Interview with Mary Eileen Bertsch, January 24, 2007

Partial Transcript: This is Dale Johnson with Eastern Kentucky PRIDE and today we are at the Saint Camillus School in Corbin, Kentucky on January twenty-fourth, two thousand seven.

Segment Synopsis: Bertsch talks about when and where she was born, and describes her childhood home. She then discusses what she and her friends did for recreation. Bertsch also talks about what her parents did for a living, and talks about how her family obtained water from a cistern and disposed of waste.

Keywords: Burning; Cans; Cisterns; Cold Springs (Ky.); Corbin (Ky.); Dumps; Fathers; Gardens; Indoor plumbing; Jobs; Landfills; Mothers; Occupations; Saint Camillus Academy; Saint Camillus School; Sports; Telephone linemen; Trash; Waste disposal; Water; Work

Subjects: Childhood; Employment--Kentucky; Families.; Houses and homes; Nuns; Plumbing; Recreation; Schools; Tutors and tutoring.; Waste disposal

Partial Transcript: How is your trash disposed of now?

Segment Synopsis: Bertsch discusses how she currently disposes of her trash. She then talks about her involvement with the Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE) program. Bertsch also offers suggestions for a cleaner and safer environment, and talks about how her mother used old clothes to make quilts.

Keywords: Aluminum cans; Clothes; Dumpsters; Garbage; Paper; Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE); Pump houses; Quilts; Recycling; Saint Camillus Academy; Saint Camillus School; Schools; Trash; Waste disposal

Subjects: Environmental protection; Environmentalism--History.; Environmentalism--United States--History.; Environmentalism--United States.; Environmentalism.; Environmentalists.; Recycling (Waste, etc.); Recycling programs; Refuse and refuse disposal.; Waste disposal

Partial Transcript: I don't know. We're making up answers.

Segment Synopsis: Bertsch talks about her education and describes her school building. She then talks about her favorite childhood games and activities. Bertsch also discusses her grandfather’s asparagus farm and talks about the advent of television in the late 1940s.

Keywords: Asparagus; Classrooms; Dolls; Fire drills; Games; Grandfathers; Horses; Paper dolls; Pipes; Springs; Stories; Television; Wrestling

Subjects: Childhood; Cincinnati (Ohio); Education; Families.; Farming; Kentucky--History; Recreation; Technology

Partial Transcript: Do you make homemade ornaments reu--or do you reuse wrapping paper?

Segment Synopsis: Bertsch talks about making Christmas ornaments and reusing wrapping paper. She then discusses her father reusing aluminum pans to scare birds away from his cornfield. Bertsch also talks about the recycling program available to Knox County (Ky.), Whitley County (Ky.), and Laurel County (Ky.).

Keywords: Aluminum pans; Birds; Christmas ornaments; Corn; Decorations; Dehumidifiers; Fathers; Opossums; Trees; Water jugs; Wood scraps; Wrapping paper

Subjects: Christmas; Environmental protection; Environmentalism--History.; Environmentalism--United States--History.; Environmentalism--United States.; Environmentalism.; Environmentalists.; Families.; Farming; Knox County (Ky.); Laurel County (Ky.); London (Ky.); Recycling (Waste, etc.); Recycling programs; Whitley County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Do you--

Segment Synopsis: Bertsch talks about playing baseball and basketball with her friends. She then talks about how her mother cut her hair, and describes riding her bicycle to buy bread at the store. Bertsch also discusses the types of stores and toys available when she was growing up and describes the farm on which she grew up. She then talks about bringing her lunch to school and playing the accordion.

Keywords: Accordions; Barbershops; Bartsch, Albert; Baseball; Basketball; Bathrooms; Bicycles; Bread; Brothers; Cousins; Crystal radio sets; Dolls; Fathers; Football; Gardens; Grandfathers; Haircuts; Lamps, Oil; Lunchrooms; Mothers; Radios; Ropes; Running water; Sisters; Soccer; Softball; Sports; St. Joseph’s School (Cold Springs, Ky.); Stores; Swings; Telephone linemen; Ten Cent Stores; Toys; Trees

Subjects: Childhood; Cisterns; Droughts; Electricity; Families.; Farms; Kentucky; Kentucky--History; Plumbing.; Recreation; Schools; Technology; Water; Wells