, indicating that she likes it when a man protects and helps a woman. Even though she considered herself ad independent woman while she was married, she depended on her husband to be the head of the household and contribute to the family income. (18:52-20:50)... Bowman recalls that the only two career fields available to women during her generation were nursing and teaching. However, women did the same type of work as men at Douglas. Although she does not believe that heavy lifting is good for women, she remembers the heavy farm work she did while living in Indiana. (20:50-24:10)... The happiest times in Bowman's life include marriage, childbirth, and being crowned Queen for a Day. She remembers her childhood fondly and the time she spent at the lake helping her father run his general store. She digresses regarding her marital relationship and her husband's attempt to apologize when he was dying for the way he treated her. She digresses and talks about the time she raised 200 chickens in their upstairs bedroom in Indiana. (24:10-25:44)... The unhappiest time in her life was the period when she and her husband split up and she filed for divorce. She believes that their problems were a result of people interfering in their relationship. During their separation, she contemplated going back to college for more training in order to return to teaching. However, this would have meant leaving her children and she was not willing to do that. She did, however, take a ten-week training course in preparation for a job at an aircraft plant in Indiana. End of tape. (25:44-30:53)... Bowman discusses her expectations for the future. Although she would have liked to have made more money in her lifetime, her limited income is enough to pay for her living expenses. She can depend on her children to help her with her finances if necessary; however, she does not like to ask them for money and they appreciate the fact that she is self-sufficient. She talks about her husband's deathbed admissions. Even though he never gave her credit for it, she did a good job raising their children and is proud of the way they turned out. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Clella Juanita Bowman started working as an assembler at Douglas, Long Beach in 1942 after she moved to southern California with her husband, seeking wartime employment. Bowman was the third of eight children, born in Metea, Indiana in 1900. After completing high school, she attended a teacher training program, and began teaching in a country school one year later. She continued teaching until she married in 1924, after which she worked on the farm and helped in the family store. Attracted by good paying defense jobs, she moved to California in 1942 with her husband three children. After the war, she worked briefly in sales and real estate, and then left the work force until 1952, when she went to work as an aide at the Veteran's Hospital. She retired in 1961. One of the high points of Bowman's life seemed to be her being anointed "Queen for a Day" in 1945. She maintained contact with the other "queens" through a club. Due to health problems, Bowman is largely restricted to a wheel chair and somewhat limited in her activities. He family lives nearby and she sees them regularly. TOPICS - postwar layoffs; unemployment benefits; postwar job market; husband's employment; sister's employment in domestic service; career in real estate; social values and professional standards;political views; job at VA Hospital; work responsibilities; work experiences; work injuries; disability; medical insurance; finances; husband's illness; and reign as Queen for a Day;trips back east for family visits; Queen for a Day; political views; social life and activities; neighborhood life and relations; children; husband's health; marital relationship; husband's illness and death; andmarital relationship; husband; social activities; Queen for a Day Club; menopause; children; plans for death; attitude towards the ERA; gender roles; gender expectations; reflections on life; future expectations; a
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