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Introduction |
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Broyhill Family Life Histories
Submitted by
John W. Garrett
to
The Virginia Writer's Project
Works Project
Authority
1940 |
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THIS ENTIRE REPORT |
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Transcribed by
Marvin T. Broyhill III
Jan. 10, 1993 |
The great depression
began with the stock market crash of 1929. Finances tightened,
people stopped buying goods and factories closed. Soon a quarter
of the nation's population was out of work. In February 1933, President elect
Franklin D. Roosevelt took and acted quickly to restore business
confidence. He first submitted to Congress the Emergency Banking Bill,
empowering his administration to strengthen and reopen sound banks;
Congress immediately passed it. Within a few days, fully three fourth of
the banks within the Federal Reserve System had reopened. But this was
only the first step. During the months and years to come, Roosevelt took
a great many actions to restore the economy. Collectively his programs
were known as "The New Deal."
A major goal was getting
Americans back to work. The federal government established the Works
Project Administration. The W.P.A. undertook many new projects including
the construction of public buildings and improvements to the National
Park System. One of its lesser known activities was The Virginia Writers
Project which paid writers - both professional and amateur - to compile
and preserve local history and oral traditions. They collected folk
tales, interviewed ex-slaves and the wrote life histories of their
contemporaries. This work took place between October 1938 and May 1941,
but was terminated by the demands of the second World War. A planned
book containing life histories of typical Virginians was abandoned and
the underlying biographies and interviews were deposited in the Virginia
State Archives, spread through more than 500 boxes of administrative
records and other W.P.A.-related Materials.
Beginning about 1970,
University of Virginia anthropologists Charles and Nancy Perdue began
their joint effort to locate and compile these materials. They have
since published several books and are now working on one that is to
include approximately 80 W.P.A. Life Histories representing how Virginias
dealt with the great depression. Among them, is the one written about my
grandfather, Marvin T. Broyhill.
In that interview, "M. T." mentioned
that his son "Joe" was attending Fork Union Military Academy.
The Perdues contacted Fork Union, which gave them my uncle Joel's
address and phone number. They telephoned him and he graciously provided
them with additional material. The Perdues then sent him a letter
explaining the Virginia Writer's Project and their own activities.
Knowing my interest in family history, Joel sent me a copy of their
letter and I immediately contacted the Perdues.
They have located written
life histories not only of my grandfather, Marvin T. Broyhill, but his
father, Thomas J. Broyhill; his brother Gipson Broyhill and two of his
children, John and Belle; and Mary Nobel Broyhill, the wife of M.T.'s
brother, Felix.
These life histories were
submitted by John W. Garrett, who gave his home address as Rt. 1, Maneo,
Va., in Buckingham County. John Garrett was the husband of M.T.'s
sister, Annie Lou Broyhill. Although these histories appear to be
interviews, the one for Thomas J. Broyhill was written several years
after his death, so his life history was most certainly provided by
someone else. John Milton Broyhill (son of Gibson) is the only subject
of thee interviews now living. In a recent telephone conversation, he
stated that he vaguely recalls the interview, but if memory serves him
correctly, it was conducted by Annie Lou. He believe that the actual
life histories may have been written by Annie Lou, or resulted from a
collaboration between.
This Report contains the
Life Histories provided by the Perdues. Two had been previously typed.
The others were photocopies of the original handwritten documents. In
order to retain the original character, editing has been held to an
absolute minimum. Most spelling errors were corrected, but improper
grammar was left intact. Periods and semicolons have been added to break
up long, rambling, and sometimes confusing, sentences.
Many years, I spent
several evenings with my grandfather's brother, Lincoln Roosevelt
Broyhill, who everyone fondly called, "Pete." He told me that
his brother Ruel was the first member of the family to move from Wilkes
County, N.C. to Virginia. He was a carpenter and came to City Point in
1914 seeking employment in the construction of a new factory being built
by Dupont on the old Hopewell Plantation, recently purchased from the
Eppes family. It was to supply gun powder to allied armies during World
War I. City Point was then a sleepy little town with a population of
600. Within six months, the tremendous influx of workers soared the
population of over 50,000, and the town adopted the name of the factory
site, when it incorporated to become the City of Hopewell. It was a boom
town that rivaled those of the Old West. Saloons were on every corner;
prostitution and gambling ran rampant. Uncle Pete told me that during
his first day in Hopewell, he saw a gun fight on the main street in
which a man was killed.
Land prices soared and
Ruel was so impressed by the opportunities that he telegraphed my
grandfather to come join him. M.T. did, and was soon followed by the
rest of the family, said Pete. In his Life History, M.T. said that he
was the last one in the family to move to Hopewell. In any event, Ruel
was most certainly the first to move, but unfortunately Mr. Garrett did
not submit his life history. This short-coming is now being corrected by
Ruel's grandson's Richard and (Thomas) Patrick, who are now collecting
information about Ruel from their respective fathers, Ray and Tom.
M.T. gained from his experiences. In the late
1930's, a new factory was being constructed in Front Royal, Virginia -
John Broyhill said it was named "Celluloid," or something like
that - and M. T. went there to build homes for its workers. His wife Nell
was then living in Arlington, where she sold real estate.. John said
that his parents were also living in Arlington and his uncle Ruel lived
with them for several years. In her life history, Mary Nobel Broyhill
stated that her husband Felix was working in Arlington. John Broyhill
also pointed out that John Garrett and Annie Lou moved to Buckingham
County, where John preached in a local church. They remained there
several years, then returned to Hopewell.
M.T.'s parents Tom and Sally Broyhill are
buried in Hopewell. Their sons M.T., Gibson, Felix and Pete moved to
Arlington. Ruel later returned to Hopewell. Daughter Dessie moved to
West Virginia and Annie Lou was of course in Hopewell. The Life
Histories were written during the period of transition.
At present, I am compiling information on
Hopewell and am attempting to locate photographs of the subjects to
accompany their life histories. These things and the Ruel life history
will be incorporated into the final edition of this work. |
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