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Bowman, Clella Juanita (audio interview #1 of 4)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first 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 mementos. 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. 7/13/1980
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- 2021-05-24
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- 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 - family background and history; childhood; housing and living arrangements; farm life; farming responsibilities; play activities; education; teaching; husband; marital relationship; relationship with in-laws; managiparents; childhood; social life and activities; sex education; parenting and child rearing; children; relationship with community; marital relationship; physical abuse; independent self-identity; and relationship wreligious beliefs and church; social activities; family life; experiences in California; neighbors; grocery shopping; childhood activities; children; reading interests; husband and martial relationship; physical ab
- *** File: rrrjbowman1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-4:04)... Bowman's maternal grandfather was a Civil War veteran who survived a gunshot wound to the head. After the war, her grandparents settled in Fulton, Indiana where her mother was born. Her grandfather supported his family by farming and through his war pension. Her paternal grandparents were farmers in Cass County, Indiana where he was born. Bowman's father owned a general store near a lake in Indiana. She helped her father at the store by selling bait for a nickel, which was a lot of money to her at that time. During the summer, Bowman drove a wagon through the country selling ice and food. Her parents also owned a farm and she helped them shuck corn and wheat. After she married, she continued to farm with her husband. (4:04-6:58)... Bowman continues to discuss her family history and the farm her grandparents owned. Her father purchased fifty-five acres on which he built his store and farm. Bowman lists the ages her grandparents and parents passed away. She clarifies that her father was born in Ohio, not Indiana. (6:58-10:02)... Bowman's mother wanted to go to college and pursue a teaching career, but when her parents could not afford to pay her tuition, she decided to marry instead. She met her husband at a church function and they were married on April 19,1892 when they were both twenty-one years old. They had their first child in 1893 followed by seven more children. Bowman discusses the physical condition of her living siblings. (10:02-12:17)... Bowman's father's sold everything at his general store from medicine to fabric. Their store and home was located at Fletcher's Lake in Fulton County, Indiana. They lived within a mile of the schoolhouse and the community church. Bowman had a wonderful childhood growing up on the lake. She described herself as an expert swimmer and diver during those years of her life. (12:17-14:20)... Bowman describes their home above the general store as well as their farm house. Her parents saved the money they earned from selling their crops to purchase the general store. When Bowman was ready to go to college, her parents sold fifty bushels of wheat for $2 a bushel, which paid for her college tuition for two years. She also worked while in college to help pay for her expenses. (14:20-17:12)... After college, Bowman worked as a school teacher for four years. She continued to teach for a year after she married and then decided to quit so that she could start a family. When her son was a baby, she and her husband made plans to move to Richmond, Indiana so that she could teach until her teaching license expired. However, her husband's parents talked him into working at their farm and she refused to go by herself. She discusses her marital relationship, describing her husband as a "momma's boy" who could not make a decision without his parents' approval. Although this caused problems in their marriage, she ignored people's advice to leave and decided to stay with him because she loved him and felt it was important to keep her family together. (17:12-23:27)... Bowman and her husband shared farming responsibilities, but she was in charge of cooking, cleaning, and managing their household. She describes her farm and household duties, indicating that she did everything except milk the cows. She enjoyed farm life and liked working hard all day. She talks about the time their sow had thirteen piglets. Bowman attributed the big appetite she had when she was young to the fact that she worked so hard all of the time. She was heavy until her third child was born. (23:27-25:14)... She had high expectations for her children's education and taught them how to read and write at a very early age. Although she did not have a good singing voice, she knew how to play the piano and performed at church services for several years. She believes that her instrumental background resulted in her children developing singing talents. (25:14-29:40)... Her parents were strict and expected their children to behave because they had a public image to uphold as the owners of a general store. Bowman and her siblings minded their mother or else she gave them a whipping. Bowman talks about an incident when a farmer accused Bowman of destroying his crops on Halloween. End of tape. *** File: rrrjbowman2.mp3 (0:07-1:18)... Bowman continues to discuss discipline when she was a child. Her mother was a strict disciplinarian while her father was a jovial and carefree person. Bowman enjoyed her childhood immensely and has fond memories of her life in Indiana. (1:18-2:59)... Bowman was a senior in high school the first time she went to the movies. Her parents would not allow her to see films that were not educational in nature. The first movie she saw was about the Titanic disaster. At the time, she was visiting her cousin in Logansport (which was approximately seven miles from Fulton). They also watched the silent cartoon Mutt & Jeff and Bowman made her cousin promise not to tell her parents. (She digresses and talks about her father's visits to Logansport to pick up food and supplies to sell at his general store at Fletcher's Lake. She describes Fletcher's Lake as a resort town where vacationers came to boat, fish, and camp.) (2:59-10:23)... She talks about an incident at Fletcher's Lake when a mentally disabled man drowned. Although she was not afraid to dive in search of his body, she had nightmares and was easily frightened for several years when she saw his death stare after he was pulled out of the lake. The circumstances surrounding his drowning are still a mystery to Bowman. She also was afraid to go past the cemetery at Fletcher's Lake because of the legend of the headless horseman. She describes two other occasions when she got frightened while baby-sitting her siblings, indicating that her parents depended on her to provide childcare when they were away. Bowman finally got over her fears after her mother and her siblings made fun of her for getting scared over a silly incident. (10:23-16:19)... Bowman and her siblings were born at home. She does not recall hearing any stories about her birth, but remembers when her sister Mary was born in 1904. Her parents never talked to her about sex or reproduction. Bowman approached parenting differently when she began having children. She wrote to Washington, DC (referring to the Children's Bureau) and ordered books about when and how to tell children about the facts of life. Although she was criticized for having these books in her house, she thought it was more harmful to lie to children. Her parenting philosophies clashed with people in the community and rumors were started about whether her husband was really the father of her children. She describes a conversation she had with her sister-in-law over this issue, and notes that her in-laws disliked her because she was too independent and happy. (16:19-20:45)... Bowman raised her children to be honest and to think for themselves rather than mimic her own beliefs and opinions. She is proud of them and of her parenting skills, explaining that taking psychology in college influenced the way she raised her children. She never physically punished them. This leads her to comment on the physical abuse of children and women in society. Her husband hit her once, after which she filed for divorce and he never hit her again. (22:42-25:22)... Bowman recounts an incident when a drunk man cussed her out for pulling him away from the water so that he would not fall in and drown. She experienced many trials and tribulations teaching people how to swim at the lake. (25:22-30:47)... Bowman's parents discussed things and came to decisions together. She tried to follow her parent's example in her own marriage, but she comments that when her husband shut her out : "I got independent and did whatever I wanted to do then." She always was an outspoken person, which was one of the reasons why her in-laws disliked her and recounts the time she insulted her brother-in-law by asking him if he left any souvenirs (children) in France while he was overseas fighting in the war. Her in-laws could dish out criticism, but they could never take it, especially from her. She digresses regarding her brother-in-law's marriage to a seventeen-old girl when he was thirty-four and the mistakes they made rearing their child. End of tape. *** File: rrrjbowman3.mp3 (0:05-7:17)... Bowman went to the Methodist Church in Fulton, Indiana until it merged with a Christian sect in the community and became the United Brethren Church. She continued to go to church services at the United Brethren Church when she moved to California. She eventually stopped going to church, however, because she got tired of people criticizing her for working on Sundays. She also objected to the preacher's prejudicial statements about Japanese-Americans and other religious denominations. She occasionally goes to church services with her children on holidays. Even though she no longer attends church regularly, she still has her faith and prides herself on living a moral and honest life. (7:17-10:57)... She describes some of the places she visited with her children and grandchildren. She occasionally goes to the horse races and to club meetings. She continues to drive a car, but her driving skills are not as sharp as they once were. When people criticize her driving habits, she does not pay attention to them. Her son-in-law is a police officer and jokes with her that if she ever got into trouble with the law he would not get her out of it. She comments on the issues of safety and crime in today's society. (10:57-15:15)... Bowman talks about a family in her neighborhood. While the father was in prison, the mother entertained men in her home and their son spent a lot of time at Bowman's because he did not like his mother's friends. After the father got out of prison, he occasionally had drinks with Bowman's husband. She recounts the time he told her husband that she went up town to see a boyfriend. She explains that she and her sister frequently went to the Pike and had lunch and saw a movie before her shift started at Douglas. (15:15-18:57)... Bowman had to walk all the way to Anaheim and Pacific Coast Highway to shop for groceries. She occasionally hitchhiked on the way home to ease her burden. When a grocery store opened down the street from her house, she pulled a red wagon to tow the groceries home. She notes that many of the neighborhood children came over to their house and ate their food - creating conflicts with her husband. She put a stop to this by telling one of her neighbors that she was going to claim their son as a dependent on her income tax returns. (18:57-20:47)... Bowman talks about the school and church activities in her community. In school, she played baseball or tag during recess. During the summers, she swam and fished at the lake and ice skated during the winter months. (20:47-25:01)... Bowman liked to read when she was a young girl, but as she grew older her interests in reading declined, along with her eyesight. She talks about her children's careers in medicine and nursing. Her daughter Eileen enrolled in a nursing program funded by the government. Bowman and her husband had to sign an agreement stipulating they would reimburse the government if their daughter dropped out of the program. When Eileen expressed an interest in marrying, they encouraged her to finish the program before she married so that she would not be tempted to drop out and leave them with a large bill. Eileen finished nursing school and was certified as registered nurse, after which she married and had three children. (25:01-30:29)... Bowman discusses her marital relationship and the arguments she had with her husband about decision not to go to church with his family. When she filed for divorce, he moved back home with his parents. Her friends attempted to persuade her to take him back to no avail. Her lawyer finally negotiated a reconciliation between Bowman and her husband on the condition that he make some changes and agree to go church with her. She told her lawyer that if her husband ever hit her again she would fight back. Once they got back together, her husband treated her much better and her in-laws stopped interfering in their lives. The interview ends just as Bowman is discussing the additional agreements she made with her attorney before she agreed to reconcile with her husband. End of tape.
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