Orange County

Chapel Hill, N.C.

August 22, 1938

E.M.A. and L.Y.G.

Several miles south of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in the Mt. Carmel section, is a small farm. A young family lives and works on this farm, Mr. Oliver Adamson and Mrs. Betty Conner Adamson.  They have three children, ages four to thirteen.  Joseph, the oldest, is thirteen. Sara is nine, and the baby of the family, Mae, is four. From the dirt driveway there is a small shed to the left and a house to the right.  The house has four rooms, but is big enough for the family of five.

Ollie, an affectionate name for Oliver, was raised by his parents, Martha and Joseph Adamson. They lived on a small farm, and Oliver was the only child. After World War I, they immigrated to the United States from England. They stayed in New York striving to survive as factory workers, while young Ollie stayed at ìhomeî unattended. Bettyís parents were descendants of Irish immigrants. Betty was the third of five children, having three brothers, two older and one younger, and one younger sister. Her parents were poor farmers, so Betty didnít complete her schooling.

Mr. and Mrs. Adamson met at a church social in New York.  Betty had been visiting from North Carolina. She was staying in New York with her cousin Andrew, who took her along to the social. This was where Oliver and Betty first met at the punch bowl.
 
 
 

Ollie and Betty Adamson

"Ollie was lookin' so handsome, I knew it was love at first sight.  He invited me to take a walk around the city, but I declined being a lady.  The next day he somehow figured out where I was stayiní and wouldnít go away ëtil I went with him. The day before I was fixin' to leave, he proposed to me. I accepted and the rest is history."  Soon after they quickly got married.

After their marriage in 1924, Oliver and Betty had saved enough money so they moved down south to farm. To the newlyweds, farming seemed the best career for them, because it was what both of them had known since their childhoods. North Carolina seemed an inviting place, it wasnít that far from Bettyís childhood home.  From the outside of the Adamsonís home, it may seem small, but once youíre inside, it is a well kept home filled with love. When you walk in, there is a kitchen and dining room, where all  the familyís meals are cooked and eaten. There is a small stove, for cooking on, and a wooden table with five mismatched chairs around it. There is also a family room with a couch, which is where the family spends any leisure time, which is mostly on rainy days. In the back of the house are two bedrooms. One for the parents and the other is the childrenís bedroom.
 
 

The Cotton Field

The family farms cotton and tobacco. It is a small thirteen acre farm, with three acres of cotton and ten acres of tobacco. They are hoping for a better profit this year, because last year the cotton bumper crop caused prices to plummet.

"Last yearís cotton price was about eight cents a pound and we hardly broke even on our payments."  Ollie explained.  "The tobacco prices were high, higher than I expected.  Maybe this year the profit will be even better."
 

The Tobacco Field

"When I first heard of the crop control back in 1933, when the AAA decided to plow up cotton, I wasnít too excited about the idea of destroying my crop.  Of course, when I got profits, I thought that maybe it was a good idea, because," Ollie said with a little laugh, "I'm always happy to get profit.  Lately the crop control hasnít been used much, but I'm still getting a mediocre profit.  In 1933 I also signed up to reduce my tobacco acreage, and I signed up again in 1935.  The plan is to reduce through 1939.  I think that the crop reduction has helped bring more profit, which makes me happy.  I'll keep doing whatever is needed to support my family."

Mr. Adamson votes a straight Democratic ticket.  He believes that the Democrats are the farmer's party.  Mrs. Adamson tries to get to the poles as often as possible. She thinks that politics affect the whole family, but with three children and house work, she only votes occasionally.
 
Neither Ollie nor Betty attended more than grade school, but have better hopes for their children. When asked, Mrs. Adamson says her children will finish grade school, and hopefully go on to high school.

"Joseph is a bright boy, but Sara is really the best student.  She always comes home with better grades than Joseph, and she says she wants to be a journalist when she grows up.  Mae is my little angel," Mrs. Adamson said with a smile, "and she is going to be startin' school next year.  I think that she might even be as smart as Sara."

Mrs. Adamson wants her children to have a better future than farming. She feels that if Oliver had  been given a chance at schooling he would have been more successful. She is determined that the children will get schooling.
 

The Church

The family attends Mt. Carmel Baptist Church. The Adamsons keep a Bible and Betty and Ollie read psalms to their children every night.  They attend church at least once a month and they go to all the revival meetings.  "Our pastor, Thomas Middleton, eats dinner with us once a month.  Sometimes he brings his thirteen year old daughter Shannon.  Joseph has seemed to take a likin' to her, and they spend many hours together."
 
They have to walk to church unless a neighbor drives them. The family doesn't own a car, but is saving up so that maybe in the future they can buy one.  "Hopefully," says Betty, "we will get one before Joseph learns to drive, then he can have the pride in a world where we have so little."

There are some medical bills because Mae, the youngest, is prone to getting colds.  The medical bills are never substantial sums.  When Mae heard her name, she perked right up.  Since it is summer, she hasn't had a cold latey.

"I like gettiní colds ëcause my momma makes me soup," Mae quipped.

"Now Mae, you be a good little girl and run along."

This is a fairly average family for these times, with three children and a small family farm.  They have a bright tomorrow and an even brighter future.