Life in the Old Days: Working In Chowan County

1. Life in the Old Days: Working In Chowan County Jackie Gilliam English III/ 2nd period Mrs. Lassiter’s Class

2. Introduction • Have you ever wondered what life was like used to be like in Chowan County trying to make a living? I did. I realized that a lot of people made a living working in the fields. I know that if it’s hard to work in the fields now, with all the machinery, it was hard back in the day.

3. Interview Review • I wanted to know more about how people used to work in the cotton fields. I decided to ask my grandfather about it. I remembered that he had told me he worked in the fields when he was young. He, in fact, worked in the fields in Chowan county. I wasn’t born here, but he was so this was a real learning experience for me. During the interview he told me everything he knew about the working conditions and the wages. I was surprised. I couldn’t believe how hard it actually was.

4. Working Conditions Working conditions were awful back when my grandfather was a boy. There were no such things as health benefits, and if you got hurt, all they did was patch you up and send you back to work.

5. Interview • Questions 1. How old were you when you started working in the cotton fields? 2. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the hardest, how was it working in the fields? 3. What seasons of the year did you work? 4. What was the minimum wage? 5. Were there such things as health benefits? 6.Did they supply insurance? 7. What would happen if someone got hurt on the job? 8. Did black people own cotton fields in Edenton? If so, how many? 9. How many hours did you have to work a day? 10. Did the women work in the fields as well? 11. If the so, did they get equal pay? 12. What were the conditions you worked under? • Answers 1. 12 years old 2. 10 (really hard) 3. In the summer and spring 4. $1.50 a day 5. No, there wasn’t. 6. No, they didn’t. 7. They would patch them up. 8. No, they didn’t. 9. 12 hours, or sun to sun 10. Yes, they did. 11. Yes, they did. 12. Hard and difficult at times

6. Interview Continue • Questions 13. If you were to be sick on the job, would you still have to work? 14. How long were you working in the fields? 15. Did you ever plan on going to the North? 16. Where did you originally want to go? 17. How long did you stay in Edenton? 18. What made you leave at that time? 19. Did you miss it? 20. What made you move back to Chowan county over sixty years later? 21. What kind of changes did you notice in Chowan County when you came back? 22. Do you think it changed for the better or the worse? 23. Would you want to have your children live here with you? Grandchildren? Great-grandchildren? 24. Do you enjoy living in Edenton? • Answers 13. Sometimes 14. 10 years 15. Yes, I did. 16. New York 17. I was born here; 17 years. 18. Hard work 19. No, I didn’t. 20. My mother 21. The highways, new buildings, new people, not too much better in government wise. 22. Halfway 23. Not hardly 24. Yes, because I’m retired.

7. Compare and Contrast • From the interview with my grandfather I realized that there are a lot of differences in how people worked when my grandfather was a boy and how they work now. Edenton, Chowan County, was a hard place to live in due to the lack of jobs. Chowan County today still has some of the same problems.

8. Conclusion • I found out a lot of information about Chowan County. It has a lot of up’s and down’s. I understand that Edenton is a small town, but the town and county need to branch out and open up more business to provide more job opportunities for the citizens. The more fortunate need to help the less fortunate rather than judge them for not having a job.