| Katie
and Melvin Grant moved from Oklahoma
to California in 1943 with their six-week-old
daughter, Laquetta. After working together as
fruit packers, Melvin found a job at a fish cannery
in Point San Pablo and Katie worked in the Richmond
Shipyards. By December, Melvin had joined the
Marine Corps and, until his return in August 1945,
fought in the Pacific theatre. |
Katie
and Melvin recently sent photographs and brief
autobiographies to the Rosie the Riveter Memorial
project from their home in Moore, Oklahoma.
Katie wrote the following account of their cross-country
trip and her work in the shipyards.
"When
our daughter was six weeks old, we decided to
go to California. She was so small; we carried
her on a pillow. We took my baby sister, Nancy,
who was fourteen years old, and that meant that
all the kids had left the farm. Only Mama and
Daddy were left and I don't know how they made
it.
"We
had $25.00, but we had canned some white beans
and we took those and put flour, lard, pans,
and the bed in the back of the pickup. We headed
out and camped and cooked by the side of the
road.
It was not dangerous then, many people did it.
It was July and it sure was hot. We stopped
at a service station on the desert for gas and
were so thirsty for a cold drink, but water
was ten cents a glass. Some servicemen out on
maneuvers gave us a canteen of cold water for
the baby's bottle and we filled her bottle and
drank the rest. |
Photo Courtesy: Rosie the Riveter
Archives |
