Ethel Schmidlkofer (G)
(7:54) Ethel Schmidlkofer tells stories about growing up in a Catholic family. This interview 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 Historic...
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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/199 |
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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 Ethel Schmidlkofer (G) Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts Catholicism; |
| description |
(7:54) Ethel Schmidlkofer tells stories about growing up in a Catholic family. This interview 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 Ethel Schmidlkofer
July 21, 2009 Florence, Alabama Conducted by Juliann Losey and Rhonda Haygood
Clip 7 of 12
Juliann Losey: So what was growing up like for you around Florence?
Ethel Schmidlkofer: Well, growing up, for me, was, well, “ Catholic Hill” was Plum Street. And we lived at 401. At 302, my dad’s next to the youngest brother lived there and he had two girls and a boy. Then you come down to about middle of the block on our side and that’s where the Cutoff’s lived and they had three daughters and they were my first cou- they were my second cousins. And then, Daddy’s youngest brother lived about four houses down from us on the opposite side of the street. So I lived amongst family, but there were other people that lived up there too. But it’s wonderful when the kids that run around and know each other really well, we were all in the same economic, you know. My mother made a lot of our clothes and we didn’t eat meat every day. My mother made wonderful pimento cheese and stuff like that, and so you know, I just thought that’s the way everybody lived. Well, we never missed anything, you know. And, we went to the Catholic School, of course, and that was right up there too. And I was born and raised a Catholic. I’m still a Catholic. And we, back then of course, we had all Sisters, you know, Nuns. You don’t find that anymore, cause there’s not nearly enough of them to go around, but that’s where I went to school for eight years. And just had a happy childhood. Up behind my aunt’s house, if you went all the way to the end of their property, there was just a, it wasn’t really a creek it was a ditch, but there was a tree that had fell and went over it. Well, we’d go up there and play safari. That was our jungle back there. And kids don’t know how to do those things now, because they learn everything on the computer and they don’t have to use their imagination, but we had all kinds of games. And then the house that I lived in, it was built up and, oh I don’t know, it was probably five feet off the ground maybe, and you know how they use that trellis stuff that they used to on older houses they’d cut, close that part off, and we’d go under there and play house, make mud pies, feed them to our little boy cousins. Cause see, we girls out, out, we were older and we outnumbered them, so they kind of had to do what we told them to. And, but we just had a good- I mean, really, and we played ball up there in the church field. I, I can attest to having more scabs than any child in the world ever had, cause I was not the most graceful of children, and if we played softball or something I usually wound up with a knee or an elbow or something. And I’d go for days that I couldn’t kneel in church because I’d have both my knees just ravaged. But, and Daddy was very close to the church and school and him doing all the barbequing and chicken stews was his way of donating, I mean now he donated money too, but they practically paid for that school with, you know, barbeques and raffles and- I sold, I always had the honor of selling more spaghetti tickets and more magazines than any other kid in the school. And I don’t really know how, because, when I was, y’all, I know you won’t believe this, but when I was little I was very shy and I’d hide behind my mother. But as I got older, my daddy, you know, if I had tickets to sell, he’d say, “ Well, I’ll help you,” and I’d think that meant he was going to take them and sell them, cause he was an Elks club member and well, he’d take me up there one night when a lot of them were there and he’d say, “ Okay boys, my daughter’s got some stuff she wants to tell you about.” And I, oh, it just nearly killed me, but practically everybody in there bought from me too, so you know, I usually wound up with the top salesman on any of that sort of thing.
And I’ll tell you this, but I don’t know that I’d want you to print it, because there’s so many people around here that thought the Catholics were, I think some of them still are afraid of us, but Daddy was barbequing and you don’t barbeque with live fire, you barbeque when it burns down to coals, because if you don’t you’ll burn your meat. And the pit was, oh Lord, a whole lot longer than this is wide. Plus, he’d have three big pots of stew going. Well it rained that day, and it rained and it rained and it rained. It rained so hard that it literally was washing the coals out and down the hill. And finally the priest came down about one o’clock in the morning, and he knew it had been raining and he came down and he asked Daddy, he said, “ Frank, what’s going on?” and he said, “ Well,” said, “ Father, we’re not going to have barbeque tomorrow, cause,” said, “ I’m not going to be able to get this meat done.” He says, “ What do you mean?” And he said, “ Well,” said, “ My fire’s all washing down the hill.” And he said, “ It’s just pouring down.” He said, “ I can’t keep dry wood to get it going or anything.” So, he said, “ Well,” said, “ I’ll go up and talk to the Sisters.” So he went up and knocked on the Sisters’ door and the lady that was the principal, whose name was Sister Mary Placida, he told her what was happening. Now we do not, and I want y’all to be sure you know this: we do not worship statues. This will sound like we do, but we don’t. So anyway, Father Eugene asked her, “ Would the Sisters pray?” And she said, “ I’ll do better than that.” So she went in her chapel and got the Blessed Mother statue that had been blessed and she took it out in the rain, and I mean it’s pouring down rain. Pouring down. And she told the statue, now she didn’t, she didn’t believe that was anything but a statue, but it was her way to communicate with the Blessed Mother, she said, “ I want to tell you something.” She said, “ We need this money and we need it for this school and you know it, but you’re going to stand out here in this rain till you tell your son to make this rain stop.” And within twenty minutes, that rain stopped. And on that she went out and got the statue and wiped it off and put it back in the chapel. I, and believe me, you can, you can never convince me that nuns don’t have power when it comes to prayer. Now, they do.
Rhonda Haygood: Were they strict on you kids at school?
ES: You know, they were in a way. But not in probably the way most people think. Their strictness was also with kindness and love. They taught like sixth, seventh and eighth all in one room. And I can remember, if you were having problems, say, alright say you were a wonderful reader but you weren’t great at math and you were having problems with math. She’d get this class started, that class started and the next class started, to where they were doing what they were supposed to do. And if there was a child in there that needed special help, she would take them up back to the back, pull their desks together and she would sit back there for fifteen or twenty minutes and give that child special help. And that was every child in the school. I mean, it wasn’t just one or two. So, yes they disciplined, but they did it with love. And rarely would they embarrass you in front of a class, they’d take you outside. But, now if you were really bad then you would know the wrath of the nun. And of course, I lived with, “ If you ever get sent home, the whipping you got at school will be nothing like what you’re going to get when you get home.” |
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Ethel Schmidlkofer (G) |
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Ethel Schmidlkofer (G) |
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Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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https://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/oral_hist/id/199 |
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Ethel Schmidlkofer (G)Catholicism;(7:54) Ethel Schmidlkofer tells stories about growing up in a Catholic family. This interview 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 LibraryEthel Schmidlkofer2009-7-21sound; 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 Ethel Schmidlkofer
July 21, 2009 Florence, Alabama Conducted by Juliann Losey and Rhonda Haygood
Clip 7 of 12
Juliann Losey: So what was growing up like for you around Florence?
Ethel Schmidlkofer: Well, growing up, for me, was, well, “ Catholic Hill” was Plum Street. And we lived at 401. At 302, my dad’s next to the youngest brother lived there and he had two girls and a boy. Then you come down to about middle of the block on our side and that’s where the Cutoff’s lived and they had three daughters and they were my first cou- they were my second cousins. And then, Daddy’s youngest brother lived about four houses down from us on the opposite side of the street. So I lived amongst family, but there were other people that lived up there too. But it’s wonderful when the kids that run around and know each other really well, we were all in the same economic, you know. My mother made a lot of our clothes and we didn’t eat meat every day. My mother made wonderful pimento cheese and stuff like that, and so you know, I just thought that’s the way everybody lived. Well, we never missed anything, you know. And, we went to the Catholic School, of course, and that was right up there too. And I was born and raised a Catholic. I’m still a Catholic. And we, back then of course, we had all Sisters, you know, Nuns. You don’t find that anymore, cause there’s not nearly enough of them to go around, but that’s where I went to school for eight years. And just had a happy childhood. Up behind my aunt’s house, if you went all the way to the end of their property, there was just a, it wasn’t really a creek it was a ditch, but there was a tree that had fell and went over it. Well, we’d go up there and play safari. That was our jungle back there. And kids don’t know how to do those things now, because they learn everything on the computer and they don’t have to use their imagination, but we had all kinds of games. And then the house that I lived in, it was built up and, oh I don’t know, it was probably five feet off the ground maybe, and you know how they use that trellis stuff that they used to on older houses they’d cut, close that part off, and we’d go under there and play house, make mud pies, feed them to our little boy cousins. Cause see, we girls out, out, we were older and we outnumbered them, so they kind of had to do what we told them to. And, but we just had a good- I mean, really, and we played ball up there in the church field. I, I can attest to having more scabs than any child in the world ever had, cause I was not the most graceful of children, and if we played softball or something I usually wound up with a knee or an elbow or something. And I’d go for days that I couldn’t kneel in church because I’d have both my knees just ravaged. But, and Daddy was very close to the church and school and him doing all the barbequing and chicken stews was his way of donating, I mean now he donated money too, but they practically paid for that school with, you know, barbeques and raffles and- I sold, I always had the honor of selling more spaghetti tickets and more magazines than any other kid in the school. And I don’t really know how, because, when I was, y’all, I know you won’t believe this, but when I was little I was very shy and I’d hide behind my mother. But as I got older, my daddy, you know, if I had tickets to sell, he’d say, “ Well, I’ll help you,” and I’d think that meant he was going to take them and sell them, cause he was an Elks club member and well, he’d take me up there one night when a lot of them were there and he’d say, “ Okay boys, my daughter’s got some stuff she wants to tell you about.” And I, oh, it just nearly killed me, but practically everybody in there bought from me too, so you know, I usually wound up with the top salesman on any of that sort of thing.
And I’ll tell you this, but I don’t know that I’d want you to print it, because there’s so many people around here that thought the Catholics were, I think some of them still are afraid of us, but Daddy was barbequing and you don’t barbeque with live fire, you barbeque when it burns down to coals, because if you don’t you’ll burn your meat. And the pit was, oh Lord, a whole lot longer than this is wide. Plus, he’d have three big pots of stew going. Well it rained that day, and it rained and it rained and it rained. It rained so hard that it literally was washing the coals out and down the hill. And finally the priest came down about one o’clock in the morning, and he knew it had been raining and he came down and he asked Daddy, he said, “ Frank, what’s going on?” and he said, “ Well,” said, “ Father, we’re not going to have barbeque tomorrow, cause,” said, “ I’m not going to be able to get this meat done.” He says, “ What do you mean?” And he said, “ Well,” said, “ My fire’s all washing down the hill.” And he said, “ It’s just pouring down.” He said, “ I can’t keep dry wood to get it going or anything.” So, he said, “ Well,” said, “ I’ll go up and talk to the Sisters.” So he went up and knocked on the Sisters’ door and the lady that was the principal, whose name was Sister Mary Placida, he told her what was happening. Now we do not, and I want y’all to be sure you know this: we do not worship statues. This will sound like we do, but we don’t. So anyway, Father Eugene asked her, “ Would the Sisters pray?” And she said, “ I’ll do better than that.” So she went in her chapel and got the Blessed Mother statue that had been blessed and she took it out in the rain, and I mean it’s pouring down rain. Pouring down. And she told the statue, now she didn’t, she didn’t believe that was anything but a statue, but it was her way to communicate with the Blessed Mother, she said, “ I want to tell you something.” She said, “ We need this money and we need it for this school and you know it, but you’re going to stand out here in this rain till you tell your son to make this rain stop.” And within twenty minutes, that rain stopped. And on that she went out and got the statue and wiped it off and put it back in the chapel. I, and believe me, you can, you can never convince me that nuns don’t have power when it comes to prayer. Now, they do.
Rhonda Haygood: Were they strict on you kids at school?
ES: You know, they were in a way. But not in probably the way most people think. Their strictness was also with kindness and love. They taught like sixth, seventh and eighth all in one room. And I can remember, if you were having problems, say, alright say you were a wonderful reader but you weren’t great at math and you were having problems with math. She’d get this class started, that class started and the next class started, to where they were doing what they were supposed to do. And if there was a child in there that needed special help, she would take them up back to the back, pull their desks together and she would sit back there for fifteen or twenty minutes and give that child special help. And that was every child in the school. I mean, it wasn’t just one or two. So, yes they disciplined, but they did it with love. And rarely would they embarrass you in front of a class, they’d take you outside. But, now if you were really bad then you would know the wrath of the nun. And of course, I lived with, “ If you ever get sent home, the whipping you got at school will be nothing like what you’re going to get when you get home.”http://server15947.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/oral_hist,199 |