BARRETTJOSEPH

Interview with Joseph D. Barrett, 1973

 

1973-11-30

 

Interviewer: Dakis, James H., Jr.

Joseph Barrett was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 31, 1912, and lived in Massachusetts throughout the early 1930s. His experience could be considered that of a typical Easterner during the Depression, which informs the theory that the unemployment rate in the East was not as drastic as in the West during that time. Barrett starts with a description of the years just before the Crash of 1929 and the first few years of the Depression. His father was an electrician and first began to notice a drop in building activities as early as 1927. Hence, the Barrett family's financial situation was affected before the actual failing of the economy in 1929. The days of the early 1930s are then relived by Barrett as he tells of "pounding the streets" for jobs to help support the family, and the methods employed in stretching the family's limited income.

Later in the interview, Barrett speaks of the positive work of the trade unions in the 1930s and how they offset the unfair treatment of factory workers in the East. He then elaborates on the fact that there were few people in his community who were unable to find some kind of work during the Depression and that he noticed little actual suffering. He claims that any "hardworking" person who wanted employment could always find it. When asked why there was an absence of severe hardship in his community, Barrett tells of the sense of unity which existed in his neighborhood, and how this spirit was successful in weathering the leanest years of the 1930s.

The closing moments of this interview contain Barrett's relating of the political climate of the 1930s. He stressed the fact that despite the hard times, he never felt dissatisfied with this country. He speaks of the disenchantment with Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal at great lengths, but claims no one ever thought of openly criticizing the president of the United States. The interview concludes with Barrett telling how he feels a recurrence of the Depression might benefit today's "younger" generation and teach them some valuable lessons.

At the time of this interview, Barrett was working as the manager of the Maryland Retirement Hotel in San Diego.

Joseph Barrett; James H. Dakis, Jr.; Great Depression; Labor unions; Factory workers; Maryland Hotel; Maryland Retirement Hotel; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; New Deal

630 F Street

California - San Diego - Downtown - Maryland Hotel

 

 

 

English

 

Reel-to-reel audiotape

01:05:33

No

 

 

 

Audio

MP3

30.01 MB