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Eusebio, Mildred (audio interview #2 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Although Eusebio was more comfortable in this interview session than in the first, there are long pauses between topics throughout the interview. The audio quality of sides b and d is poor. 11/17/1980
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- 2021-07-13
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- 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 - husband and divorce; move to California; housing and living arrangements; application and interview process at Douglas Aircraft; gender relations; job responsibilities; friends; work force demographics; daily routimechanical abilities; knowledge of tools; description and comparison of Willow Run and Douglas plants; race riots Detroit, Michigan; work clothing; safety measures; rationing; social life; zoot suiters; work forcechildren; postwar layoffs; unemployment; postwar work in fish cannery; recall to Douglas; gender relations; lesbians; security at the plant; work place relationships and working environment; job evaluations; attitupostwar race relations at Douglas; gender relations; brothers' activities during the war; veteran's attitudes towards women at Douglas; and postwar production at Santa Monica and Long Beach plants;
- *** File: rrrmeusebio5.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-6:09)... Eusebio's children were upset when she left their father and took them to California. One of her sons tried to get them to reconcile, but Eusebio refused to live with an alcoholic. Her children did not discover the extent of his drinking problem until they were teenagers. He refused to pay child support until the court ordered him to do so when they divorced after the war. She discusses her husband's alcoholic behavior, indicating that she never regretted leaving him. (6:09-9:01)... Her parents lived in Big Bear for a couple of years when they first moved to California, and then purchased a chicken ranch in Baldwin Park where they lived for several years, until her father's emphysema forced them to sell. Eusebio and her children lived with her parents on the chicken ranch for about a year after they moved to California. She did not have any problems qualifying for a loan when she purchased a new home in Artesia. She found it very easy to obtain credit to purchase items like automobiles and household appliances. She was always able to find a steady job after she moved to California. (9:01-12:54)... Eusebio applied for a job at Douglas Aircraft in mid-September 1943. She learned about opportunities through her father who was working in the maintenance department at the Long Beach plant. She went to the Douglas employment office in downtown Long Beach and filled out an application. She was sent to the Long Beach plant where she received a physical and was hired to work the swing shift. Personnel told her to report to work the next day. However, she insisted that she start the following Monday so that she would have time to get her things in order. Because of her previous experience at Willow Run, she was placed in a "B" classification. When her father found out that she was making more money than him, he asked for a raise. It was a blow to his ego that he was earning less than his daughter and he left Douglas three months later. (12:54-14:54)... She recalls that the interview process was fairly easy because once personnel found out that she had worked at Willow Run for a year, they were confident that she was qualified for the work. She was went to work in production on the air ducts for DC-3 aircraft. She enjoyed the work because it gave her another chance to work with her hands, stating, "I should have been a boy because I really did like working." (14:54-16:08)... She did not have any expectations about the plant or what type of work she would be doing, stating, "You just went in and did what you were told." Although she comments on the lack of advancement at Douglas, she also mentions that her assistant foreman was constantly placing her in new operations. When she complained about this, he told her "Look, I've never given you anything yet that you couldn't handle." (16:08-18:36)... Eusebio recalls that there were very few men in her department except for those holding supervisory positions. The men were friendly towards the women. It was typical for there to be animosity or hurt feelings among the women in her department; however, Eusebio never had any problems and got along well with all of her co-workers. She never used foul language and whenever she hurt herself, she asked an elderly co-worker to swear on her behalf. (18:36-21:31)... When Douglas concluded production on the DC-3, Eusebio and her crew of about twenty people went to work producing air ducts for the A-26 bomber. The production quota was set at eight ducts per day and she was able to complete nine by lunch, freeing her up to learn other operations in her department and run errands for the foreman. Her progress was not well received by her male counterpart on the day shift whose production was much lower. He use to wait for her to start her shift just so that he could tell that she was "stupid to work that hard." However, she did not think the work was difficult. She figured that he was unmotivated and embarrassed that she was making him look bad. (21:31-23:14)... Eusebio made friends at work, but she did not socialize with them after hours. She reiterates that she was never a joiner. She had a long drive to and from work and was not up for socializing at 1:00 a.m. when her shift ended. Most of the women she worked with lived in Long Beach. Many of her co-workers were single, but the ones with children and husbands were just as busy as Eusebio. She occasionally received correspondence from co-workers after she left Douglas. (23:14-27:00)... Eusebio describes a typical day while she was working at Douglas. Her mother worked half day at a feeder plant in El Monte and would occasionally stop at the store on her way home from work. However, Eusebio was responsible for most of the grocery shopping. There was little variation in her daily routine except for an occasional day of shopping or a trip to the beauty salon to get her hair done. She rarely spent time with her children because they were in school when she was home. When she came home at 1:00 a.m., her daughters came into the bathroom while she was getting ready for bed. Occasionally, they rode the Red Car into Long Beach on Sundays, but "when you are making less than $40 a week, you don't take a lot of excursions." End of tape. *** File: rrrmeusebio6.mp3 (0:00-1:44)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. Eusebio was required to purchase some basic tools before she started at Douglas. She purchased these from the company and payments were deduced from her paycheck. Employees also checked tools out from the company tool cribs. (1:44-5:09)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. She describes the differences between the Willow Run and the Douglas plants. She digresses regarding the riots in Detroit, nothing that this was the first time she was conscious of racial problems in the country. (5:09-7:24)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. Eusebio had never worn pants before she started working in the defense industry. When she was child, she wore knickers. Her wardrobe mainly consisted of dresses and she was not comfortable wearing pants for years. She also had to wear a bandana or a hair net to keep her hair from falling into the machinery. She witnessed several women get their hair caught in machines and she felt that this precaution was beneficial to women. (7:24-8:58)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. She talks about her impression of the plant when she walked into Douglas on her first day. She had a difficult time making friends and wanted people to understand that she was not their to take their job. (8:58-10:40)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. Eusebio notes that her co-workers were friendly. When the older women "found out they weren't losing their jobs, they took me under their wing." There were cliques among the women based on age. The younger women were caught up in their boyfriends and "some of them were the party type and they were always inviting the bosses out." Eusebio did not socialize with her co-workers after work because she had a twenty-five mile drive home from the plant. (10:40-16:08)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. She discusses rationing during the war. Employees at Douglas frequently purchased cigarettes from a vending truck that parked outside the plant. Her male friends in the service also supplied her with cigarettes, silk stockings, and other items from around the world. She talks about these friends, indicating that they helped her get through the war years. (16:08-20:06)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. She did not date very much during the war because she did not find anyone particularly interesting. Her father would not allow her to go out at night or on the weekends because of zoot suit gangs that lived in and around their area. She never went to downtown Los Angeles because of gang activity. (20:06-25:32)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. There were two Black women employed in Eusebio's department and they were accepted by the other employees. She does not recall any Latinas employed at the plant during the war, commenting that she thought that they were not mechanically inclined. She talks about her own mechanical abilities and the ease with which she utilized tools. Her father taught her how to use tools when she was a young girl and she remembers helping him build things in his workshop. She digresses regarding the time she broke her arm, which was around the same time she developed an avid interest for bowling. She did not bowl during the war because she did not have time. After the war, however, she resumed her bowling league activities and continued for many years until she developed arthritis in her hands. (25:32-28:20)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. After Eusebio and her children moved into their own home, they shared household responsibilities and "it was rough." At the time, she was making about $40 a week, which was barely enough to support her family. Her children were approaching their teenage years and she had some discipline problems. The interview ends just as she is discussing these issues. End of tape. *** File: rrrmeusebio7.mp3 (0:00-2:14)... Even though her oldest children were exposed to drugs and alcohol when they attended Excelsior High School, they never became involved in these activities. She considered herself and her children lucky for escaping these problems. Her son once told her that she "wasn't raising a bunch of dummies." After the war, kids purchased alcohol and prophylactics from a gas station located across the street from the high school. The owners also allowed the kids to use a barn located behind the gas station to engage in sexual activities. The business was eventually closed by the authorities and the men were sent to prison. (2:14-3:46)... Eusebio decided to move to Artesia so that she could be closer to work. She purchased a home in a new housing subdivision. Her home was inexpensive and she did not require a co-signer. She had not been able to save any money during the war because of the high living expenses involved in raising four children. (3:46-8:40)... To Eusebio, "It seemed like the war was going to go on and on forever." She recalls the atmosphere at Douglas when V-J Day was declared. When she reported to the plant three days later, she was laid off with approximately forty thousand people. She had not anticipated layoffs because she figured that the war was never going to end. She had "absolutely no idea what was going to happen" after she was laid off. The company referred her to an unemployment office in Long Beach. She received $25 a week and was told about job opportunities at a fish cannery. Her wages at the cannery were deducted from her unemployment compensation. She despised working at the cannery and left four months later when Douglas recalled her to the plant. When she returned to Douglas, she received a wage increase to $1. (8:40-10:57)... She talks about how she felt when she was laid off from Douglas. With the return of war veterans and so many people unemployed, "You knew then, as a woman, there was no chance going out anyplace else and getting a job." Eusebio enrolled in courses at a business college in downtown Los Angeles to review her shorthand and typing skills; however, she dreaded the thought of having to go into clerical work. She was relieved when Douglas recalled her to the plant, stating, "I couldn't get there fast enough." (10:57-13:09)... Unless a woman asked for it, men did not tease women or make sexual advances towards them. Her male co-workers were friendly and behaved like big brothers. There were quite a few "party" girls and "they weren't fooling any of the rest of us." Eusebio often heard about these women throwing weekend parties. There were so few men at the plant that "they could be very picky and very choosy" about the women they pursued. (13:09-15:03)... Eusebio knew of one lesbian couple who worked at Douglas. Occasionally, these women were seen holding hands, but there were never any problems in the plant as a result of their behavior. Eusebio did not pay that much attention to her co-workers when she worked at Douglas. (15:03-17:27)... Employees at Douglas were required to wear identification badges in order to gain entrance into the plant. However, Eusebio recalls that it would have been fairly easy for someone to get into the plant by flashing someone else's badge to security officers. The plant was camouflaged so that it could not be identified by air. If an employee wanted to go into a different department, they could "pick up a blue print and walk fast and look as if you thought you knew what you were doing." People who tried to wander into departments in any other fashion were sent back to their department. (17:27-22:09)... Eusebio describes the camaraderie among her co-workers, indicating that they were "like one big family." There were no policies against conversing while on the clock as long as they did not allow it to interfere with production. She recalls that supervisors evaluated employees using a grading system that measured punctuality, absenteeism, attitude towards job, and job performance. She never scored higher than a ninety or ninety-five because her supervisor said that she was "the kind that knew rules were made to be broken." She describes what policies she ignored while at Douglas. (22:09-27:53)... A few months after Eusebio started working at Douglas, employees voted for a union shop. Initially, she supported the union because she believed it was beneficial for employees. However, as time went by she began to view the union as a self-interested political machine that caused inflation. The union did not gain momentum until after the war, during which time she began attending meetings. Many people were opposed to the union executives in office at that time; however, their opposition went unnoticed when they expressed their criticism at union meetings. Eusebio states, "I'm not exactly anti-union, but I'm not exactly for the union either." (27:53-29:16)... She does not recall there being any racial problems during the war because there were very few minorities employed at Douglas. There only were two Black women in her department. She could not recall any Latinas working at Douglas. The interview ends as Eusebio begins to discuss racial problems that occurred after the war when Black veterans returned to the plant. End of tape. *** File: rrrmeusebio8.mp3 (0:00-6:18)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor in the beginning. Eusebio continues a discussion on race relations at Douglas in the postwar period. There were a few Black men in Eusebio's department who made passes at White women. In one case, she went to her supervisor and told him that a Black employee was "trying to force himself on this woman... and that we couldn't have him bothering the White women on the job." White women tried not to get too friendly with Black men because they did not want people to think that they were open to their advances. Eusebio recalls the negative response she received from a Black man when she very innocently called him "boy." In the postwar period, Eusebio also worked with Latino men whom she remembered as hard-nosed individuals who complained about working with Blacks. (6:18-9:50)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. Eusebio notes that three of her brothers worked in war factories during the war, while her youngest one enlisted in the Navy. His military service included assessing inactive bombs in the desert. (9:50-16:08)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. Eusebio went to work at Douglas because she had to support her children. She was laid off twice after the war, once immediately afterwards and once around 1946, during which time she returned to Michigan and obtained a divorce from her husband. She was out of work during both layoffs for approximately four months. After the second layoff, she was hired at the Douglas Santa Monica plant to work on the DC-6. A year later, she was transferred to the Long Beach plant and worked there until 1960. (16:08-17:50)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. War veterans were resentful towards women who stayed at Douglas after the war. Many of them "wanted to know why in the hell women didn't get out of the plant and go back and stay at home and raise their kids." Women in similar circumstances as Eusebio had to work in order to support themselves. She would have been more than willing to stay home if it was not necessary for her to work. Eventually, men became accustomed to working around women and their bitterness subsided. (17:50-21:00)... Note: the audio quality in this segment is poor. When Eusebio returned to the Long Beach plant in the late 1940s, she worked on production of the C-74. She describes her responsibilities. Government contracts decreased after the war and she never knew how long she was going to have a job. Other than C-74 production, the plant produced small parts. End of tape.
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