KITCHENS, Mildred (b. 1920) (4189) | Oral History

KITCHENS, Mildred (b. 1920) (4189)

Notable: National Youth Administration (NYA)

Oral Histories

Mildred Kitchens recounts her childhood growing up in the small timber mill town of Diboll, Texas during the early twentieth century. She discusses working her way through the Texas State College for Women (now Texas Women’s University) in the late 1930s. After graduating from TSCW, Kitchens took a job working for the National Youth Administration (NYA). After that, she spent a lifetime working in several different industries. She describes these working experiences in detail, chronicling her time working as an administrative assistant in the military, and a social worker in East Texas. Her interview sheds new light on several different historical topics, including small Texas towns in the pre-World War II era, the Great Depression, higher education and employment opportunities for women during and after World War II, the changing nature of social work and the rise of women’s health clinics in the post-Roe v. Wade era.
Date of Interview: November 27, 2019

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