Interview with Bert R. Francis and Arlayne Francis, October 5, 2017

Partial Transcript: Alright, let me do my little introduction here.

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis is introduced. He talks about growing up in Whitesburg, Kentucky as the son of a single mother. He did not know who his father was until later in his life. He talks about his mother's education and the many jobs she worked. He talks about his family's history in Kentucky and their relationship to other Kentuckians like Harry Caudill.

Keywords: 1937; Ancestors; Blair family; Chief of police; Family; Family names; Fathers; Francis family; Grandparents; Jobs; Kentucky; Lineage; Morehead State University; Mothers; Occupations; Parents; Politicians; Property; Single mothers; Sisters; Stigma; Unwed mothers; Work

Subjects: Education--Kentucky; Employment--Kentucky; Families.; Family histories.; Genealogy; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Well, when and how did you meet your future wife Arlayne?

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about meeting his wife Arlayne when they were in grade school. He talks about how they eventually started dating and were married not long after. He talks about his sons and their occupations and mentions his grandson.

Keywords: Blind dates; Children; Colleges; Dating; Elementary schools; Grade schools; Grandchildren; High schools; Jobs; Married; Musicians; Purdue University; Sons; Wife

Subjects: Childhood; Families.; Marriage; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Do you know if your family has a history of military service?

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about three of his uncles who served during World War II.

Keywords: Bill Francis; David Francis; European Theater; Family; Francis family; Monroe Francis; Pacific Theater; Pearl Harbor; Uncles; WWII; War stories; World War II

Subjects: Childhood; Families.; Military service, Voluntary--United States.; Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941; United States. Army.; Whitesburg (Ky.); World War, 1939-1945--Veterans.

Partial Transcript: Did you have any cousins that lived by you in Whitesburg?

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about the many people who lived in his house growing up, including his grandparents and several aunts and uncles, as well as his mother and sister. He talks about the construction of the house and the outhouse. He talks about the lack of electricity, the jobs his mother worked to support the family, and his family's political views.

Keywords: Aunts; Bill Francis; Chores; Coal; Construction; Cook stoves; Cooking; Corporal punishment; Cousins; Democrats; Education; Electricity; Francis family; Grandparents; Great grandfathers; Heat; Highways; Home; Homework; Houses; Income; Insulation; Jobs; Lighting; Monroe Francis; Mothers; Occupations; Outhouses; Plumbing; Politicians; Politics; Republicans; Siblings; Sisters; Spanking; Uncles; Watson Caudill; Work

Subjects: Childhood; Country life; Employment--Kentucky; Families.; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural electrification; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Well tell me about your own educational background.

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about where he attended school in Whitesburg, as well as the year he spent in Carr Creek. He talks about some of the dangerous activities he and his friends participated in, including playing football by the railroad and hanging off the railroad bridge. He tells stories about a time someone tried to hang him and another time someone tried to drown him.

Keywords: Carr Creek (Ky.); Children; Coal; Dangerous; Dangers; Drowning; Entertainment; Fights; Football; Fun; Guitars; Hanging; Moving; Railroad bridges; Railroads; Rough; Swimming; Trains; Whitesburg Grade School; Whitesburg High School

Subjects: Childhood; Country life; Education--Kentucky; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Well, did you ride the school bus or did you walk to school?

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about how he came to join the school band. He talks about corporal punishment in school and says he got in trouble a lot in grade school. He talks about some of his favorite subjects and favorite teachers and how they influenced him. He and his wife Arlayne describe the layout of the school. He talks about how he came to teach briefly at Cumberland High School.

Keywords: Air conditioning; Baritone; Buildings; Campuses; Classes; Classrooms; Colleges; Corporal punishment; Courses; Cumberland High School; Desks; Engineering; Foreign languages; Grades; Graduation; Harlan County (Ky.); Heating; High schools; Influence; Kendall Boggs; Latin; Lunches; Marine Corps; Mathematics; Mothers; Music; Night classes; Scholarships; School bands; School principals; School subjects; Science; Trouble; Whitesburg Elementary School; Whitesburg High School; Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Subjects: Childhood; Education--Kentucky; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; Teachers--Kentucky; Teaching; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Did you ever play hooky?

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about skipping school, sometimes with permission from the school due to his playing in a quartet. He talks about the types of employment available at that time in Whitesburg. He talks about the various games the children played during recess and what he would do when school was cancelled for a snow day.

Keywords: 'Playing hooky'; Coal companies; Dangerous; Dangers; Electric guitars; Entertainment; Friends; Fun; Games; Jobs; Logging; Mining; Occupations; Poplar trees; Practice; Quartets; Radios; Recess; School bands; School buses; Skipping school; Snow days; Work

Subjects: Childhood; Country life; Education--Kentucky; Employment--Kentucky; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: You know, back in those days there were still some pretty nasty childhood diseases out there like polio, and diphtheria, whooping cough...

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about some of the common childhood diseases he contracted. He talks about receiving vaccinations at school. He talks about visiting a local doctor after he was hit by a car.

Keywords: Car accidents; County health doctors; Doctors; Eyes; High schools; House calls; Illnesses; Inoculations; Midwives; Neighbors; Polio; Shots; Sickness; Vaccinations; Whooping cough

Subjects: Childhood; Country life; Medical care--Kentucky; Physicians--Kentucky; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural health--Kentucky; Rural schools--Kentucky; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Did your, um, did your family have a vegetable garden?

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about what his family grew in their garden and talks about taking corn to the local mill. He talks about the animals his family raised and tells stories about how the animals hated him as a child. He talks about his beloved childhood dog. He talks about some of the things he learned in school and about his homework. He talks about his mother preserving their food and how he had never had beef until late in his life because there was no way to preserve it. He talks about hunting and fishing and tells a story about catching bullfrogs.

Keywords: Animals; Arlayne Francis; Battle Hymn of the Republic; Beef; Bullfrogs; Camping; Chickens; Chores; Corn; Cows; Cursive writing; Dogs; Electricity; Fishing; Girlfriends; Growing; Hog killing days; Homework; Horses; Hunting; Livestock; Lunches; Meat; Milking cows; Mills; Mothers; Pets; Pledge of Allegiance; Prayers; Produce; Rabbits; Rationing; Roosters; School cafeterias; Shooting; Spelling bees; Teachers; Vegetables; Victory gardens; World War II

Subjects: Agriculture.; Canning and preserving; Childhood; Country life; Crops; Education--Kentucky; Families.; Farm life.; Food habits; Food--Preservation; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural electrification; Rural schools--Kentucky; Subsistence farming; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: How would you describe your family's socioeconomic status growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis says that everyone in Whitesburg was of the same socioeconomic status. He talks about the unusual accomplishments of his graduating class and why he believes they achieved more than previous and future classes. He talks more about being in the school band, being on the track team, fashions of the time, and keeping in contact with classmates.

Keywords: Accomplishments; Addresses; Athletes; Cheerleaders; Classmates; Clothes; Clothing; Coal; Doctors; Dresses; Economy; Engineers; Fashion; Goals; Graduating class; Grandfathers; Homemade clothes; Jobs; Land; Lifelong friends; Lumber; Mail; Mothers; Occupations; Poor; Property; Rich; School bands; Shoes; Socio-economic status; Sports; Styles; Suppliers; Teachers; Timber; Track teams; Wages

Subjects: Childhood; Communities.; Country life; Education--Kentucky; Employment--Kentucky; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Do you recall when your family got its first television set?

Segment Synopsis: Bert and Arlayne Francis talk about when their families first got television sets. He talks about listening to the radio and lists some of his former band members who have gone on to play with famous musicians.

Keywords: Baker, Kenny (Artist); Bands; Bill Monroe (Artist); Bluegrass music; Cheerleaders; Classmates; Faron Young (Artist); Fiddle players; Friends; Grand Ole Opry; Hugh Lewis (Artist); Kenny Baker (Artist); Lewis, Hugh (Artist); Mac Wiseman (Artist); Magazines; Monroe, Bill (Artist); Newspapers; Radios; Televisions; Wiseman, Mac (Artist); Young, Faron (Artist)

Subjects: Childhood; Country life; Mass media and technology.; Music; Musicians; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Did your family eat meals together at the dinner table?

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about his favorite meal when he was a child. He talks about the types of movies he watched at the theater. He describes some of the presents he received for Christmas as a child. He talks about the religions his family practiced.

Keywords: Beans and cornbread; Bicycles; Chicken and dumplings; Christmas; Churches; Dinner tables; Entertainment; Family; Favorite meals; Friends; Grandparents; Guitars; Meals; Methodists; Mothers; Movie theaters; News reels; Old Regular Baptists; Presents; Religious denominations; Toys; Tractors; Tricycles; Wagons; Westerns

Subjects: Childhood; Country life; Families.; Food habits; Holidays--Kentucky; Recreation; Religion; Rural children; Rural conditions; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: So you--in the summertime when school was out you went swimming in the creek, right?

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis tells several stories from his childhood about times he got injured. He talks about encounters with birds and snakes, and talks about other dangerous activities he and his friends participated in.

Keywords: Accidents; Christmas trees; Creeks; Cuts; Dangerous; Dangers; Elder poles; Entertainment; Football; Friends; Fun; Injuries; Mines; Mining breaks; Mountains; Mud hens; Rivers; Snakes; Sports; Summers; Summertime; Swimming; Trouble

Subjects: Childhood; Country life; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Did you and your buddies ever sneak off and drink some beer or maybe some moonshine when y, your mom wasn't home...

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about the types of alcohol available in Whitesburg. He talks about whether anyone in his high school class had to drop out due to pregnancy. He talks about his first car, some of the trouble he had with it and repairs he made to it, and talks about getting his driver's license.

Keywords: Alcohol; Auto repair; Brakes; Camphor; Cars; Culture; Drinking; Driver's licenses; Driving tests; Engines; Fuel pumps; Grandmothers; High schools; Mechanics; Pine Mountain; Pregnancy; Uncles; Whiskey; Whitesburg High School

Subjects: Automobiles--Maintenance and repair.; Automobiles.; Childhood; Communities.; Country life; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; Used cars; Whitesburg (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Were you and your family pretty well-informed about what was going on in your community...

Segment Synopsis: Bert Francis talks about his family's sources of news. He recalls Truman's plan for universal military training and Roosevelt's fireside chats. He talks about the values his family taught him and how he met the goals he set for himself early in his life. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: 'Duck and cover'; Cold War; Current events; Drills; Engineers; Fallout shelters; Family; Fireside chats; First Lieutenants; Goals; Grandfathers; Integrity; Korean War; Mountain Eagle (Newspaper); News; Newspapers; Patriotic; Patriotism; President Franklin D. Roosevelt; President Harry S Truman; Radios; Red Scare; Scrap iron; Sputnik; Teaching; Televisions; Universal military training; Vacations; Values; War effort; Well-informed; World War II

Subjects: Childhood; Country life; Families.; Mass media and technology.; Rural children; Rural conditions; Whitesburg (Ky.)