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Mary Van Beke grew up in Newark, N.J., in the 1920s. Her father died when she was a young girl, leaving her mother to raise four children by herself.
Here, Mary tells her son, Charles, about her childhood.
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Piece Description
Mary Van Beke grew up in Newark, N.J., in the 1920s. Her father died when she was a young girl, leaving her mother to raise four children by herself.
Here, Mary tells her son, Charles, about her childhood.
Broadcast History
February 4, 2011
Transcript
Mary Van Beke: My father passed when I was only five years old. He worked for an electrical company, and he was standing in water and someone dropped a wire and electrocuted him. He was 29 years old. And so my mother had to go out to work, wash clothes and clean house to try and feed four children. And I remember whatever Mama would get from the people that she worked for is what we wore. And I don't ever remember going to the store to get a pair of shoes,cause Mama couldn't afford it. I'm not saying that we looked dowdy. She said, "You don't have to be dirty to be poor." I always remember that.
But when Mama couldn't feed us anymore‚we were growing‚she had to place me in a home where I would work for my keep. And I would come home every other Sunday. And this is how we tried to survive.
Charles Van Beke: How long did you work for that family?
MV: Two years, 'til I was 16. Mama worked...
Read the full transcript
Intro and Outro
INTRO:It is Friday morning which is when we hear from StoryCorps... the project that records the stories of Americans across this country.
Today Mary Van Beke [Van-BEEK] talks about her childhood in the 1920's. She grew up in Newark, New Jersey, the oldest of four children.
Her parents were immigrants from Europe...
As Mary tells her son, Charles, her parents managed a modest life for the family until an accident changed everything.
OUTRO:That's 94-year-old Mary Van Beke, with her son, Charles, at StoryCorps in Knoxville Tennessee.
Their interview will be archived in the StoryCorps collection at the
Library of Congress, and you can get the project's podcast at NPR DOT ORG
[FUNDER CPB & the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation]
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Den Sista Fabriken | Fredrik | Trilogi. | Kora Records | 2010 | 00:23 |
Additional Credits
NPR, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
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