Danielle Gibbs

Thought Assignment #2
September 29, 2015

Mary through Marriage: Education and Work

Mary Elizabeth Breathitt was born on August 27, 1921 in Hazard

Kentucky. In her younger years, Marys family moved to and from various coal
camps in Eastern Kentucky. From the time Mary was born to the time she got
married, Mary lived through the Great Depression, the end of Prohibition, the
signing of the Social Security Act, the beginning of World War II, and the attack
on Pearl Harbor. All of these factors greatly influenced Mary and shaped her into
the person she grew up to be. These events and tragedies affected Marys
education and work life up until the time she got married in many ways.
During the 1920s and 1930s, opportunities for women to get an education
increased. The number of college degrees received by woman rose greatly
during this time despite the Great Depression. In 1939, Mary began her first class
at the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing in Hyden, Kentucky. This
is the same year that World War II began which opened up more educational
opportunities. Schools began to offer more opportunities for students to take
classes that pertained to them and the career they wanted. Students began to
stay in school longer during the war because they became aware of how
important college was. Mary attended nursing school, so she took classes such

as anatomy and biology. She was a great student who was always on top of her
work; all of her teachers loved her. Aside from Marys formal education, she was
very street smart due to all the events that took place during her childhood. Mary
knew how to care for others prior to entering nursing school because as a child,
Mary and her siblings took care of each other while they were being moved to
and from coal camps. Mary excelled in all of her nursing classes and went on to
be a successful nurse. She had a love for taking care of children so she worked
as a midwife nurse for women whose husbands were away at war.
Very few women worked before World War II. Even during the war, the
main roles of women included nursing or secretarial jobs. So Mary, along with
many other women, worked as a nurse during this time. She had experience with
working while growing up in the coal camps, from cleaning around the house and
cooking dinner two nights a week. She got a weekly allowance of 15 cents from
her parents during this time. The average income in the 1930s for working
woman was $525 compared to the average for working men at $1,027. Mary
made close to the average amount of money per year during her first years as a
nurse. Mary worked as a midwife nurse, due to her love for children. She helped
care for newborn children and their mothers during World War II.
Marys personal experiences from the time she was born to the time she
was married, shape Mary into the person she grew into. Growing up during the
Great Depression gave Mary the street smarts she needed to stay economically
stable and, it also gave her the desire to be successful in her career. Nursing
may have been one of the few jobs available to women during the time of the

war, but Mary enjoyed her work and wanted to take care of others to the best of
her ability. Mary received a good education and went on to have a successful
career, unlike many of the women that lived during her time. She carried these
experiences with her throughout her entire life, which shaped her into the strong
woman she was.

References
Children and adolescents, 1930-1960. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2015.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/children-and-adolescents-194060/education
Women's Lifestyles in the 1920s & '30s | The Classroom | Synonym. (n.d.).
Retrieved September 28, 2015. http://classroom.synonym.com/womenslifestyles-1920s-30s-21530.html
"Working Women in the 1930s." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et
al. Vol. 4: 1930-1939. Detroit: Gale, 2001. U.S. History in Context. Web.
28 Sept. 2015.
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