Interview with Ruth E. Wells Handy, November 19, 1988

Interview Summary

Ruth Handy's father did not have a regular job because he only had one leg. He was a magistrate for a while and had weighed coal for the mining company at one time, but he spent most of his time farming. Handy was born in 1923 in Webb Hollow near Van Lear, Kentucky. She describes her schooling and explains that her sister was one of her teachers. She graduated from high school and completed two years of education at a business college in Ashland, and then went to Cincinnati to work in a B-17 bomber aircraft factory during World War Two. Handy describes how her father took care of the farm with only one leg. Her father also taught the children how to read music and sing, and she remembers listening to the radio.

Interview Keyword

Appalachian people Appalachian social issues Coal mining Consolidated Coal Company Divorce Gender roles Johnson County (Ky.) Sex education Van Lear (Ky.) World War II Farming Country life Childhood

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region Handy, Ruth E. Wells, 1923- Handy, Ruth E. Wells, 1923- --Interviews

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.