Mildred McQuaig Oral History

Mildred McQuaig Oral History

Domestic life in the 60s

Mildred Mcquaig, born October 29th, 1924, raised her kids during the 1960s in West Augustine. She moved to West Augustine at 17 for work and she settled into the house this interview took place at in 1946, right after her husband stopped serving in the Army following the end of WWII. The house had electricity and indoor plumbing and air conditioning was added in 1981. Mildred spent her evenings helping her many children with their homework, helping her husband complete the courses he needed to stay employed, and listening to the radio. Both her girls and boys helped with chores, such as doing laundry and cooking, and the family ate meals consisting of sausage, ham, or shrimp perlo paired with lima beans, cabbage and potatoes. In this time, people used to share with each other a lot, so food was always available. Church was extremely important to Mildred and her family, as were holidays. Mildred recalls how awful it was to experience the fighting taking place in West Augustine during the Civil Rights Movement. She said she never had to worry about something happening to her children while at school, though there was a lot of racial tension taking place. Mildred also commented on the increased building and expanding taking place in St. Augustine, saying how a lot has changed since the 60s.

West Augustine Oral History Project

Maya Kayyal, Intro to Public History 2021; Stefanie DeFazio Digital Humanities Intern 2022

OH-239

January 18, 2016

1:25:16

Charlie Philips

Mildred McQuaig