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Eusebio, Mildred (audio interview #1 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This first interview session was a bit hard going, especially because Eusebio seemed to have difficulty recalling details. There are long pauses between topics during the later part of the interview (the fourth side of the tape, side d). 11/4/1980
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- 2021-07-13
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- *** File: rrrmeusebio1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-4:47)... Note: there is background noise in this segment. Eusebio discusses her family background, focusing on her maternal grandparents. Her mother was born in Iowa and raised on a farm in Nebraska. When she was a young girl, her father died in a logging accident. At the time of his death, her mother was pregnant and left alone to care for four small girls. She remarried when she was six months pregnant and the family moved to Nebraska. They lived near an Indian reservation and they were extremely prejudiced towards Indians. After her second husband died, Eusebio's grandmother supported herself by working as a housekeeper. (4:47-6:11)... Eusebio remembers her grandmother as a very tall and gentle woman. When she was about five years old, Eusebio and her parents moved to Michigan and she stopped spending as much time with her grandmother. Her step-grandfather was a hardworking man who was very quiet. He was not an affectionate person, but was caring and raised all of his stepchildren as his own and they considered him their father. (6:11-8:13)... Eusebio's father was born and raised in Nebraska where his father worked as a farmer. When he retired, the family moved to Wayne, Nebraska and he opened a grain elevator. Her great-grandfather was a Civil War veteran. She doesn't recall ever speaking to him. She remembers thinking that it was very odd that her father had grandparents. She was six years old when she left Nebraska and moved to Michigan with her parents. (8:13-10:57)... Note: there is an interruption in this segment when Eusebio answers the telephone. After Eusebio's father graduated from the eighth grade, he went to Normal School in preparation for a career in teaching. Once he began substituting, however, he realized that teaching was not for him. He left home when he was about eighteen years old because his parents were extremely religious and did not approve of him umpiring baseball games on Sundays. He went to the Dakotas, where he spent a couple of years "on the range as a cowboy." Eusebio does not know how or when her parents met. They married in Sioux City, Iowa when her mother was nineteen years old. (10:57-15:02)... Eusebio describes her father (Earl Clifford Gamble) as a brilliant man who was both a natural musician and intellectual, although he had only an eighth grade education. After her parents married, he worked as a farmer in Iowa. In 1911, they moved to California with two sons. Her grandparents also moved to San Pedro and lived in a home on 20th Street. Eusebio was born in Gardena and her younger brother was born in San Pedro. Her father did odd jobs after he moved to California, working in construction and plumbing. He also worked for the county planting trees in San Pedro and as a farmhand in Lancaster. Her family returned to Nebraska when her mother (Alta Marta McRoberts) became homesick. While there, she gave birth to another child. (15:02-17:42)... Eusebio was born in 1913 in her parent's home located near a Methodist Church on Vermont and Gardena Boulevard in San Pedro. The city was predominantly populated by Japanese farmers at that time. She was three years old when her family moved to Nebraska. They lived there for a only a few months before moving to Pontiac, Michigan where Eusebio lived until she was thirty years old. Her father worked in construction in Michigan. She believes that he developed emphysema as a result of inhaling too much concrete dust while paving roads. Eusebio graduated from high school in 1931 and married that same year. (17:42-24:14)... Eusebio describes her childhood home in Pontiac, Michigan. Mexicans were just starting to move into Pontiac to work in the automobile factories. There were very few Blacks living in Pontiac at that time. After Eusebio's youngest brother died around 1924, her mother went to work at an automobile foundry because she "couldn't stand the house [and] had to get out" after the death of her son. Eusebio was twelve when her brother died. It took her a long time to accept his death because he "was my boy and wherever I went he went." She had no idea that her mother was pregnant with her brother. The children were ushered away to neighbors while she gave birth and did not come home until after their brother was born. (24:14-27:09)... When the family moved to Nebraska, they purchased a farm and her father produced wheat. During the WWI, he was ordered to sell his crops to the government. There were not enough granaries to store the wheat and they piled up in stacks on the farm. Her father eventually lost his farm and the family moved to Portland, Michigan. He went to work as an engineer operating the heating system in a state prison, which required that he spend a lot of time away from home. He quit that job about a year later and the family moved to Pontiac when Eusebio was about six years old. Her father got a job working in construction. Eusebio lived in Pontiac until she was eighteen years old. (27:09-28:52)... Eusebio grew up in a very strict and disciplined household. Her father did not like it when his children were loud or boisterous and it only took one word from him to get them to calm down. She was allowed to go out on dates on the weekends and her curfew was between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. If she came home late, she was grounded. Her and her siblings had to walk a "pretty straight and narrow line." They were not allowed to talk back, tell lies, or play one parent against another in an attempt to get what they wanted. End of tape. *** File: rrrmeusebio2.mp3 (0:00-2:09)... Eusebio and her siblings were responsible for making their beds and cleaning their rooms. When her mother went to work, however, they took on most of the household responsibilities, including cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. She did not have any problems when her mother went to work, noting that they were raised to be very independent. For fun, Eusebio and her siblings went to the movies on Saturday afternoons. Sundays were reserved for church. Aside from household chores, their weekdays were spent going to school and doing homework. (2:09-4:37)... Her father stopped going to church when he left home at the age of eighteen. However, he insisted that Eusebio and her siblings go to Sunday school every week. Her mother occasionally went to church services, but it was difficult for the family to establish connections because they moved so much on account of her father's construction work. Eusebio changed schools quite a few times and was unable to make any long-term friends. She did not like moving from place to place and considered her childhood a "very lonesome life." This pattern of movement affected in later years and she found it difficult to make friends as an adult. (4:37-7:58)... Eusebio talked to her mother about having a daughter so that she would have someone else to play with besides her brothers. She was not restricted from most activities except swimming with the boys because they did not wear bathing suits. She considered herself a tomboy and remembers enjoying sports like baseball and football. During the winters, they liked to ice skate and go sledding. She also spent a lot of time indoors reading books. Occasionally, her mother told her "that's boy's business" and forbade her from playing with boys. For the most part, however, she tagged along with her brothers and it was not until their teenage years that they started doing separate activities. (7:58-10:17)... Note: the recorder is turned off briefly in the course of this segment. She enjoyed school and received good grades. Her parents encouraged their children to study. They read a lot and Eusebio grew up in a household where she always had access to reading materials. Eusebio was on the volleyball team in school until her mother went to work and she was required to go home right after school to do housework and prepare dinner. The Depression hit when Eusebio was in high school and she remembers going to school with holes in her shoes. She never lacked food, but got tired of eating "beans and mush." While in high school, she worked one day a week at a grocery store. (10:17-12:38)... Eusebio went to work during the Depression to help support her family. She worked every Saturday from 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. at a grocery store. She earned only .50 cents a day. Her father worked infrequently because construction work decreased during the Depression. Her mother's hours were reduced at the automobile foundry because fewer people were buying cars. Eusebio's brothers occasionally worked as caddies at the golf course, earning .35 to .40 cents a day. (12:38-14:49)... Her mother was not active in any women's groups or organizations. She explains that her mother was not a "joiner." Her father was a Mason and a member of the Masonic Lodge. Eusebio refuses to join women's groups because she does not want to "sit and listen to a bunch of women gossip and chit chat." She believes that a lot of women's club work is ridiculous. For instance, she does not see any sense in doing things like "collecting money for the starving Chinese." (14:49-18:11)... Politics were not discussed in her home when she was growing up. However, she understood that her parents were Republicans and if "you were not a Republican, you got thrown out [of the house]." She was taught not to talk about politics and religion because these discussions usually led to an argument. She could not recall her parents talking about women's suffrage. She remembers that her mother always voted during elections. Eusebio never thought about women's rights, stating, "I was brought up to be very independent and I never felt abused or pushed around as a woman. I always got what I wanted [and] I didn't have to go out and batter down doors to get it". (18:11-24:16)... Aside from playing cards with friends, Eusebio's parents did not have a very active social life. She discusses her family life and identifies the activities that they enjoyed together. The most popular family activities in their household were reading and listening to the radio. Her family celebrated the holidays, but they were not "as commercial as they are nowadays." Eusebio and her siblings made their own toys and if they wanted something they had to pay for it with their own money. She remembers when she baby sat for an entire year just so that she could buy a pair of roller skates. (24:16-25:06)... Eusebio was not involved in youth activities at her church. However, one of the churches she belonged to had a gymnasium and she enjoyed playing basketball. Overall, she is not one to join things and refuses to belong to anything that requires a schedule. (25:06-26:51)... Eusebio did not engage in any special activities with her mother, stating that they never saw eye to eye on things. She was close to her father and she enjoyed doing things with him alone. However, up until her teen years, she did not think that her father liked her because he was a gruff person. He expected his children to be quiet and if they misbehaved he punished them with his belt. (26:51-30:08)... Her mother did not talk to her about menstruation until it happened. She started her period at night and remembers thinking that she was going to die. Her mother told her that it was going to happen every month for the rest of her life, which was difficult for Eusebio to accept. She never learned about sex or reproduction through her parents or at school. She understood that she was physically different from boys, but she did not know what those differences meant. Her mother simply told her never to let boys touch her. She was afraid to be alone with boys for this reason and recalls when she became hysterical after a boy touched her knee and tried to kiss her. End of tape. *** File: rrrmeusebio3.mp3 (0:00-1:49)... Eusebio used flannel cloth to protect herself when she had her menstrual period. The material was very bulky and could be seen through her clothing. She usually stayed home from school and spent the day laying down and resting. She was restricted from doing any strenuous physical activities and was excused from physical education class while she was menstruating. Except for occasional cramps, she did not have any menstrual problems. (1:49-5:21)... Eusebio was allowed to go out with friends on Friday and Saturday evenings. She went out with boys on double dates or group dates. Her dating activities included going to ball games, gathering for sing-a longs, tobogganing, or ice skating. There was never any "necking" that took place when she went out on dates; "It was good, clean fun." Her brothers were very protective of her and she was not allowed to date anyone whom they did not approve. When she was seventeen, she told her father that she was old enough to make friends without her brothers' input. (5:21-7:57)... When she was in high school, Eusebio planned to pursue a career in business. Her freshman year of high school she got a little sidetracked and took a two-hour sewing class. Her sophomore year she became more focused on business courses, taking filing, typing, business English, and mathematics. When she graduated from high school, she was offered a scholarship to a business college in western Michigan. However, her father did not approve of her accepting the scholarship because she was only seventeen and too young to live away from home. She graduated in June 1931 and married in August 1931, which, she says jokingly, "blew my career all to pieces." (7:57-13:40)... She had no plans for marriage in her immediate future after graduating from high school. She was introduced to her first husband (Eugene) by a girlfriend. He was five years older than her and working as a mechanic when they met. She discusses her husband's family background. They dated for about a year before they married. When Eusebio's father told her that she could not go away to school, she decided that she might as well marry the man she loved instead of staying home with nothing to do. Her parents were not happy about her decision to marry. (13:40-20:22)... Eusebio and her husband were married in a small ceremony held in his mother's home. After they married, she moved in with him and his mother. He was earning $25 a week working as a mechanic. His pay was then cut to $14 and "things got rough." She discusses the difficulties she had living with her mother-in-law and her decision to stand up to her and move out of her home. Digressing to talk about her parenting style, she notes that she modeled herself after her father's strict and disciplined household. (20:22-22:51)... After Eusebio and her husband moved into their own home, her daily routine consisted of taking care of her children and doing housework. She comments on the difficulty of maintaining a house without modern conveniences, noting that it was rough: "people can't tell me about the good ol' days because I don't believe them." In addition to housecleaning, she had to make all of her baby food and hand sew her children's diapers and their clothes. (22:51-27:16)... Eusebio talks about the difficulties she experienced during her first pregnancy. She did not have similar problems during her other pregnancies. She had two boys and two girls, between the years of 1932-37. (27:16-30:16)... Eusebio's husband did not help her take care of their children because that was not "men's work. Men just didn't do those things." He worked long hours seven days a week and was rarely home to spend time with his children. She did not complain about his hours because "he was one the few people in town who had steady work." However, his work began to interfere with their relationship when he developed a drinking problem as a result of people giving him bottles of whiskey as tips. He told Eusebio that he drank to "forget his problems [and] the rough times." End of tape. *** File: rrrmeusebio4.mp3 (0:00-1:44)... After twelve years of marriage, Eusebio told her husband that he "could keep his bottle and his troubles" and she left him. She took her children and moved to California where her parents had established a residence. She goes into detail regarding her husband's drinking problem and how it affected their family life. Eusebio did not start drinking until she met her husband. He encouraged her to drink and insisted that she take up smoking so that she "would not embarrass him in front of his friends." (1:44-5:45)... In September 1942, Eusebio sent her youngest child to school. She decided that she could not go home to an empty house and told her friend, "Lets go get a job." They started picking apples for a local farmer and when that work was finished they dug up potatoes. In November, she went to work at Willow Run and worked there until September 1943, when she left her husband and moved to California. (5:45-11:19)... Eusebio learned about job opportunities at the Willow Run factory through radio and newspaper advertisements. Her husband applied at the factory about a year before she started working there. He was required to attend a training program for supervisors, but his math skills were poor and he had a difficult time in the program. He worked at Willow Run for about four months before returning to the garage. Eusebio was immediately hired when she applied at Willow Run. She did not receive any training and was placed on the line to produce parts for the engine cowling. She enjoyed working with her hands. When she was a young girl, her father taught her how to use hand tools. She liked to do things around the house like repairing electrical cords. Her mother refused to do this kind of work, telling Eusebio that it was "man's work." (11:19-16:55)... Eusebio and her husband did not have an active social life on account of his work schedule and their family obligations. They occasionally played cards with friends or went dancing. Eusebio did not have anyone else, besides her girlfriend, to confide in when her parents moved to California. She considered California her home and was determined to return. Her husband did not believe her when she told him that she was leaving for California. He visited California a few times in an attempt to convince her to reconcile; however, she felt completely self-sufficient, stating, "I went to work and I bought a small house... and I was happy and I didn't need him." End of interview.
- SUBJECT BIO - Mildred Eusebio's entrance into the labor force began with her first defense job at Willow Run (Michigan) in 1942. She worked there for one year before moving to California and getting a job at Douglas Aircraft. Born in Gardena, the third of five children, Eusebio was raised in Pontiac, Michigan from the age of six, when the family moved there. She married just out of high school, and except for a stint picking apples in 1942, was a full-time homemaker, raising her four children. Eusebio's husband was an alcoholic, and within a few weeks of her starting work at Willow Run, she decided to leave him. She saved her money, and almost one year to the date, moved to California with her four children and got a job at Douglas. After a brief layoff in 1945, she was recalled and worked at Douglas until 1960, when ill health forced her to quit. By this time, she had married again and had another child. When she was able to return to work again, she went through an LVN training program and worked as an LVN for nine years, until she retired in 1970. Eusebio was interviewed by Cindy Cleary on three separate occasions in her home, a very well maintained older tract home where she lived with her second husband. Although she was recovering from surgery at the time of the interviews, she was more than willing to accommodate the project. She seemed comfortable with the interview process and openly discussed even those aspects of her life that were painful for her. At times there was some confusion about details, particularly dates and places. TOPICS - family background; family history; parents; housing; living arrangements; siblings; neighborhoods; childhood; and family life;household chores; religion; childhood; recreational activities; schooling; Depression; attitudes towards suffrage and women's rights; family life; family activities; relationship with parents; menstruation; and sexmenstruation; dating; parents; schooling; career expectations; marriage; relationship with mother-in-law; pregnancy and childbirth; motherhood; birth control; husband; and marital relationship;husband and marital relationship; farm labor; defense work at Willow Run; experience with tools; attitudes towards factory work; social life; and move to California;
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