Interview with Bill Hendrix, September 30, 1979

Interview Summary

Bill Hendrix was born in Wooton in 1912. He talks about his one-room school and activities at home on the farm. When he left school, Hendrix went to work in the coal mines. He details conditions in the mines and describes life in the local area in the 1920s and 1930s grinding corn, blacksmithing, "workings" of various kinds, weddings, singing school, and Christmas. Hendrix also comments upon local elections, in which a number of people would refuse to vote until paid a dollar to do so. He talks about his experiences with floods, the World Wars, and the Great Depression. He describes the healthcare that was available to the people in his area. He ends with an explanation of why he left Leslie County.

Interview Keyword

Rural health services Leslie County (Ky.) Dentists Coal mines Great Depression Floods London (Ky.) Working conditions Wooton (Ky.) Electricity Radios Voting Hyden (Ky.) Granny women Herb doctors Graveyard meetings

Interview LC Subject

Coal mines and mining Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. World War II Appalachian Region

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

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