Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 06/Mary Hines

Overview

Mary Hines (1887-1954) was located in rural Atmore, Alabama. One generation removed from slavery Hines highly valued her family and worked to provide them opportunities.

The Hines Family Biography

The Hines family includes multiple members who were located in a rural town of Atmore, Alabama. The family is one generation removed from being enslaved. The matriarch, Mary Hines, was born in 1887 within a family of six other children.

 The last to leave her immediate family, she, at the age of 25, married Dock Hines in 1912. Mary Hines’ mentions she did not marry for love. Mary Hines states, “I never loved my old man [Dock Hines] but I respected him. 
 Mary considered herself an “old maid,” which was a normalized statement of women who thought they were not married at an earlier age. 

Mary went on to give birth to nine children while five were able to survive: Dorothy, Blona, Myrtice, Pauline, and John Wesley . Mary’s loss of children was saddening but she was unable to dwell for an extended period. This was due to Dock Hines’ eyes beginning to fail due to cataracts, which caused him to lose his long held job.

Because of this Mary was not able to mourn and had to work more to make up the financial gap caused by his ailments.   
 The death of Mary’s children is an example of the infant mortality rate that is higher among African American women.

All of the women of the family became teachers, which is why there was an uptick in their upward mobility, ability to have more access to resources due to earnings, in comparison to other African Americans at the time.

Mary Hines supported her family through the Great Depression despite her husbands visual ailment but taking up farming and recruiting her daughters to do so as well. 

The daughters were able to receive their higher education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, HBCU, which were the main institutions of higher education allowing African Americans to receive a degree or certification. Soon after the Great Depression ended the Hines’ main goal was to buy back their home from the government. Due to each of the teachers making $30 a month.

Her youngest son was still in high school, which is important to denote due to the range of ages of her children. Having more than five children was not considered odd at the time due to the need for children to work to support household as much as possible.	Mary Hines after leading an eventful and hardworking life would die at the age of 67 in 1954.   Subsequently a decade later, her husband, Dock Hines died as well.  

Social Issues

The Institution of Marriage Age Ranges

Marriage during the 1940s had many factors that related to ages and social pressures. During the 1940s marriage was not solely a union between two people, but was also a communal affair. Women were more likely to be wedded at a younger age than males, which added pressure concerning their expectations. This pressure began to increase in age because of the idea that marriage needs to happen in their late teens or early twenties. However, there was a difference between data and the social climate. Hines was misguided by her peers, which blocked her understanding that she was in the most common age grouping to get married. The scholarly report, Historical Marriage Trends From 1890-2010: A Focus On Race Differences, explains this by saying, “shows that in 1940, 11 percent of all men and 9 percent of all women age 45 and older were never married… the proportion of people who are not married by age 45 remain lower in 2010 than in 1940.” This statement provides clarification that women at the time were facing more social pressure at the time to get married at a younger age, while there was a great number of women who did not yet marry who were in their mid to late 30s.

African American Women Job Growth

The Great Depression, major economic downturn from 1929-1933, had major impacts on the United States’ economics. Several years after the economy began to recover allowing many people of diverse backgrounds the opportunity to increase their economic status. During the 1940s African American women experienced an economic shift where their jobs became less domestic, work around the home, an agriculturally based, farming, and changed into professional careers, thus, having a formal career growth rate from “27% to 50%.”

  This growth rate is an important factor in allowing African American women to gain access to resources that were formerly not available to them.  

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

African American people were not allowed to attend majority white institutions before Brown v. Board of Education, a Supreme Court ruling that outlawed separate but equal education practices. Since this decision did not happen until 1954, African Americans created their own colleges and universities to provide a secondary education to their population. HBCUs are a vital component in African Americans receiving higher education, degrees, and certifications since the first one was constructed in 1837. According to the Atlantic article, “ Why America Needs its HBCUS,” it states, “[HBCUs] account for just 3 percent of four-year nonprofit colleges, their alumni account for…80 percent of black judges…50 percent of black lawyers and doctors, … 25 percent of black undergraduates who earn degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).” HBCUs are an integral part of the United States history and network of higher education institutions.