Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2019/Fall/Section 1/Odessa Polk

Odessa Polk

Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2019/Fall/Section 1/Odessa Polk
Born	May 22, 2896 Charlotte, NC
Died	March 10, 1959 Charlotte, NC
Nationality	African American
Occupation	Cook, Mother, Laundry Services

Overview

Odessa Polk was interviewed for the Federal Writers' Project in 1939. She was an African American in Charlotte, NC. She was a single mother of three and lived off of her job as a cook.

Biography

Earlier Life

Odessa Polk was an African American female who was born on May 22, 1896 in Charlotte NC. Her parents were Mary Gaither and Walter Polk. Odessa was the youngest of her two blood related siblings. Her parents divorced and her mother decided to remarry. Polk’s step father no longer wanted to take care of all of his kids plus his wife’s kids so he decided to give Odessa and her siblings away to live with their grandmother. Odessa and her siblings were forced to live with their grandmother who was struggling to get by on her own. Their mother didn’t help with any finances and their grandmother was so impoverished that she couldn’t afford to get them clothes for Sunday School. One day a missionary offered to help the kids with clothes for church, this was a significant piece of what prompted Polk to become so involved in the church. Due to the demands of her family she began working at age nine and tried to balance going to school and her side jobs. She made it fifth grade before dropping out. Shortly after this, Polk’s grandmother passed away and she went to live with her aunt and her cousin. Her living conditions didn’t change much considering her aunt wasn’t able to work because of her heart problems.

Later Life

A mother holding her baby.

Not much is known about her life after moving in with her aunt but it is known that at some point she became pregnant. Polk never got married but she had three daughters named Madelene, Wootsie, and Sarah. This single mother status was likely acquired by the lack of parental influence in Polk’s life. After her last daughter, Sarah, was born Polk began working from home to take care of her kids. She sent her kids to Sunday School and tried her best to provide all that she could for them. Ultimately, all three of her daughters dropped out of school and had children at a very young age just like Odessa. Polk’s daughters, grandchildren, and her all lived together as one big family and she supported them the best she could with her salary as a cook. Towards the end of her life she spent a majority of her time in the church. Her religion was a huge part of her identity. She later died at the age of 63 on March 10, 1959.

Social Contexts

Poverty and the Lack of Education for African American Women During the Great Depression

African American women in the South were disadvantaged in many ways due to their lack of accessible education. This has been prevalent ever since 1896 when the case of Plessy v. Ferguson ruled that segregation was allowed as long as education was deemed “separate but equal.” This ruling took a huge toll on the amount of African Americans who remained in schooling because of their inadequate education. In the 1930’s with the economic depression, poverty was a huge predictor if black women were going to finish their education or not. Educating young black women was not seen as a priority of the time. There was a high rate of dropouts for many reasons. Some of the most prevalent reasons were that women were encouraged to help contribute to the family income, they were needed help with tasks at home, and teenage pregnancy basically forced them to drop out of school. As poverty increases, the likelihood that a black woman will finish her education decreases. Amid the Great Depression the 30’s was a time of severe economic downturn where many blacks were living in poverty and were focusing on trying to find work instead of getting a good education. Poverty is the main reason girls may drop out of school, however, early pregnancies are also a factor. Being pregnant is hard enough but on top of that the discrimination against young pregnant females increases the likelihood that a woman will drop out of school. The Great Depression was a time where African American women had to sacrifice their education to work and provide for their families or to even start their own families.

Religion During the Great Depression in the South

During times of struggle or intense hardship, religion seems to be a prominent fall back for people who lost hope in the world. The Great Depression was a perfect example of this. When money became sparse and people began to fear the future they turned to religion to get them through their tough times. This was especially true for Americans in the Southern region. The south is known for being more religious than other sections of the U.S. which is shown by the Bible Belt. This is the region that stretches all along the Southern states of America and is believed to be a region of the country that places a lot of focus on their religious practices and beliefs. It’s hard to look at religion in the south while not specifically mentioning the Religion of Black Americans which accounts for a large part of the religious people during this time period and region. In response to the Civil War, blacks wanted to make Christianity their own and began to set up their own baptist churches. This led to the creation of the National Baptist Convention which led to Baptist being the largest Christian denomination. This is also reflected in the Great Depression as a great amount of Southern Blacks turned to Christianity to survive the economic downfall.