Professional Clip 20: Anita Taylor, Tales of the Grandmothers

In summer 1863, Luna, who was by then several months pregnant and had already five other children, the oldest of which was 19, saw her husband John off to the south as a soldier in the Civil War; he was in the Union Army. So, fix this picture in your mind: this woman is now 37 years old. She's in a farming, timber–cutting, and shipping family. She has five children ranging from two to 19 and a baby due before the year's over. Her husband is hundreds of miles away, fighting a war to preserve the union. Now, no census taker, no census taker would record her as employed, but for sure this woman is working. And thus, the title of the presentation that I have been invited to give you today: “Tales of the Grandmothers: Women and Work.”