UK78ALUM
10-02-2008, 07:57 PM
I thought I would share this. The subject of the article is my g-g-grandmother. The article was written in 1926 by a reporter for the Birmingham News. And just this week, I discovered the history of the reporter as well. Anyway, hope you folks find this as fascinating as I did.
By the way, talk about "in my DNA", I love this comment from her:
Prohibition, as Mrs. Robertson sees it, has only tended to lower the quality of liquor.
Yep, that's my "Big Ma" all right! :)
==========================================
Witnesses World Practically Made Over In Century’s Span Of Existence
By Edna Kroman
Birmingham News - Early June, 1926
There is going to be a big celebration on June 12, 1926, at the home of H. F. Robertson, 634 South Forty-Fifth Street, Woodlawn, such as is vouchsafed very few mortals to enjoy.
For on that day, “Big Ma”, as she is lovingly called by everyone who knows her, or more formally, Mrs. Sallie Robertson, will be 100 years old.
A whole century since she was born – a century which has seen the introduction of the bicycle, locomotive, electric light, phonograph, woman suffrage, telephone, automobile, prohibition, moving pictures, and in very recent years, radio and the airplane.A world literally made over!
Everything has changed for this great-grandmother, everything but human trials and emotions.
“Oh, I reckon people are just the same” she said during a visit made to her home the other day. “It’s conditions that have changed. When I was a little girl, long before the War Between the States, there weren’t even any bicycles and people had to do their own getting about. Today – “ and she made a slight gesture with her hands to indicate the vast change.
Mrs. Robertson was born on the farm settled by her Grandfather Ray at Columbiana, Ala. On June 12, 1826, and moved during her childhood with her parents to Four Miles, a short distance from Wilsonville. There she lived practically her entire life, leaving the farm only twice, once 20 years ago and again several months ago when she was brought to Birmingham to reside with her grandson.
The comforts and luxuries of life which the people of Birmingham take as a matter of course never entered her life, and she admits, with the engaging frankness of persons “older and wiser” that her point of view is colored by her experience.
She has never seen a moving picture and regards airplanes as things that some folks may want to go up in, but not for her. But though her hearing is beginning to fail and her eyesight to dim, Mrs. Robertson retains an unusually keen interests in events and regrets that the only occupation left her today is whittling.
Must Keep Busy
“I simply cannot sit with folded hands” she smiled wistfully, “so I keep my fingers busy as best I can. Folks don’t have to do as much today as they used to when I was a young girl. We didn’t own many slaves, and we all had to get out on the farm and help. Then when I married, the war came and my husband had to answer the call. He came back but things were scarce.”
To Mrs. Robertson “the war” is, of course, the War Between the States, which she remembers very distinctly. She still has several letters written to her by her husband which throw much light on conditions then.
Sees Good From War
Then the letter enumerates a few debts which Mr. Robertson owed when he left with the army, with the request that his wife pay them as soon as she had the money to spare, and he cautions her to always take a receipt when she pays an account.
The outstanding result of the War Between the States was, of course, the abolition of slavery, which Robertson believes was a blessing, in spite of the aftermath of hardship brought to the South. The slaves, she emphatically stated, were not treated well on the whole. In most instances, she asserted, they were underfed and uncared for, forced to work hard and long. Of course, she added, there were numerous instances of thoughtful masters and mistresses, such as are pictured in romantic stories of the South, but not enough of these to offset the still more numerous instances of harsh and calloused owners.
So many things have happened during her lifetime that Mrs. Robertson finds it hard to recollect individual events. Only one of her six children, four boys and two girls, is still living. He is John Robertson and it is with his son, or “Big Ma’s” grandson, that the dear old lady is making her home. In addition to her son, she has five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
“Of course, girls have changed considerably since my time” she commented, “but our family has had very few girls so I don’t know much about their ways. But I don’t believe in woman suffrage, though I did go to the polls once. I voted for Harding for President.. I think a woman’s place is in the home with her children where she has plenty to do to keep her busy all the time. Of course, living out in the country where it isn’t so easy to get to the polls may make me see things differently from city folks.”
Against Prohibition
Then the lady came back at me. “What do you think about woman suffrage?”
And the interviewer found herself interrogated during the entire conversation. Always Mrs. Robertson seemed more interested in hearing what the reporter thought about things in getting a modern point of view of today, than in reiterating her belief that the “old days were the best”.
Prohibition, as Mrs. Robertson sees it, has only tended to lower the quality of liquor.
“In my father’s home we always brewed our own liquor, and kept it on tap for anyone who came. And the men didn’t think of getting drunk then. It could be bought for 50 cents a gallon, and folks could get all they wanted. But no one seemed to mind it. Of course, where I lived there never was a saloon, which I reckon must have made a difference in the cities. We made good, pure liquor, and no one was ever poisoned by it.”
Though she has never seen a moving picture and views airplanes with considerable awe, Mrs. Robertson is very fond of automobile riding, and is always ready for a spin when the weather permits, which is such a different “spinning” to the kind she learned when a young girl.
Mrs. Robertson has no recipe for longevity, she stated. “It just happened so”, was her only explanation of her long life.
About The Author
Biography/Background:
Maxwell and Jennie S. Kroman moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1897 and opened a dry goods store in downtown Birmingham the following year. In 1904, the Kroman family (Max, Jennie, son Louis, daughters Minnie, Naomi, Cecile, and Edna, and Sadie Kroman, possibly a sister of Max's) moved to 1609 8th Avenue North where they lived for fourteen years. In 1918, Edna was also a stenographer for Sharp & Company.
In 1924 the Kromans moved to 1327 31st Street South. In the years that followed, Cecile (also spelled Secile) worked as an artist, her sister Naomi worked as an accountant at General Motors, and Edna was a reporter for the Birmingham News. A draft for an article on the Birmingham Amateur Movie Association dates from this period. At some time during the late 1920s Edna attended Barnard College. Several of her plays and short stories were submitted as class assignments.
In 1953, Edna Kroman opened the Junior Shop in Homewood. She operated this shoe store for almost 10 years before opening Edmans Shoes in Mountain Brook. The next year she left the store and returned to her original ambition of being a writer. She wrote articles for the Birmingham News in the mid-1960s, and several of her magazine submissions bear the 31st Street address.
Max Kroman died November 20, 1965. His daughters continued to live on 31st Street until 1970 when they moved to an apartment on Highland Avenue. In 1983, Naomi and Edna moved to the Park Tower Condominiums at 2717 Highland Avenue. Naomi died the following year in September; Edna died January 7, 1985. She was ninety years old. The Kroman family belonged to Temple Beth-El, and Edna is buried in Knesseth-Israel Cemetery.
By the way, talk about "in my DNA", I love this comment from her:
Prohibition, as Mrs. Robertson sees it, has only tended to lower the quality of liquor.
Yep, that's my "Big Ma" all right! :)
==========================================
Witnesses World Practically Made Over In Century’s Span Of Existence
By Edna Kroman
Birmingham News - Early June, 1926
There is going to be a big celebration on June 12, 1926, at the home of H. F. Robertson, 634 South Forty-Fifth Street, Woodlawn, such as is vouchsafed very few mortals to enjoy.
For on that day, “Big Ma”, as she is lovingly called by everyone who knows her, or more formally, Mrs. Sallie Robertson, will be 100 years old.
A whole century since she was born – a century which has seen the introduction of the bicycle, locomotive, electric light, phonograph, woman suffrage, telephone, automobile, prohibition, moving pictures, and in very recent years, radio and the airplane.A world literally made over!
Everything has changed for this great-grandmother, everything but human trials and emotions.
“Oh, I reckon people are just the same” she said during a visit made to her home the other day. “It’s conditions that have changed. When I was a little girl, long before the War Between the States, there weren’t even any bicycles and people had to do their own getting about. Today – “ and she made a slight gesture with her hands to indicate the vast change.
Mrs. Robertson was born on the farm settled by her Grandfather Ray at Columbiana, Ala. On June 12, 1826, and moved during her childhood with her parents to Four Miles, a short distance from Wilsonville. There she lived practically her entire life, leaving the farm only twice, once 20 years ago and again several months ago when she was brought to Birmingham to reside with her grandson.
The comforts and luxuries of life which the people of Birmingham take as a matter of course never entered her life, and she admits, with the engaging frankness of persons “older and wiser” that her point of view is colored by her experience.
She has never seen a moving picture and regards airplanes as things that some folks may want to go up in, but not for her. But though her hearing is beginning to fail and her eyesight to dim, Mrs. Robertson retains an unusually keen interests in events and regrets that the only occupation left her today is whittling.
Must Keep Busy
“I simply cannot sit with folded hands” she smiled wistfully, “so I keep my fingers busy as best I can. Folks don’t have to do as much today as they used to when I was a young girl. We didn’t own many slaves, and we all had to get out on the farm and help. Then when I married, the war came and my husband had to answer the call. He came back but things were scarce.”
To Mrs. Robertson “the war” is, of course, the War Between the States, which she remembers very distinctly. She still has several letters written to her by her husband which throw much light on conditions then.
Sees Good From War
Then the letter enumerates a few debts which Mr. Robertson owed when he left with the army, with the request that his wife pay them as soon as she had the money to spare, and he cautions her to always take a receipt when she pays an account.
The outstanding result of the War Between the States was, of course, the abolition of slavery, which Robertson believes was a blessing, in spite of the aftermath of hardship brought to the South. The slaves, she emphatically stated, were not treated well on the whole. In most instances, she asserted, they were underfed and uncared for, forced to work hard and long. Of course, she added, there were numerous instances of thoughtful masters and mistresses, such as are pictured in romantic stories of the South, but not enough of these to offset the still more numerous instances of harsh and calloused owners.
So many things have happened during her lifetime that Mrs. Robertson finds it hard to recollect individual events. Only one of her six children, four boys and two girls, is still living. He is John Robertson and it is with his son, or “Big Ma’s” grandson, that the dear old lady is making her home. In addition to her son, she has five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
“Of course, girls have changed considerably since my time” she commented, “but our family has had very few girls so I don’t know much about their ways. But I don’t believe in woman suffrage, though I did go to the polls once. I voted for Harding for President.. I think a woman’s place is in the home with her children where she has plenty to do to keep her busy all the time. Of course, living out in the country where it isn’t so easy to get to the polls may make me see things differently from city folks.”
Against Prohibition
Then the lady came back at me. “What do you think about woman suffrage?”
And the interviewer found herself interrogated during the entire conversation. Always Mrs. Robertson seemed more interested in hearing what the reporter thought about things in getting a modern point of view of today, than in reiterating her belief that the “old days were the best”.
Prohibition, as Mrs. Robertson sees it, has only tended to lower the quality of liquor.
“In my father’s home we always brewed our own liquor, and kept it on tap for anyone who came. And the men didn’t think of getting drunk then. It could be bought for 50 cents a gallon, and folks could get all they wanted. But no one seemed to mind it. Of course, where I lived there never was a saloon, which I reckon must have made a difference in the cities. We made good, pure liquor, and no one was ever poisoned by it.”
Though she has never seen a moving picture and views airplanes with considerable awe, Mrs. Robertson is very fond of automobile riding, and is always ready for a spin when the weather permits, which is such a different “spinning” to the kind she learned when a young girl.
Mrs. Robertson has no recipe for longevity, she stated. “It just happened so”, was her only explanation of her long life.
About The Author
Biography/Background:
Maxwell and Jennie S. Kroman moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1897 and opened a dry goods store in downtown Birmingham the following year. In 1904, the Kroman family (Max, Jennie, son Louis, daughters Minnie, Naomi, Cecile, and Edna, and Sadie Kroman, possibly a sister of Max's) moved to 1609 8th Avenue North where they lived for fourteen years. In 1918, Edna was also a stenographer for Sharp & Company.
In 1924 the Kromans moved to 1327 31st Street South. In the years that followed, Cecile (also spelled Secile) worked as an artist, her sister Naomi worked as an accountant at General Motors, and Edna was a reporter for the Birmingham News. A draft for an article on the Birmingham Amateur Movie Association dates from this period. At some time during the late 1920s Edna attended Barnard College. Several of her plays and short stories were submitted as class assignments.
In 1953, Edna Kroman opened the Junior Shop in Homewood. She operated this shoe store for almost 10 years before opening Edmans Shoes in Mountain Brook. The next year she left the store and returned to her original ambition of being a writer. She wrote articles for the Birmingham News in the mid-1960s, and several of her magazine submissions bear the 31st Street address.
Max Kroman died November 20, 1965. His daughters continued to live on 31st Street until 1970 when they moved to an apartment on Highland Avenue. In 1983, Naomi and Edna moved to the Park Tower Condominiums at 2717 Highland Avenue. Naomi died the following year in September; Edna died January 7, 1985. She was ninety years old. The Kroman family belonged to Temple Beth-El, and Edna is buried in Knesseth-Israel Cemetery.