1940
Somewhere between the birth of Betty Jane in August, 1923 and the birth of Nora Lee in August, 1925, Ula and Ethel moved back to Toledo. The 1940 census finds them residing at 1427 Emerson St. Some of our older cousins will remember visiting them in this house.
When the census was taken on Apr 1, 1940, Ula owns his home which is valued at $2,400. The family lived in the same house on Apr 1, 1935 (a question asked to ascertain the mobility/migration of American families). Ula is 52 years old and has completed the 7th grade. (This is the only census to specifically ask the highest grade completed by individuals.) He is employed as a carpenter in a building construction project and is "employed by the Government" but was not working during the week of Mar 24-30, 1940. Ula worked 38 weeks during 1939 earning a total of $828 (an average of $21.79 per week, approximately $94.35 per month) with no other source of income.
This means he was most likely employed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) which built the buildings in the Toledo Zoo and the retaining walls in Walbridge Park. This agency was part of President Franklin D Roosevelt's "New Deal" which was signed into law on Apr 8, 1935. The program was a result of the significant unemployment due to the Great Depression and was meant to be the route to economic recovery and the lessened importance of the dole. It created jobs and was meant to provide dignity to those skilled workers who were out of work for a long period of time.
In order to be eligible for WPA employment, an individual had to be an American citizen who was 18 or older, able-bodied, unemployed, and certified as in need by a local public relief agency approved by the WPA. The WPA Division of Employment selected the worker's placement to WPA projects based on previous experience or training. Worker pay was based on three factors: the region of the country, the degree of urbanization, and the individual's skill. It varied from $19 per month to $94 per month, with the average wage being about $52.50 ($884.00 in present-day terms). The WPA ceased operation on June 30, 1943 as the Great Depression had ended and unemployment had dropped tremendously due to the creation of thousands of jobs associated with World War II.
If anyone knows for sure what projects Ula worked on, please email me so we can share a little more about this time in his life.
Going back to the 1940 census, Ethel was 48 years old and had completed the 7th grade. Nina was 18 and had completed two years of high school. She was working as a waitress in a restaurant. Nina worked 48 hours the week of Mar 24-30, 1940. During 1939 she had worked 13 weeks earning a total of $52 with no other source of income (an average of $4.00 per week). Betty was 16 years old, attended school and had completed her sophomore year of high school. Nora, who was 14 years old, attended school and had completed the 8th grade.
It should be noted that it was typical for children of Ula and Ethel's generation to end their education while still in grade school in order to help provide for the support of the family. You'll note that the children of their generation were likely to have at least some high school education. Completing four years of high school was more likely attained by the grandchildren of Eula and Ethel's generation with only a small number of that generation going to college. Today, we tend to take our education for granted, but we should remember that each generation before us strove to make life better for their children, to get us where we are now.
1427 Emerson - photo taken in 2006
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