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Millikan, Gertrude (audio interview #3 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the third and final interview with Gertrude Millikan conducted as a project for a women's oral history class at CSULB. The interview was recorded in Millikan's room at the PEO Retirement Home in Alhambra and covers her later years. Millikan is described by the interviewer as "a very proud, alert and articulate woman" who was able to recall many aspects of her life in great detail. 7/23/1976
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- 2021-02-23
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- SUBJECT BIO - Gertrude Millikan was a leading figure in consumer education in California. She taught one of the first classes on consumer affairs, which became the basis of the certification program for consumer educators. The third of four children, Millikan was born in Independence, Oregon and then raised in the lumber town of Eureka, California by college-educated parents. When she was fifteen, the family moved to Los Angeles in order for her father to take a job as a feature writer at the <Los Angeles Times.> After Millikan graduated from USC in 1916, she went to work first at the YWCA and then organized Hostess Houses (USO) during the war until her marriage in 1918. From the early days of her marriage, she was actively involved in a variety of organizational activities, including consumer affairs, YWCA, PEO, Republication organizations and civic committees. Typical of the volunteer reform activist, Millikan's life centered around the home and family and her priorities were as wife, mother, and homemaker, pacing herself between her home and outside demands. After Millikan's husband died in 1949, she moved to the mountain community of Idyllwild, where she continued her volunteer work. She remained there until she moved into the PEO Retirement Home, where she was residing at the time of the interview. TOPICS - volunteer career accomplishments; social values; family life; effect of the Depression; women's status; WWII work; lifestyle adjustments when children grown; menopause; effect of husband's early death on family; moves after death of spouse; mountain living; and meaning of volunteer activities;mountain living; the women's movement; social mores and values, life review; personal reflections; retirement home living and P;E;O; sisterhood;
- *** File: refgmillikan5.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-5:39)... Millikan reads verbatim from a Who's Who in Glendale, Glendale Community Book detailing, describing, and lauding her extensive and diverse involvements, church activities, consumer education work, and highlighting her volunteer and political involvements. She reasserts the importance of family to her, firmly believing her volunteer career clearly contributed to the closeness of her family into adulthood. (5:39-7:31)... Parental decisions regarding child rearing were made jointly between Millikan and her husband. Social matters were Millikan's area, and discipline generally came from husband Pat, after conferring and discussing with children. Notes were effective means of communicating between and among family members. (7:31-9:59)... With her own life experiences bearing and raising children, Millikan comments on the latest ideas promoted in books and magazines. Dr. Spock's popular book required revisions as times changed. According to Millikan all children are individuals and cannot be raised by blanket rules. Their sense of security comes from knowing the parameters and expectations of parents. In larger families the eldest is usually the guinea pig, and Millikan says parents do learn from the first child. (9:59-12:12)... Family life included Sunday after-church picnics and playing outdoor games in the large family back yard. While her husband played Saturday morning golf, the children handled assigned chores. Millikan says exposing her children to music, dance, and speech lessons served to develop appreciation of the arts. (12:12-15:52)... Millikan recalls family travels and camping trips to Yosemite, the Oregon coast, Coos Bay, and Northern California with much enthusiasm. Rather than disappoint the children, if her husband was unable to participate due to his heavy trial practice, the family still proceeded with planned vacations. Mountains had more appeal than the ocean, and Millikan ultimately purchased a cabin in Idyllwild, California. When time permitted, Millikan and her husband took vacations together leaving children at home. Millikan feels women have an easier time than men keeping and seeing longtime friends, and explains her philosophy. (15:52-19:13)... During the Depression the Millikans lost their house and rented living quarters; gave up a second car, and dispensing with the gardener. Her husband took the streetcar to his law practice. Although his law firm (Wright & Millikan) kept busy, some clients were unable to pay and collections became worrisome. After several years, the economy recovered and by 1937 Better Homes & Gardens recognized Millikan's Glendale home in the Large Luxury Home Division and theLos Angeles Times did a feature article on the home. (19:13-21:35)... Always a champion of political and social causes she believed in, Millikan never feared writing or speaking to congressmen and senators. She cites her essay in the Los Angeles Times on the treatment of the American Indian. Millikan and her husband were united in encouraging their children to stand up and speak for their beliefs. (21:35-24:44)... Reform movements were part of Millikan's career, from American Indians to consumer education. While not a "women's libber," Millikan once added a touching opening to a speech on the status of women. She admonished women to pace outside volunteer commitments and responsibilities so family and home life do not suffer. Because she was so active, Millikan had to learn that same lesson during her marriage. (24:44-29:53)... Millikan talks about her children leaving the nest, her eldest becoming a Navy flyer in WWII, or the others getting married and beginning families of their own. She enjoyed participating in the new family additions. During WWII, Millikan again volunteered in the WAC's for Southern California. By now her husband was over the age limit for participation in the service. Occasionally there was a sense of loneliness without family around. You had more time for yourself, and could leave the dishes in the sink without feeling guilty. (29:53-35:33)... Millikan experienced menopause late. She noes that adolescence and irrational children add to the ups and downs of feelings for women. She comments that men experience a menopausal period; if women recognized those normal growth patterns, adjustments would be less necessary during marriage. Her first emotional upset at age fifty came about as a result of husband's hospitalization and untimely death in l949. This greatly affected her and all the children, primarily the youngest, who was still in high school. A heavy trial practice probably contributed to his early demise. So well respected in his profession and as a person, Millikan was compelled to handwritten some 700 thank you notes to those responding to his death. (35:32-37:38)... Millikan sold the large Glendale home and moved to a smaller house in Glendale when her youngest married. She had retained the mountain house for large family gatherings. She loved and enjoyed the Idyllwild environment for some twenty years, until her move to the P.E.O. Retirement Home in Alhambra in 1974. (37:38-39:37)... Millikan did not have to seek employment following her husband's death; her house was the FHA's 6th insured loan and was paid in full upon death and other insurance proceeds allowed her to continue volunteering without compensation. Millikan always preferred to volunteer rather than work for someone else. This gave her independence and the ability to freely pick and choose her causes or interests. End of tape *** File: refgmillikan6.mp3 (0:00-2:30)... Millikan's family was disconcerted when she chose to live in the mountains alone. She reports on the many enjoyable gatherings there and how the family came to recognize the importance to her well being to remain on boards both in Los Angeles and to add new volunteer commitments in Idyllwild. She was happiest when her family was around and when she remained busy. (2:30-9:52)... Millikan reflects on the current women's movement. She believes that with the breakup of the family unit children have been victims of the free love, free speech and violent periods. She is certain that the abundance of sexual material in movies and print has removed the spiritual and intimate value of relationships between men and women. Peer pressure means more than standing up for one's beliefs. Always optimistic she views the movement as once again recognizing the importance of families. (9:52-12:15)... Each generation has grappled with the same question - what to do with Grandma. Let her fend for herself, live with children and grandchildren, seek her independence, live in a senior citizen community with her own age group, or come back to help children with household management and child rearing. Since women live longer than men, this will remain a constant question and Millikan feels that women are still trying to find answers to this and other questions. (12:15-17:00)... Looking back through her eighty two years, Millikan asserts without hesitation that raising her children, her relationship with her husband and family, and her good health were the happiest and most fulfilling times. While she might have done some things differently and been more tolerant, she quotes a favorite saying which accurately describes her feelings and approach to relationships of all kinds - family, friends, her activities, and faith in God's mission: "The mills of the Gods grind slowly but exceedingly fine." (17:00-22:47)... Millikan talks about various retirement home environments and why she selected P.E.O. retirement facility. She had been a long time member of this invitation only national organization of women that provides educational opportunities and supports a college in Nevada, Missouri, and knew that she would have much in common with other residents. Millikan and her family jointly agreed it was time to transition from shoveling snow in the mountains to a retirement facility. She was prepared to make the move when her name came up on the waiting list sooner than expected. (22:47-25:18)... Millikan comments that adjusting to retirement home living depends on your attitude. The rules are easy to follow if they are known before the move, e.g. slacks in the daytime, not in the evening. Also, her sense of fair play allowed quick assimilation. Some might feel independence is curtailed but she learned you still carry on your own life, have visitors, join organizations, and make new friends. Millikan's daughters were P.E.O. members and with their mother closer to the chapter house, all three could attend meetings. She called her new home "gracious living." Meals were provided, programs planned, and necessary services were readily available. (14:50-17:04)... Expectations for their children differed between Millikan's parents. Her mother wanted college and her father felt that learning a trade was paramount. Millikan chose USC, the first in her family to attend college. Her older sibling went to Business College. (25:18-29:04)... Ending the interview, Millikan makes some final observations. Through both childhood and adulthood, people remarked that she "looked healthy "and had a "nice face". She claims who you are is reflected in your face, and she felt rewarded and validated each time this occurred. She claims that her children viewed her caring as her outstanding quality and that her family was the center of her life. End of tape.
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