Remembering the Great Depression

Boston, Mass.

Oh gosh, where to start. I was born and raised in Boston, born in 1930. I am an only child. My mother died when I was 5. My father was an immigrant from Ireland and extremely intelligent and politically active. He was a headwaiter at that time in some of the most exclusive clubs in Boston. He believed in taking me to downtown Boston during the Depression and showing me the devastation. He took me down to Boylston Street, down around Boston Common and showed me the people who were sleeping on the ground, who had nothing to eat, with holes in their shoes, standing on the corner, peddling apples. He explained to me what was happening and obviously it left an impression because I still remember it. People would be sleeping on benches. They'd have holes in the bottom of their shoes and in order to keep their feet off the ground they'd fold up newspapers and put it in the soles. He said, "Patsy, I want you to realize while you lay down at night in a house that's warm and you have food, this is part of the world that doesn't have what you have. And I want you to be thankful for what you have."

As the Depression progressed into 1938, people would be coming around and knocking at doors, asking for something to eat, for a piece of bread or something of that nature. My father left orders that no one would ever be turned away. If anyone ever came to our door and they were hungry, they would be fed. We had a rather large porch and there were always table and chairs out there. My father would bring them out there and feed them on the porch and sit and talk to them in a very casual manner. These were total strangers.

My father used to say, "The trouble with you narrow-backs — that's first-generation Irish — is, you don't appreciate what you've got and the only way you're going to appreciate it is if you lose it." But he also used to say, "There is good in everything if you want to look at it." If we are going through a slow time now, my hope is that this generation will learn from it and become better. Be the people I know they can be. These kids today are so bright and so smart, but they just don't have any sense of responsibility. If this little downturn can wake them up, they'll be magnificent.