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Bowman, Clella Juanita (audio interview #3 of 4)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the third 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. 8/27/1980
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- 2021-05-28
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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 - migration to California; living arrangements; setting up new household; Douglas hiring process; aircraft work in Logansport, Indiana; job responsibilities as an inspector at Douglas; supervisors; raises; job expeon-the-job training; responsibilities as an inspector; relationship with supervisor; work ethic; postwar production; war bonds; financial arrangements in her marriage; marital relationship; overtime; gender relatiogender relations; sexual harassment; pace of production; ethnic and race relations at Douglas; attitudes towards Japanese-Americans during WWII; safety; work injuries; security; violation of company policies amongdouble duty; children; work hours; living arrangements; women in war production plants; attitudes re military service; social life and activities; communism; sister's WWII nursing career; career expectations; datin
- *** File: rrrjbowman7.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:05-1:35)... Bowman's husband daughter moved to California in October 1942. A few days after he arrived, he borrowed money from his brother-in-law for a down payment on a home in Lakewood. Bowman and their other three children took a train to California and arrived on November 13, 1942. (1:35-6:32)... After she completed selling their belongings in Indiana, she boarded a train and headed west with her three children and their dog, having ignored her husband's second telegram telling her not to come to California until further notice. She did not notify him that she was on her way until they arrived in Chicago. When they arrived in Los Angeles, they were greeted by her brother-in-law and daughter, Eileen and immediately announced that her father had bought a house. Bowman was already brimming with excitement that she was finally in California and once she heard that news, she knew she was there to stay. Bowman slept on the floor of her unfurnished home her first night in California. (6:32-14:16)... The day after she arrived in California, Bowman went shopping for furniture and appliances for her new home. When some of her products were not delivered on time, she visited the manager at Sears and complained, at which time she was told that the war had interfered with their delivery schedule. The manager then proceeded to make derogatory statements towards her because she was from back East. She demanded a refund and threatened to retain an attorney, which changed his tune right away. The following day, she received a refund and a letter from Sears stating that she came highly recommended by the store in Indiana. Although this was a nice gesture, Bowman never shopped at Sears again. (14:16-16:07)... Bowman applied for work at the Douglas plant in Long Beach on Saturday afternoon, the day after she arrived in California. She was told to report to work the following Monday. Her daughter also applied for a job that Saturday, but she did not start at the plant until the following Friday. Everyone knew that defense plants were hiring. She thinks she may have chosen Douglas because her sister was already working at the Santa Monica plant. When Bowman started at Douglas, her husband was working at a shipyard in Wilmington and renting a room during the week. (16:07-21:24)... When Bowman applied for a job at Douglas, she wrote "C. Juanita Bowman". The woman at the employment office told her that she had to sign her first, maiden, and married names. Bowman argued the point and the woman tore up the piece of paper. Bowman consented to sign her name as Clella Albert Bowman. She had to provide her marriage and birth certificates and submit to a physical examination. The interview process was fairly short because she had previous experience working as a machinist at an aircraft plant in Logansport, Indiana. She trained for ten weeks and worked at that plant for two weeks producing airplane fuel tanks. She was hired at Douglas as an inspector. She initially worked in simple inspection was later transferred to precision inspection. She enjoyed inspection work because she could sit down while she worked. (21:24-24:23)... Bowman worked the swing shift for about a year until she requested days so that she could be home with her children in the evenings. The first supervisor she worked for refused to put her on days because he only wanted women who were members of the union on that shift. She went to another supervisor and he agreed to transfer her to his department so that she could work the day shift. While she worked under that supervisor she received three raises whereas her previous supervisor failed to give her any raises because she would not join the union. Bowman worked at Douglas until August 1945. (24:23-25:29)... Bowman did not have any expectations about the type of work she would do before she applied for a job at Douglas. She knew that she would do her best in whatever position they placed her in. The hiring representatives at Douglas seemed pleased with her previous experience in the aircraft industry and she trusted their job placement decisions. (25:29-26:17)... Bowman did not have to purchase any tools before she started working in the plant, but when she was transferred into precision inspection she had to check out tools from the tool crib located in her department. (26:17-27:38)... The same day she applied for work at Douglas Bowman went out and bought her first pair of slacks. She had worn overalls in Indiana whenever she and her father drove a wagon through the country collecting supplies for his general store. She became so accustomed to wearing pants after she started working at Douglas that she gave up wearing dresses altogether. (27:38-28:37)... Bowman was thankful that she was hired Douglas as an inspector and hated to leave her job when the plant started laying people off in August 1945. She was laid off during the second wave of layoffs. They offered to transfer her to the Santa Monica plant to work on the assembly line, but she declined the offer because she did not want to be away from her family. After she was laid off from Douglas, she accepted unemployment. (28:37-31:15)... Bowman describes her first day at plant. She had to get new lenses for her eyeglasses because the lighting was so bright; however, she welcomed the light after having to drive to work in the dark because of the wartime blackouts in the city. She was placed in a section with three women inspectors. Parts were brought to them to inspect. The people she worked with were nice and she enjoyed meeting new people. One of her co-workers liked to talk about politics and FDR. As a Republican, Bowman was not too thrilled about FDR and she told her co-worker that she did not like to argue about religion or politics. End of tape. *** File: rrrjbowman8.mp3 (0:00-2:01)... Bowman was confident of her skills when she started working at Douglas, commenting: "I felt like I could do anything and I would try anything." She had an adventurous spirit and was willing to try new things. After she left Douglas she took flight lessons and logged six hours in the air. She gave up flying when she hurt her knee. (2:01-5:20)... Some of Bowman's co-workers resented her because she worked too fast. One day someone placed a sign on her back that said "Jesus Working" and she worked most the day before a supervisor called it to her attention. At one point during the war, a supervisor told her to slow down. After the war, there was not enough work to go around and some people sat around while others worked all day. She believes that the company did not want to rehire the men who left Douglas to go into the service. The supervisors usually gave these men the most difficult jobs in the plant in an attempt to get rid of them. (5:20-9:39)... Bowman was instructed how to inspect parts on her first day of work. She also was provided with an instruction pamphlet that illustrated what she was expected to do. She was a fast learner and very conscientious about her work. However, not all of the inspectors at the plant were as efficient as Bowman. The first two inspectors she worked with were men. (Note: in the previous interview, she states that she worked with three women inspectors when she started at Douglas). One of the men she worked with encouraged her to speak to their supervisor, "Red," about a raise. Red was not a good supervisor and use to fool around with women in the parking lot during work hours. (9:39-10:44)... Bowman always purchased her meals in the cafeteria at the plant, and although she occasionally spoke to other workers during meals, she usually did not mingle with people at work. After her shift ended, she went straight home. She contributed to collections that were raised for those who produced the most in their department. (10:44-15:35)... Her first year at Douglas, Bowman took a two-week leave to take care of her youngest daughter who had contracted measles. In Bowman's absence, a bond drive was held and her supervisor, Red, signed her up for a war bond. When she noticed the deduction on her paycheck, she complained. They removed the deduction and Red almost lost his job. He was extremely angry with Bowman and she began to make inquiries about transferring into another department. When she first started at Douglas, she contributed a substantial amount of her wages to war bonds. However, she found herself having to cash the war bonds to pay bills and decided that it was not worthwhile to have money deducted from her paycheck. She and her husband shared household expenses. His pay went towards the mortgage and the utilities and she paid for everyday expenses and the bills she acquired for household purchases. (15:35-18:55)... Bowman had her own checking account and her husband handed his paychecks over to her when he got paid. Bowman did not budget or save any money because they never had enough money left over after paying their bills. (18:55-25:52)... Note: there is background noise in this segment due to an airplane flying overhead; and the recorder is turned off briefly while the narrator answers the phone. Bowman worked overtime on Sundays whenever it was offered to her. Her church objected to her working on Sundays, but she felt it was important to make money to help support her family. She continues to discuss her finances, indicating that she paid off the mortgage on her home in Lakewood after they sold their property in Indiana. She and her husband never argued about money. He surrendered his paychecks every week and allowed her buy whatever she needed for the house. This was far different than the arrangement they had while living in Indiana. (25:52-31:33)... Bowman's male co-workers at Douglas did not tease or make advances towards her . She recalls a time when a man asked her if she wanted to look at a dirty book and how shocked she was by what she saw. However, she was glad that she looked at the book because it made her aware of what was going on in society. She was unaware of sexual harassment in the plant, but recalls hearing that "if you played up to a man, you could go places." (She digresses and recounts an incident when she was employed in real estate and her co-worker showed her photographs of two homosexuals who were butchered and stored in trunks. She explains that stories about love triangles and homosexual affairs were not publicized in the past as much as they are today.) End of tape. *** File: rrrjbowman9.mp3 (0:05-2:26)... Bowman discusses gender relations at Douglas and the question of sexual harassment. In general, she believes that a woman who threw herself at a man was to blame if he assaulted her, stating, "A woman knows what a man's weakness is." She recalls when two women at Douglas got into a physical altercation over a man. (2:26-3:14)... Although the pace of production periodically increased in certain sections, Bowman worked at a relatively steady pace inspecting parts. (3:14-3:59)... She never read the company newspaper published by Douglas. (3:59-6:31)... There were very few minorities employed at Douglas. Although Bowman never worked alongside Blacks at the plant, she does not believe that they were segregated from the White employees. She was not aware of any racial prejudices or incidents at Douglas during the war. The first time she ever worked with minorities was at the VA Hospital. (6:31-8:47)... Bowman's co-workers did not tease her about her East Coast background. The only prejudice she recalls during the war was focused on the Japanese. It bothered her a great deal to listen to hear people express their hatred for Japanese-Americans and she did not agree with Japanese internment during the war. However, she believes that some Japanese people "were out to take us," mentioning the time her sister's Japanese gardener alluded to a Japanese invasion just before Pearl Harbor was attacked. (8:47-12:55)... There were safety features in place at Douglas and employees were always informed about job hazards. Bowman recalls the time a ten pound steel plate fell on her foot. She was rushed to the dispensary where she rested for about five hours, but did not receive any medical treatment. She went to work the next morning with crutches and received minor treatment in the dispensary before she reported to her department. She continued to work while she was injured. (12:55-18:54)... Bowman discusses the time a male co-worker attempted to clock out a supervisor who left work early to take care of some personal business. She does not believe that there was enough security or supervision at Douglas to stop employees from breaking company rules. Although she could not recall any incidents of sabotage at the plant, she objected to foreigners or non-citizens working at the plant during the war. Whenever a Russian supervisor walked by her work area she talked about the eventuality of a war between the US and Russia. (In passing, she comments on the immigration patterns in the US, stating, "Immigrants are ruining our country." ) (18:54-21:07)... Note: there is background noise in this segment due to an airplane overhead. Other than a bank and a dispensary, Bowman could not recall any other company services at Douglas. She digresses regarding inspectors visiting the plant from Washington, DC. (21:07-26:32)... There were a few women inspectors at the plant; however, she did not pay attention to the job classifications of the women in her department. When she applied for work at Douglas, she did not specify a position because she thought she would be efficient at any job in the plant. Her daughter, Eileen, worked at Douglas for about nine months. She quit a week after Bowman was injured because she did not want to risk injuring herself. She then enrolled in a nursing program that was funded by the government. Bowman discusses her daughter's career and how she discouraged her from marrying before finishing nursing school. She wanted her daughter to have a career so that she could support herself in case her marriage failed. (26:32-30:31)... Bowman declined to join the union at Douglas because she did not want to get involved in labor strikes. When she worked at a garment factory in Indiana, she learned about the union and the potential for violence during strikes. Her son was required to join the union when he was hired as a plumber for the city. She feared that he would encounter violence during strikes. The interview ends just as she is discussing a work injury she incurred while sewing corsets at the garment factory. End of tape. *** File: rrrjbowman10.mp3 (0:00-5:32)... Bowman discusses how she managed her home and work responsibilities while working the swing shift. She believes that she got a total of three hours sleep each night because of the constant noise in the neighborhood that woke her early in the morning. Her youngest daughter stayed home alone after school until her brothers got home from work. Bowman's children invited their friends over while she and her husband were at work. It angered her husband when the neighborhood kids ate their food. For about a year, Bowman's sister lived with them and she supervised the children and helped ease Bowman's domestic burdens. (5:32-8:11)... Bowman's husband and brother-in-law worked together at a shipyard near Terminal Island. Although they did not mention women in the shipyards, Bowman believes that women were employed in every facet of war production because so many men went into the service. Some of the young men at Douglas were intimidated by women and enlisted because "We did not like to see them fiddle around and make their money when our sons and husbands, or whoever, was in the service...and we made it known to those guys." (8:11-10:46)... During the war years, Bowman did not have an active social life. Her activities outside of work revolved around church. However, she eventually left the church because she did not agree with the preacher's prejudicial sermons. Whenever she did go out, it was usually with her sister. They liked to go to the movies and out to eat before her shift started at Douglas. She did not socialize with her co-workers outside of work. After the war, she joined the Blue Star Mothers, a women's club for mothers with sons in the service. She left the group after several members expressed their communist views. (10:46-12:35)... Bowman corresponded with her sister who was stationed overseas as a nurse during WWII. Bowman wanted to volunteer as a nurse during WWI so that she could travel the world, but her mother would not allow it. She planned to go to nursing school at Lafayette Hospital after she graduated from high school. However, when the girlfriend she planned to go to school with died, Bowman's mother would not allow her to go away to nursing school. Bowman then decided to pursue a career in teaching. She taught for three years before she married and for another year afterwards. Her mother was not happy with her decision to marry. (12:35-26:07)... Although reluctant to discuss the details of their break up, Bowman talks about her relationship with the boyfriend she had just before she began dating her husband. She began dating when she was eighteen years old and had a few boyfriends while in college. She comments on her husband's disposition and their marital problems, noting how his family made fun of him because she was so independent. Just before he died, her husband apologized for the way he had treated her. (26:07-27:45)... Bowman comments on the communist movement during the postwar years, indicating that she was not easily led or influenced by other people. End of tape.
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