Martha Barton (J)
(5:22) Mrs. Barton concludes her interview with a discussion about her mother's influence on her life and her own interest in genealogy. This inteview is part of an oral history project funded by a grant from the Alabama Historical Records Board, managed by the Alabama Department of Archives an...
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| Format: | Electronic |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library
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| Online Access: | https://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/oral_hist/id/148 |
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Electronic |
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Oral Histories Collection |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts Martha Barton (J) Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts Family history |
| description |
(5:22) Mrs. Barton concludes her interview with a discussion about her mother's influence on her life and her own interest in genealogy. This inteview is part of an oral history project funded by a grant from the Alabama Historical Records Board, managed by the Alabama Department of Archives and History staff, using funds provided by the National Historical Preservation and Records Commission.Florence-Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Martha Barton
May 14, 2009
Florence, Alabama
Conducted by Clint Alley and Rhonda Haygood
Clip 10 of 10
Clint Alley: Of all the things that your parents taught you, what do you think was the most valuable?
Martha Barton: My mother had a saying: ‘If you make a mess, you clean it up.’ And, ‘If you start something, you finish it.’ And I would guess that came from her mother. But anyway, that was the way I approached stuff.
CA: Did your mother ever talk about what college was like for her in 1912?
MB: It was only Wesleyan.
CA: Um-hm. It’s the only building—
MB: The only building up there. And, ah, if you see, they had the—I want to say the Browning Society that was quite popular. They made group pictures standing in front of Wesleyan Hall. That was the activity that I knew most about. There’s still some of those pictures floating around. There used to be one up in the history room, and I don’t know where it is now. It’s, ah, a group—and all of them, at that time, the girls wore dresses down to the ground, well-covered. There’s a whole bunch of them there in front of that—Wesleyan Hall.
CA: That’s the Browning Society, is what it’s called?
MB: Um-hm. Um-hm. That was about the only thing I know that, that I remember ever hearing anything about.
CA: Was your mother part of the Browning Society?
MB: Yeah.
CA: She was? Okay.
MB: Ah, I don’t know what they did other than just maybe study the works of Browning, but—
CA: And it was, ah, when she went to UNA it was co-ed, correct?
MB: Yeah.
CA: Well, what accomplishments are you the most proud of in your life?
MB: Oh, me, I don’t know. At the moment I’m just blank!
(laughter)
MB: I can’t think of anything, but I know there’s some things that—ah, I hope I had—was of some benefit to some of the students that I’ve had in times past. Whether that would be what answer your question, or not, but. After my mother died, the thing that made me feel so good was so many of her students came—would say something about how she taught them, and how much they liked being in her class. And maybe that’ll happen with me, I don’t know.
CA: One more question for you, ah, what was, what is the one thing you want people to remember about you?
MB: Oh, my. I don’t have any idea. I cannot tell you a thing that they can remember me for.
(laughter)
CA: Well I’m sure you were a good teacher.
MB: Well I hope I was. I hope I was, but I don’t know.
CA: And you’re—today you, you like to do genealogy, those are the things you like to do?
MB: When I retired, I got started in it. My mother was going into DAR, and I was trying to help her. And ah, that lit a fire, I guess.
(laughter)
CA: That’s how the genealogy got started, huh?
MB: Yeah, and it’s the worst addiction anybody can have!
(laughter)
CA: It is!
MB: But, I have enjoyed being here at the library. I guess it’s been twenty-something years, now.
CA: Wow.
MB: I retired in ’87, so.
CA: And you’ve been, you’ve been volunteering at the library since then?
MB: Um-hm. I was, when the bookstore first started, I was there, and then I worked in—as the volunteer in the history room, and there was no paid employee or anything there. We were very—tried to be very conscious about being there when we were supposed to be, or getting a substitute. It’s been a fun time, and I have thoroughly enjoyed that.
CA: All right, well, Rhonda, do you have any other questions for her?
Rhonda Haygood: We appreciate all your information!
CA: It’s been great. We do, we appreciate it.
MB: Well, I didn’t tell you much about the city of Florence, ah, I just mentioned the highlights of it.
CA: Was there anything you want to add to it?
MB: No, I don’t think so. I won’t tell you about—
(laughter)
CA: We’ll be glad to hear anything you have to say.
(laughter)
RH: You’re leaving out the wild stories, right?
MB: Yeah!
(laughter)
MB: If you read Bill McDonald’s “Remembering Eas”—“Sweetwater” [Remembering Sweetwater], and you’ll get a lot of the history of Florence and that’s when my mother’s family first came here, about 1900, and, ah, you can take it from there, that, ah, it hasn’t really changed that much. But, it comes and goes in spurts, it grows. It was a boomtown during the war, and after Reynolds and Ford and—began to leave here, then it sort of died away. And there’ll be something come back, if we just be patient. But, being patient—
RH: Well, we thank you very much for your interview.
MB: You’re quite welcome, I’ve enjoyed it.
CA: We do.
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| title |
Martha Barton (J) |
| titleStr |
Martha Barton (J) |
| author |
Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
| author_facet |
Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
| id |
FLCPLoral_hist148 |
| url |
https://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/oral_hist/id/148 |
| thumbnail |
http://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/oral_hist/id/148 |
| _version_ |
1782468788219805696 |
| spelling |
Martha Barton (J)Family history(5:22) Mrs. Barton concludes her interview with a discussion about her mother's influence on her life and her own interest in genealogy. This inteview is part of an oral history project funded by a grant from the Alabama Historical Records Board, managed by the Alabama Department of Archives and History staff, using funds provided by the National Historical Preservation and Records Commission.Florence-Lauderdale Public LibraryFlorence-Lauderdale Public LibraryMartha Barton2009-5-14sound; textaudio/mp3; text/pdfEnglishIs part of the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library collection.Contact the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library for permission to use.Florence-Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Martha Barton
May 14, 2009
Florence, Alabama
Conducted by Clint Alley and Rhonda Haygood
Clip 10 of 10
Clint Alley: Of all the things that your parents taught you, what do you think was the most valuable?
Martha Barton: My mother had a saying: ‘If you make a mess, you clean it up.’ And, ‘If you start something, you finish it.’ And I would guess that came from her mother. But anyway, that was the way I approached stuff.
CA: Did your mother ever talk about what college was like for her in 1912?
MB: It was only Wesleyan.
CA: Um-hm. It’s the only building—
MB: The only building up there. And, ah, if you see, they had the—I want to say the Browning Society that was quite popular. They made group pictures standing in front of Wesleyan Hall. That was the activity that I knew most about. There’s still some of those pictures floating around. There used to be one up in the history room, and I don’t know where it is now. It’s, ah, a group—and all of them, at that time, the girls wore dresses down to the ground, well-covered. There’s a whole bunch of them there in front of that—Wesleyan Hall.
CA: That’s the Browning Society, is what it’s called?
MB: Um-hm. Um-hm. That was about the only thing I know that, that I remember ever hearing anything about.
CA: Was your mother part of the Browning Society?
MB: Yeah.
CA: She was? Okay.
MB: Ah, I don’t know what they did other than just maybe study the works of Browning, but—
CA: And it was, ah, when she went to UNA it was co-ed, correct?
MB: Yeah.
CA: Well, what accomplishments are you the most proud of in your life?
MB: Oh, me, I don’t know. At the moment I’m just blank!
(laughter)
MB: I can’t think of anything, but I know there’s some things that—ah, I hope I had—was of some benefit to some of the students that I’ve had in times past. Whether that would be what answer your question, or not, but. After my mother died, the thing that made me feel so good was so many of her students came—would say something about how she taught them, and how much they liked being in her class. And maybe that’ll happen with me, I don’t know.
CA: One more question for you, ah, what was, what is the one thing you want people to remember about you?
MB: Oh, my. I don’t have any idea. I cannot tell you a thing that they can remember me for.
(laughter)
CA: Well I’m sure you were a good teacher.
MB: Well I hope I was. I hope I was, but I don’t know.
CA: And you’re—today you, you like to do genealogy, those are the things you like to do?
MB: When I retired, I got started in it. My mother was going into DAR, and I was trying to help her. And ah, that lit a fire, I guess.
(laughter)
CA: That’s how the genealogy got started, huh?
MB: Yeah, and it’s the worst addiction anybody can have!
(laughter)
CA: It is!
MB: But, I have enjoyed being here at the library. I guess it’s been twenty-something years, now.
CA: Wow.
MB: I retired in ’87, so.
CA: And you’ve been, you’ve been volunteering at the library since then?
MB: Um-hm. I was, when the bookstore first started, I was there, and then I worked in—as the volunteer in the history room, and there was no paid employee or anything there. We were very—tried to be very conscious about being there when we were supposed to be, or getting a substitute. It’s been a fun time, and I have thoroughly enjoyed that.
CA: All right, well, Rhonda, do you have any other questions for her?
Rhonda Haygood: We appreciate all your information!
CA: It’s been great. We do, we appreciate it.
MB: Well, I didn’t tell you much about the city of Florence, ah, I just mentioned the highlights of it.
CA: Was there anything you want to add to it?
MB: No, I don’t think so. I won’t tell you about—
(laughter)
CA: We’ll be glad to hear anything you have to say.
(laughter)
RH: You’re leaving out the wild stories, right?
MB: Yeah!
(laughter)
MB: If you read Bill McDonald’s “Remembering Eas”—“Sweetwater” [Remembering Sweetwater], and you’ll get a lot of the history of Florence and that’s when my mother’s family first came here, about 1900, and, ah, you can take it from there, that, ah, it hasn’t really changed that much. But, it comes and goes in spurts, it grows. It was a boomtown during the war, and after Reynolds and Ford and—began to leave here, then it sort of died away. And there’ll be something come back, if we just be patient. But, being patient—
RH: Well, we thank you very much for your interview.
MB: You’re quite welcome, I’ve enjoyed it.
CA: We do.
http://server15947.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/oral_hist,148 |