Читать книгу Lessons Learned - Katrina Davis Bias - Страница 4

It was summertime in Dallas, a week after the Fourth of July. It was 1940, Europe was at war, the United States was still watching. The Depression was over and people were working. The colored community was enjoying the relative prosperity of the post-depression era. Though jobs were hit-or-miss, colored men were thankful for President Roosevelt’s leadership which had led many families from the abyss of starvation. The most famous and revered person in the community was Joe Louis, in the middle of his fourteen-year reign as Heavyweight Champion of the World. Barbershop talk was about The Champ, Sea Biscuit’s retirement, and the return of the Negro League World Series coming in October. Women’s fashions featured white light-weight dresses, worn below the calf with high heels. The most popular hair-do was the up-sweep, which later became the war-time pompadour.

It was a hot Thursday morning in Dallas, July 11, 1940. Irene and Ulysses were living with Uly’s mother, Aunt Lizzie, in a three-bedroom house on Eighth Street, which she had built herself. The house was next to the church, in which Aunt Lizzie was an active participant. Hers was a comfortable single-story frame house, even though most of the homes on the street were brick, some with two stories. Aunt Lizzie occupied one of the front bedrooms, Uly and Irene the second, and the third room was for visitors and guests. This section of Dallas was called Oakcliff , which had a nice collection of homes and churches. Up the hill in the Circle section, the homes were more substantial, and some of Irene’s relatives lived in this part of the Negro community of Dallas.

Irene was well into her pregnancy and had been cared for in a unique program operated by Baylor Hospital. Traditionally, Negro patients were treated by Negro doctors. Since Negro doctors did not have hospital privileges, most often they were called to the expectant mother’s home to deliver the baby. In the Baylor program, the mothers were seen each month at the hospital by the Baylor Hospital doctors. The sessions included pre-natal care and orientation for delivery. When it was time for delivery, a team of doctors was sent to the home to deliver the baby.

Uly had left for work at the fireworks factory which, was winding down the week after the fourth of July. Irene awoke, surprised to find her bed completely wet.

She called to her mother-in-law, “Mrs. Plummer!”(she always spoke to Uly’s mother using the formal title). “Come quick, my bed is wet. Is everything all right?”

Aunt Lizzie explained, “It just means the baby is ready to come and you water has broken. We have plenty of time.”

She had never had a child, but she knew there was terrible pain the women talked about. Irene was not in pain. She had grown up on a farm and didn’t anticipate that she would be lacking in knowledge when her time came. She wondered about the terrible pain that she should have felt by now.

She put her worries to rest by telling Mrs. Plummer, “It must not be time for the baby to come. It shouldn’t come for another month and I’m not in pain.”

Aunt Lizzie reassured her by reminding her of her training, “Let’s do what they told you to do at the clinic.”

They called the doctors who directed them to prepare sheets, boil water and wait, after which the pain came. They kept in touch with the doctors all day by phone until the contractions were a few minutes apart. Then two doctors from Baylor Medical Hospital came to the house to assist with the delivery.

The baby was small, clean, and pretty. At five and a half pounds she was the perfect weight for a time when women were told to keep their weight down so the baby wouldn’t be too big and tear the uterus. She wasn’t wrinkled, bloody, or full of mucous. “That baby is perfect.” Everyone told Irene.

The doctors instructed her, “Stay in bed, and not let your feet touch the floor for fourteen days.” This required a bedpan and allowed others to care for the baby except for nursing. Irene did as she was told.

They named the baby for both grandmothers: Elizabeth Katrina was Uly’s Aunt Lizzie, and Agnorance was Irene’s mother. This was transformed into Katrina Agnorance Davis, the first grandchild on either side.

During Irene’s confinement, my dad, Uly, did all the cooking. Grandma Ag came into town from the farm to help but didn’t stay long because Papa Charlie claimed he needed her at home. Aunt Lizzie directed the show.

There was a problem with nourishment because Irene was not eating enough. Always a picky eater, she weighed less than one hundred pounds most of her adult life. The baby was hungry before it was time to nurse. The doctor had her add a bottle to supplement the breast feeding. Otherwise, the first weeks were uneventful.

Their first outing came when Katrina was six weeks old. With a dollar in her purse, Irene took Katrina to the Baylor well-baby clinic on the bus; the fare was 10 cents round trip. The doctor’s visit was 25 cents. But the best part for Irene was when she treated herself to ten cents’ worth of freshly cooked Spanish peanuts from Woolworth’s, a treat she continued to enjoy until the nut counters were discontinued in the sixties. They usually came home with money left from the dollar.

Irene’s brother, James was a tall, dark, and handsome bachelor and he lived nearby. He was the first and most constant visitor. He bought beautiful sundresses for the baby and often took her up the hill, on his shoulders to “show her off” to the some other relatives who lived in the Circle section of Dallas. He was and still is a big part of Katrina’s life. They talk about baseball and politics. He has explained about the Great Depression and its effect on his formerly prosperous family. He tried to join the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) at age sixteen. He was refused and was encouraged to stay in school. He graduated from high school and was able to join at that time. The training gave him a foundation for his forty-year career at the phone company in Dallas.

Katrina was the focus of attention for eighteen months, until Uly Junior was born. Even with the addition of Sondra, eighteen months after Uly Junior, Katrina felt loved and special. She had Aunt Lizzie’s heart, as Uly Junior had Irene’s heart, and Sondra had Uly’s heart. It worked out just right: three children and three adults each proclaiming one child “special.” This family was to determine Katrina’s foundation and future.

I am with Mama Ag on her 100th birthday. My middle name is for her.