Interview of Robert W. Black for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library an initiative of the Cumberland County Historical Society. Black discusses growing up on a farm in Gardners, Pennsylvania during the Great Depression.
Allen Cohen and Ronald L. Filippelli, Times Of Sorrow And Hope. State College, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003. Photos, 265 pp., $45.00.
In 1933, the newly elected president, Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated a variety of steps to deal with the drastic effects of the Great Depression. Collectively these initiatives were known as the “New Deal.” One of those efforts was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
My father was District Attorney from 1904 to 1907 and built a house on South College Street in Carlisle, at the corner of Graham Street, in 1910. The way it happened was this. Wilbur F. Sadler was judge of Cumberland County at the time. He had been elected, for the second time, in 1904 in a bloody battle with John Wetzel in which each side was reputed to have spent $100,000, a huge sum in those days.
The 19th and 20th century memories of Blanche Lightner Dum and her niece Margaret Anne “Peggy” provide personal glimpses of life in Landisburg and Carlisle. Blanche was born in 1886 to George Billow Dum/Thommen and his wife Annie Simons Spotts/Spatz, both born 1863. Thus, Blanche was a granddaughter of Samuel Spotts and his 2nd wife Mary Jane Baker, and of John Dum and Mary Catherine Tressler/Dressler.1 Blanche wrote of her knowledge of her mother’s preparations for marriage as follows:
America has been traditionally seen as the "land of opportunity" where anyone who is willing to work hard enough can become rich. Indeed, it was on this basis that generations of immigrants were lured to America in the belief that they could build a better life for themselves here. During the 1920s, however, many Americans thought that they had found a way to become rich without having to work hard by investing in the stock market.
Interview with Lorraine Humer at her home in Carlisle Pennsylvania on June 7, 2002, with Heather Egan as a part of the Women in Cumberland County During World War II Oral History Project. Humer discusses attending Dickinson College during the war, her experiences in the Cadet Nurse Corps, and her familes experiences during the war including rationing.
Interview of Carolyn Kenworthy and Nancy Tiley for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library Memory Bank.
Interview with Helen Sowers at her home in Mt. Holly Springs Pennsylvania on July 15th 2002 as a part of the Cumberland County Women During World War II Oral History Project. Sowers discusses growing up during the Great Depression in Mount Holly Springs, Pennsylvania, working in the C. H. Maslands and Sons factory, and as a volunteer airplane spotter in Mount Holly Springs. Sowers also talks about the difficulty of rationing for a large family.