Abstract
Marie McElroy, Marie DeCapiti, and Dorothy Ferencz share their respective experiences growing up in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. Born in the early 1930s to immigrant families, they discuss their cultural backgrounds and the strong sense of community that characterized their upbringing. The trio reflects on their education, local social activities, and the influence of neighborhood churches in their lives. Their narrative also addresses the challenges faced during the Great Depression and World War II, as well as the changes brought about by urban development. Together, their insights provide a rich perspective on the historical and cultural dynamics of Tremont during the mid-20th century.
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Interviewee
McElroy, Marie (interviewee); DeCapiti, Marie (interviewee); Ferencz, Dorothy (interviewee)
Project
Tremont History Project
Date
2003
Document Type
Oral History
Duration
80 minutes
Recommended Citation
"Marie McElroy, Marie DeCapiti, and Dorothy Ferencz interview, 2003" (2003). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 223061.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1383
Transcript
Marie McElroy [00:00:00] My name is Marie McElroy. I grew up in-
Interviewer [00:00:04] Wait a minute. Just answer the first question [inaudible]
Marie McElroy [00:00:09] Oh, okay.
Interviewer [00:00:14] What is your name?
Marie Decapiti [00:00:16] My name is Marie Decapiti.
Dorothy Ferencz [00:00:22] My name is Dorothy Ferencz. You want to- We could answer in that order then too.
Interviewer [00:00:33] What are some of your childhood memories?
Marie McElroy [00:00:39] Marie McElroy? It was, well, let me say, it was a very quiet childhood. Remember, we didn’t have any radio, TV, any clubs to go, recreational clubs. All we had was school. And when we came home from school we had some chores and then we went to bed early because lights out at 9 o’clock and it was a very quiet life. And once, oh, once a week we would get to the movie house for 5 cents on Saturday and 10 cents on Sunday at the Jennings Theater on 14th Street, and you would see two big lines of kids going in because our parents wanted us out of the house so they could have some peace and quiet. And we wouldn’t stay for just one show. As we walked out the door you’d hear your mother or your father say, See it once and come home. We stayed for three shows and then we all walked home and we all tried to imitate whatever, if it was a Tarzan thing or a gangster, we’d always try to imitate the person. And I lived very close to the church. I belonged to St. Peter, St. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Church, so we could walk to church. And in those days everyone in the neighborhood went to church because if you didn’t go you’d get finger pointed. Hey, you weren’t in church Sunday, and I think we had a church just about on every corner. Different nationalities. I’m Ukrainian and I can’t think of anything else. Oh, we walked to school. No buses. You walked up the hill to Tremont and you walked down for lunch and you went back to school, walked back to school, and I can’t think of anything right now.
Marie Decapiti [00:03:12] I am Marie Decapiti, and actually, though we lived through the Depression I can say that it was a good childhood. We had several family, related families living in the area and many cousins. So there was always something going on within the family. We did have the Merrick House settlement house and there were-
Interviewer [00:03:54] What’s it called again?
Marie Decapiti [00:03:56] Merrick House, M-E-R-R-I-C-K. It’s still here. At the time, however, it was not in a brick building, it was in two old houses and they had various activities for youngsters. They had tap dancing, they had games, they had dramatic clubs and so we did participate in those activities. Lincoln Park was also a big playground for us. They did not have a pool, but they had a wading pool. And I remember my brothers, my brother, my older brother and his friends used that baseball diamond all the time. It was their favorite sport. And about the only thing that we had in a way of sports equipment, I had roller skates and not these rollerblades, roller skates. And eventually my younger brother and I were able to get a secondhand bike, but that was it. However, we never felt really deprived. It was, it was a good childhood. We did have- We belonged to the St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church and we even made use of their school building. They had a gym on the third floor, so we were able to participate in games there. I know basketball games, we girls played basketball there. And one of the nicest memories I have is of the great diversity in the neighborhood. Many different nationalities. Different churches. And I don’t recall there probably were problems, but I don’t recall that we did have- One nice thing I thought also was that we had neighborhood grocery stores, neighborhood banks. They knew our names, we knew their names, and it was just a very nice relationship. I know we lived right next door to- We lived between a barbershop and a bank. And on the other side there was a tailor shop and the dentist was upstairs. But so I look on that time with great affection. Fun.
Dorothy Ferencz [00:07:16] My name is Dorothy Ferencz. We lived at 755 Starkweather, which is a block next to the St. Theodosius Cathedral. And my parents, my father and his, his mother and dad were founders of the church. And I went, but not because I had religious needing, because I was told to go. So I went and I used to go to Russian class there. And my fondest memories of that church were Father Capernazzi. He was a priest from Georgia, Russia. And he had the most magnificent voice you ever wanted to hear. White beard, a big wonderful man. And the Russian music was just wonderful. But anyway, back to my- To me. We had a dry goods store. It was in the middle of the block. One end of the block was a- [crosstalk] A dry goods store. It sold material, socks, notions, that sort of thing. And. Well, you don’t have that. Well, I don’t know. Like what’s it like? [crosstalk] Socks and thread and material and some clothing, some clothing. And our store was in the middle of the block. It was up and down. It had a basement and the store was on the first floor and then the living quarters, kitchen was in the back. The bedrooms were upstairs. And I helped out in the store when I could. And I used to read a lot because the store had a wooden floor. And I remember getting hell because some kids had come in on roller skates. And I didn’t even know because I was reading. And I was so wrapped up in what I was reading, I didn’t even know they were there. But anyway, so. And then my father had a job downtown. He worked for a firm called Kloppers. And they were very good to him. He also did all kinds of manual work. He could fix wiring and wallpaper and all that sort of thing. And he did flowers. This was during the Depression time. And he did everything. He even made sprays and this sort of thing that you get a florist to do today. And my mother died when I was just about 14. So the only other thing I remember that always stands out in my mind when Kirk Douglas wrote the book about his father, Paper and Rags, or whatever the title was. And I thought, oh, my God. I remember as a kid, the guy used to come down with a cart and a horse and he’d yell, Paper X. Paper X. And that was just a thing to me. Word. And it’s paper and rags. And the man, whoever was on driving the truck was foreign, and he said, Paper X. Paper X. I remember that. They bought paper and rags from whoever was willing to sell them. And he put them on his wagon and dispose of themselves, sell them to somebody else. He would just drove with this horse down the street. And if you had paper and rags you wanted to sell, you brought it out, he bought it, threw it on his wagon and went, Paper X. Paper X. I remember that. And we had a cold stove. And remember when the guy delivered coal, I don’t know why I remember this. He dumped it on the sidewalk right in front of the store. And I had to shovel it in the- We had a small wheelbarrow and take it in the back between the two houses, dump it in the barn, which was in the back of the store. And then when you wanted it, take it back to the house. But the happiest memory, next door to the house, my aunt and uncle lived upstairs. And she was quite a hefty woman. I take after her. And she liked to eat, and she liked hard salami. And I remember I’d sit upstairs by the window, and she, you know, there was a division, like a walkway between the two houses. And she’d make a hard salami sandwich and put it on a broom and reach out with the broom and give it to me, and we would talk. But then my mother died, of course, and we had to move to 14th Street for a while. Then my dad, of course, subsequently remarried. My outside activities are kind of limited because the fact that my mother died and then he remarried, I was so- It’s a traumatic condition and I was more at home than I was out. And she evidently had two, two boys who were the light of my life. And so we, as I said, we moved to 14th Street and eventually the city or the state bought the house because they were putting in what, 70, 71. And we had to move. We lived next to the funeral director and they took everything and we moved to Castle, which was about a block from the school. And of course, with the two young babies, most of my childhood years or my teenage years were more homebound than I would ordinarily have spent, you know, going places.
Interviewer [00:12:44] Alright. Your question is, when did your parents move to Tremont and why?
Marie McElroy [00:12:54] I’m Marie McElroy. My parents came from the Ukraine and they lived in Cleveland. I can’t tell you where they lived in Cleveland, but they bought a home on West 7th Street because my dad worked in the steel mills and you just had to go down the hill to the plant. And we lived there till I was 7 years old. And then I moved, we moved to West 15th Street. It’s near Lincoln Park. Just remember the activities at Lincoln Park. And we used to spend our summer days in Lincoln Park and playing baseball and doing all kinds of things in the park. And our winters, they made an ice skating rink. You had to bring your own ice skates. It was freezing to skate out there. No shelter, just skated and ran home. And Marie brought up about Merrick House. We used to go over to Merrick House to learn various things.
Interviewer [00:14:10] But you got to tell me why they moved to Tremont from the Ukraine.
Marie McElroy [00:14:14] Oh, I can’t tell you that. [crosstalk] Well, my dad came here when he was single to for better living. And then my mother came with her two cousins and my mother met my dad-
Interviewer [00:14:31] For better living?
Marie McElroy [00:14:32] Yes. Oh, yes. They lived on a farm in the Ukraine. And besides, there was, I think the war was coming, World War I. And they came and they stayed.
Marie Decapiti [00:14:50] Marie Decapiti. I’m not sure exactly where my parents lived when they were first married. I know my grandparents, my mother’s parents, came to this country in about 1880 and they lived in the Haymarket district, which is downtown where you now have Gund Arena. And, you know, that area. So they may have. My parents may have lived there for a while. They moved to Tremont when I was about two because my father worked on the Nickel Plate Railroad and he was able to walk to and from work. And I remember as a child sometimes waiting on the sidewalk for him. He would be coming up the hill with his crew because he was the foreman. And he never drove a car. I mean, we never had a car until my younger brother was older.
Interviewer [00:16:05] Okay, well, you say they came here in 1890, right?
Marie Decapiti [00:16:07] 1880.
Interviewer [00:16:08] 80. Sorry. Why?
Marie Decapiti [00:16:10] Well, for the obvious reason. They came from Italy, and they were very, just poor peasants in Italy, and they were coming for a better living. And my grandfather was able to support his family of five daughters and one son, but he was just a laborer. I mean, it wasn’t anything special. [crosstalk] My grandfather who came here, yes.
Interviewer [00:16:38] Right. So he sort of sent for people or-
Marie Decapiti [00:16:43] He came with his wife and two children. Now, my father came when he was 14, came with an uncle, and he stayed. His uncle returned to Italy. My father eventually sent for his sisters, but they did not settle. One of them settled in Cleveland, but the other two did not. They married and moved elsewhere. But I’m blank for a minute here. Okay.
Dorothy Ferencz [00:17:27] Dorothy Ferencz. When, I don’t know. Why, I don’t know either, because I’m assuming they came over like everybody else for a better life.
Interviewer [00:17:37] From where?
Dorothy Ferencz [00:17:39] Well, Czechoslovakia, that area, because that was made up of, what, about 18 kinds of places, and they spoke Slovenian or Slovak or- My mother was Bohemian, but my father was born here, and my grandparents, of course, came from-
Interviewer [00:17:58] Was he born in Tremont?
Dorothy Ferencz [00:18:00] I would assume, yes, he was born here. I think it’s St. John’s Hospital. But so other than the background of the grandparents I’m not familiar with, I never inquired. And just one of those things. [audio issues]
Interviewer [00:18:23] Speak. And what languages do you speak?
Marie McElroy [00:18:27] Well, my mother and father spoke Ukrainian and Polish because they came from the area of the border of Ukraine and Poland, and they used to fight each other so, yes, my dad and mother said that the Poles would burn the Ukrainian books in school. Yeah, it was. It’s rough, but-
Interviewer [00:18:52] Was the books in, like, either language, or English?
Marie McElroy [00:18:56] No, always either. The Polish books were- When you went to- When the Poles took over in Ukraine, they burned the books and put in the Polish books. And then when the Ukrainians were free, they had the Ukrainian books, back and forth. And when they came here, I went to Ukrainian school at the church. We had school after the American school. And you learned to read and write in Ukraine, and we had nuns, and they were tough. You really- At 3:30, you left Tremont and you went down to the church, church school, and there you stayed for two hours.
Interviewer [00:19:43] So you speak Ukrainian?
Marie McElroy [00:19:44] I did. I have no one to speak to.
Interviewer [00:19:49] But did you ever learn Polish?
Marie McElroy [00:19:52] No. Well, living in this neighborhood, you learn to greet them in their Polish. And you always, the elderly people, you would say, panya this or something. [crosstalk] Is it still? Oh, I thought. My voice is so loud. I thought it would- You learn a few words throughout the neighborhood. And let’s see, what else I can’t think of.
Interviewer [00:20:31] And what languages did your parents speak, and what language do you speak?
Marie Decapiti [00:20:34] Marie Decapiti. My parents always spoke English to us. My mother was born in Cleveland.
Interviewer [00:20:42] What part?
Marie Decapiti [00:20:44] Well, probably the Haymarket district. She attended Brownell School, which is off 9th Street, or was. I don’t know if the school is still there. My grandparents spoke Italian and of course my mother could speak and understand and my father could speak and understand Italian. After all, he was born in Italy. But we always spoke English in our home. Even talked English to my grandmother, who understood us but would respond in Italian. That’s- And I’ve had a smattering of German and a smattering of Spanish and I don’t speak anything except English.
Dorothy Ferencz [00:21:41] Dorothy Ferencz. My grandparents spoke Bohemian on my mother’s side and my father’s parents were Slavish or Russian because everything was a mixture over there. But at home it was always, in our house it was always English. But when they spoke to their, my parents, when they spoke to my parents, it was Russian or Slavish. And I went to Russian school and I did really well, but that was it. After I left, I didn’t do anything and I took some German and French in school. I, you know, can understand a little bit of both, but I wouldn’t be able to hold a lengthy conversation with anybody.
Interviewer [00:22:29] Okay, your next question is, can you describe what dating was like as a teenager?
Marie McElroy [00:22:42] Dates? Yes. Well, that- We have to go-
Interviewer [00:22:48] And, and within the same question, tell me, where did teenagers go on dates?
Marie McElroy [00:22:54] Okay, dating as a teenager. I, when I was in Lincoln High School, that’s already high school. And we, we went to St. Michael’s, that’s on Scranton and Clark Avenue. St. Michael’s Church on Friday would have their gymnasium open to the public. And they had a record player and you pay 10 cents and you could dance. And believe it or not, it was a full house. The boys and girls met there. And of course you had to be home at 11:00 or 10:30. 11:00 for sure. And it was very, very nice. And on Friday-
Interviewer [00:23:38] What time did it start?
Marie McElroy [00:23:39] Oh, at 7:00, because at home you had to make sure the dishes were washed, the kitchen floor was swept and the rubbish was taken out. And then you could go. And you walked- I lived on 15th street and I walked all the way over to Clark and Scranton Road. [inaudible question] Well, that’s past Lincoln High, so I don’t know, that was about a 20-minute walk. And with your dime in your hand because if you lost it, they wouldn’t let you in. And we also went to football games and so they weren’t there every Friday. So the Fridays that we didn’t go to the game, we went to St. Michael’s and we all went together. We went as a group. I can’t say I went singular with- I didn’t have, I didn’t go with a date. You met them there because you got to remember the boy couldn’t pay your way and his way in, so he only had one dime. So therefore you- We went dancing. And then when we went to the football game, the boys we went dancing with were football players. And so when they were playing the football, we’d be sitting in the audience. And you didn’t get popcorn or hot dogs or anything like that when you sat at the game, you know, you didn’t have money to buy it. That was it. And when we went to the movies, it was self treat. You met your date. He came to your house and then you walked to the Garden Theatre on 25th Street. You paid your way in, he paid his way in, and then you sat and watched a movie and then you went home. Nothing like it is today. I’m shocked, you know, when I see what the kids-
Interviewer [00:25:55] So you met at the movies?
Marie McElroy [00:25:57] No, he came over to your house because your mother wanted to see who you were going with. And by the way, before I forget, when you had a friend, whether it was a female or a male, come to your house, they got the third degree, which all of us used to resent. My parents would ask, what does your father do? What church do you go to? Where do you live? And they knew all about the fellow. And all he was doing was going to walk you to Scranton to dance. He got the third degree. And my father would say, Why aren’t you home? When we went to- We also went to the YMCA for big dances. And that’s when other schools participated in this dance. And you’d have maybe two or three schools there on west, off of West 25th on Franklin Avenue. And we’d, by the way, we’d walk there too, which is really far. Otherwise you had to take two streetcars and that you just didn’t want to waste Your time. So we, my dad said you have to be home at 12 o’clock and at 12 o’clock in the living room by the door with the clock. We had the clock we had, you know, turned with the clock and he opened the door and say, okay, come on in, bye to the little fellow, and shut the door and that was it.
Interviewer [00:27:35] Okay, alright. Where you go on dates and tell us what it was like dating as a teenager.
Marie Decapiti [00:27:46] Marie Decapiti. I have to say that most of our activities were group activities. We didn’t sort of pair off until much later, but we certainly found it enough to do as a group. And I mean, some of them, sometimes there would be picnics and you would walk to Brookside, which is now a metropolitan park, and we even walked to Edgewater from the Tremont area. But it was always usually as a group activity.
Dorothy Ferencz [00:28:38] Dorothy Ferencz. Like I said, most of my teen years were home-centered. I was in the band, I played the trumpet. [laughs] You don’t see me on TV much, do you? And so it meant playing at the football games or concerts or whatever. But like I said, at home, my stepmother was there, which was always a kind of, for me, that seemed to change my whole life and she had the two babies. So most of my young years were school and home and we did group things, like Marie said. So that’s about it.
Interviewer [00:29:23] This question here is, did you marry someone from the neighborhood? Where were you married? It also says if you had a reception, where it was. So just tell me about your whole married, all the married things. Where were you married? Did you marry someone from the neighborhood? If not, why? Where did the marriage take place? And then get to conception.
Marie McElroy [00:29:50] Okay, I was married. Oh, Marie McElroy was married in Cleveland. My husband. [crosstalk] Oh, no, no. When I went to high school, I was away from Tremont. I married Mark McElroy and he lived on the west side, but on Broad- West 65th and Detroit, near Lake Avenue and Detroit. And I was married, though, at the St. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Church.
Interviewer [00:30:30] Is that in Tremont?
Marie McElroy [00:30:31] Pardon?
Interviewer [00:30:32] Is that in Tremont?
Marie McElroy [00:30:33] Yes, that’s in Tremont. And we had a reception, our wedding reception we had in Springfield, Ohio, because Mark’s mother was ill and she was staying there with her daughter. And I don’t have- I just had my brother and my sister living in Cleveland. So the reception was really on my husband’s side. And let’s see, it was a small private wedding.
Interviewer [00:31:11] So was the reception in Tremont too?
Marie McElroy [00:31:13] No, the reception was in Springfield. It was at a hotel, Indian Hotel. And we had 30 people there and it was very nice. It was a very nice event.
Interviewer [00:31:29] So you never married anybody from Fremont?
Marie McElroy [00:31:32] No, no, no.
Marie Decapiti [00:31:35] Marie Decapiti. I never married.
Dorothy Ferencz [00:31:40] Dorothy Ferencz. I’m also one of the lucky ones. [laughs] I never married and got to- Didn’t have any of the problems associated with marriage.
Interviewer [00:31:48] Go back, go back.
Marie Decapiti [00:31:49] Alright.
Interviewer [00:31:50] Say your name again.
Marie Decapiti [00:31:51] Marie Decapiti.
Interviewer [00:31:52] Why didn’t you marry any of the guys in Tremont? I’m just curious.
Marie Decapiti [00:31:57] Well, I don’t know. I- It’s- It’s- You know, the- When we got out of high school, the first thing we knew is the war. [crosstalk] So you- You know, the young men were gone. Most of the young men were gone. And so in the meantime, I just went to work, went to college, and, you know, took up all of those years until they came back.
Interviewer [00:32:27] Okay, same question.
Dorothy Ferencz [00:32:29] Dorothy Ferencz. Well, pretty much the same thing. You get out of school. You got a job, which I did, and I did that for 44 years. So here we are. [laughs]
Interviewer [00:32:43] Okay. Alright, next question. What was Tremont like when Carl Strokes was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967?
Marie McElroy [00:32:54] Well, I voted for the man, so we were politically interested in things like that. I don’t- I couldn’t tell you what the Tremont area was like because I just didn’t participate in anything in Tremont. I-
Interviewer [00:33:19] Because you had moved out by then.
Marie McElroy [00:33:20] Yes, yes. And- And when he- In fact, when he became mayor, I’ll- I was living on Edgewater Drive. All my life I wanted to live there, and I finally succeeded.
Interviewer [00:33:40] Right, but did you ever come back to Tremont during that time?
Marie McElroy [00:33:43] No.
Interviewer [00:33:44] Okay.
Marie Decapiti [00:33:47] Well, I lived at - Marie Decapiti - I have lived in Tremont most of my life, longer than either of these young ladies. And I think, yes, I voted for Carl Stokes. Cleveland- We were very upset by what happened when the Innerbelt and 71 were built because it really, I think, spoiled much of the neighborhood.
Interviewer [00:34:24] Let’s talk about that, too. We’ll get back to you on that, too. What are some of the memories of the construction of the Interbelt project? And mix that in with the Carl Stokes. Go ahead and tell me about that whole thing.
Marie Decapiti [00:34:34] Well, it was just that- It was just that they had to take down so many buildings, homes, church, and it just sort of made this a pocket. You know, we were isolated, really. [crosstalk] Right. And we were. Yeah. Isolated from the rest of the city. It was a problem getting to town during that construction, you know, and I think we felt that- Well, we thought perhaps something better could have been managed, you know-
Interviewer [00:35:28] Did that happen-
Marie Decapiti [00:35:29] That happened before the Stokes, I think. That happened before Stokes. Yeah.
Interviewer [00:35:36] So he couldn’t have did nothing about it?
Marie Decapiti [00:35:38] No, he couldn’t either. I don’t know whether anybody could once they- In fact, they’re concerned now in the Tremont area about these new plans for redoing the Innerbelt because- I would hope that they would not further decimate the, you know, the area.
Interviewer [00:36:00] Okay, I’m getting- While you’re there, tell me a little bit about Clark Road Bridge, Abbey Road Bridge.
Marie Decapiti [00:36:11] Well, that was another sorry, sorry situation. You know, they took down the Clark Bridge because it was dangerous, supposedly, and that cut us off. Then, of course, the Abbey Bridge came down.
Interviewer [00:36:27] Right.
Marie Decapiti [00:36:28] And it took them ages before they got around to rebuilding it. And so you would have to go down to Jennings Road, Scranton, and around, you know, to get anywhere. It was just a terrible time, really. And it just happened-
Interviewer [00:36:52] So, like, every day you woke up and there was this construction everywhere.
Marie McElroy [00:36:57] Right.
Marie Decapiti [00:36:58] And how am I going to get there from here?
Interviewer [00:37:02] Routes were kind of misdirected.
Marie Decapiti [00:37:03] Absolutely. And it. And-
Interviewer [00:37:06] how long did it last?
Marie Decapiti [00:37:07] It lasted a long time. They went-
Interviewer [00:37:09] Ten years, five years?
Marie Decapiti [00:37:11] Oh, I think at least ten. They didn’t build that Abbey Bridge, you know, it was a- You know, finally they did. By that time, they already had the Innerbelt.
Interviewer [00:37:21] Okay.
Marie Decapiti [00:37:24] Clark Bridge has never been rebuilt.
Marie McElroy [00:37:26] Right.
Interviewer [00:37:27] Oh, okay.
Marie Decapiti [00:37:29] So that’s something they ought to think about once, you know.
Interviewer [00:37:33] Alright. We wanted to hear about the Carl Stokes, Innerbelt, the Clark Road Bridge, and Abbey Road.
Dorothy Ferencz [00:37:44] Dorothy Ferencz. I don’t remember much about Stokes because we had to move after I was 14 and politics was the last thing on my mind. And we moved to 14th Street. We were there not terribly long because the only bad thing about that, they took down such beautiful old homes, the woodwork and everything, and they just obliterated everything. And then we had to move to Castle Avenue, which kept us out of all this construction work because we were like a block away from Lincoln High School. And the only thing about the Abbey Bridge, I remember, we used to walk to the market [West Side Market] and you couldn’t do that anymore because it wasn’t there. So I missed all that construction work because we were living on Castle.
Interviewer [00:38:35] Alright. How has the neighborhood changed? And probably already answered this, but when did you move out and why did you move out?
Marie McElroy [00:38:49] You know, I- Well, I was gone for right after I graduated from- Oh, Marie McElroy and I graduated from high school. The following year I moved out and I lived in Pasadena, California. So. And then from there I started to work for Uncle Sam and I traveled with-
Interviewer [00:39:15] So when you come back now what?
Marie McElroy [00:39:17] Oh, okay. Then I changed.
Interviewer [00:39:19] Oh, well, I mean, what hits you the first, like, I mean, boom?
Marie McElroy [00:39:25] The- The isolation of Tremont. Because it was easy to walk wherever you wanted to go. And now they changed the streets. Some are one way, some they just blocked off. And you- You really felt like you were in a foreign area.
Interviewer [00:39:49] Now you do?
Marie McElroy [00:39:51] No, now I’ve gotten used to it because I- But I came back years ago.
Interviewer [00:39:58] Okay- [audio cuts out briefly]
Marie McElroy [00:40:02] Marie McElroy.
Interviewer [00:40:04] And Mrs. McElroy is finishing the question of how the neighborhood has changed because she moved out and has moved back.
Marie McElroy [00:40:17] West 14th Street was a beautiful street. We used to take an evening walk. You could walk down and you could see the Terminal Tower lit up at night. Lit up at night. And the personnel in Tremont started to move out. Most of the old people, the old ethnic people were moving out. They were too old and they either moved into nursing homes or passed away and they moved out. And then we had a different class of people moving in and they came from the South. And I just never felt friendly there after a while. Oh, once in a while I’d stop at St. Augustine Church.
Interviewer [00:41:08] You still feel that way now?
Marie McElroy [00:41:10] No, no. Now-
Interviewer [00:41:12] More homey?
Marie McElroy [00:41:12] Yes. And in fact-
Interviewer [00:41:15] What made that happen? The transition?
Marie McElroy [00:41:17] Well, I guess looking for something that reminds you of your childhood. I took some- I used to color Easter eggs, Ukrainian Easter eggs. And then I forgot all about it while I was away from the city. You just didn’t do it because you couldn’t find the dyes. When I came back, the first thing I did was go to Merrick House. I noticed in a paper that there was a young lady who was teaching Ukrainian egg decorating. So I sent there. Yes. And I spent a whole year going there in the evening. Well, twice a week to learn how to do that. And that’s- Then you got interested in the area as they started to improve it. And I didn’t like I-71 moving either, because that disrupted-
Interviewer [00:42:12] I didn’t give you that question.
Marie McElroy [00:42:14] I know.
Interviewer [00:42:16] Okay.
Marie McElroy [00:42:17] But I, you know, it did cut up- I know it did cut up the streets because Scranton Road, which we used to go, I would go through 15th Street and when I got to Starkweather, which was two blocks, it dead ended. It didn’t go into Scranton. You had to come back out 14th Street. Then you went down in Auburn was another. And you, you know, as I said earlier, it’s isolated. You- You felt like, wait a minute, what are they trying to do? Before the streets were like this, you know, east and west and north and south. And now they’re, they’re just disrupted.
Interviewer [00:43:03] How has the neighborhood changed?
Marie Decapiti [00:43:06] Marie Decapiti. The neighborhood has really changed in the last few years.
Interviewer [00:43:12] You mean 3, 5, 10?
Marie Decapiti [00:43:15] Well, I think maybe it’s about 5, 10 years.
Interviewer [00:43:18] For the better or worse?
Marie Decapiti [00:43:20] Well, it depends on your point of view. It is better. Houses have been renovated. Construction has been going on. New housing has been developed. The old bathhouse is no longer a bathhouse. It’s luxury condominiums.
Interviewer [00:43:50] What was the bathhouse?
Marie Decapiti [00:43:51] It was- That’s just what it was, a bathhouse. You didn’t have bathtubs in your houses. You went to the bathhouse for a bath. Not all the houses had indoor plumbing. [crosstalk] They now have trendy restaurants in the area. They have art galleries. Lola’s, Sage, Costa’s, and there are several others.
Interviewer [00:44:25] Do you frequent those?
Marie Decapiti [00:44:27] I have been to some of them, yes. Come down.
Interviewer [00:44:31] Do you like that?
Marie Decapiti [00:44:33] Well, I don’t want to see anybody go out of business. [laughs] And unfortunately, that has happened. The- The art galleries draw people down, and there are several art galleries in the area. What worries me is- Now, I still come down to the neighborhood because I still attend St. Augustine Church. What worries me is what happens to those people who cannot afford the increase in property values that are going on because of-
Interviewer [00:45:16] So property value is increasing now?
Marie Decapiti [00:45:19] Undoubtedly. You have this renovation, this influx of these new homes, which are quite pricey, according to what people in this area can afford. So it’s a mix of, you know.
Interviewer [00:45:39] Before we go to Dorothy in a second. While I get to- On the neighborhood, I just want you to- You can- And if you were here at that time, you can tell me. Tell me what it was like During World War II in the neighborhood, other than the guys being gone.
Marie Decapiti [00:45:58] Well, you know, many of the young men from the neighborhood. Many of the young men from the neighborhood were gone.
Interviewer [00:46:04] Okay, so what was it like for you? I mean.
Marie Decapiti [00:46:07] Well, I was at school and work at the time.
Interviewer [00:46:10] Right. How did the war affect living?
Marie Decapiti [00:46:13] Well, of course, we had the rationing. The rationing.
Interviewer [00:46:17] Okay.
Marie Decapiti [00:46:18] And of foods, gasoline.
Interviewer [00:46:21] How did they do that?
Marie Decapiti [00:46:23] Well, you had coupons.
Interviewer [00:46:25] You said that like I wouldn’t know.
Marie Decapiti [00:46:26] Oh, you don’t know. [crosstalk] And, you know, I mean, they would-
Interviewer [00:46:33] I thought they may have drove down the street, handed you, I don’t know. That’s today.
Marie Decapiti [00:46:38] No, you. You would have coupons for food, different kinds of foods and gasoline. [crosstalk] Well, the government would issue them.
Interviewer [00:46:47] Through the mail? I mean-
Marie Decapiti [00:46:49] No, you had to go down and get them.
Interviewer [00:46:51] Okay, so you had a line somewhere then.
Marie Decapiti [00:46:53] Oh, absolutely. They even had- Well, I don’t know. This may have been earlier, before the war, they had food distribution centers, you know, during the Depression.
Interviewer [00:47:06] And where was the one around here?
Marie Decapiti [00:47:08] Well, there was- I know there was one at Pilgrim Church and there probably were others as well. And so if you, you know, needed something they were offering, maybe flour or sugar or- Well, you would get in line and get your-
Interviewer [00:47:27] So people couldn’t afford food during the war?
Marie Decapiti [00:47:31] Shortages. Well, I’m not talking just about during the war. I’m talking about previous, earlier.
Interviewer [00:47:38] The Depression?
Marie Decapiti [00:47:39] The Depression.
Interviewer [00:47:40] Where was World War II and the Depression tied together? I’m trying-
Marie Decapiti [00:47:43] Well, it was. Alright, World War II- The Depression really lasted until after the war.
Interviewer [00:47:50] After World War II?
Marie Decapiti [00:47:51] Yes.
Interviewer [00:47:52] Okay. So basically from the Depression to the end of World War II, it was the same standard of living?
Marie Decapiti [00:48:00] Pretty much. [Okay.] Except, of course, that, you know-
Interviewer [00:48:03] Because I had always heard that the war kind of gave, brought jobs and all.
Marie Decapiti [00:48:06] Well, it did in, you know, wartime jobs.
Interviewer [00:48:11] Like when war started, didn’t the steel stuff around here-
Marie Decapiti [00:48:14] The steel- Those steel mills were going full blast. Absolutely.
Interviewer [00:48:18] I want to know about all, you know, like, did you work in the mill?
Marie Decapiti [00:48:22] No, I never did. I worked. Well, in a way, [laughs] I worked at National Steel, National Steel Castings Company.
Interviewer [00:48:32] Yeah. So, yeah, you were employed.
Marie Decapiti [00:48:34] But. But it was- It was not in the Tremont area.
Interviewer [00:48:37] Okay.
Marie Decapiti [00:48:38] It was, you know, it was away-
Interviewer [00:48:41] Had to leave the area to get a job. But. But your job was kind of war related in the sense that you all made products.
Marie Decapiti [00:48:47] That’s right. But I didn’t work in the mill itself. I worked in the office.
Interviewer [00:48:51] Okay.
Marie Decapiti [00:48:53] So. But it, as I say, that the war affected us all, of course, in that way.
Interviewer [00:49:07] Did you lose anybody?
Marie Decapiti [00:49:10] Fortunately, no.
Interviewer [00:49:11] Okay.
Marie Decapiti [00:49:13] But all my cousins were there, my brothers were there.
Interviewer [00:49:19] Did you know people who lost people in the war?
Marie Decapiti [00:49:20] Oh, sure.
Interviewer [00:49:22] So there’s a lot of funerals, maybe?
Marie Decapiti [00:49:25] Well, I didn’t see too many funerals. Not here.
Marie McElroy [00:49:32] Other states.
Marie Decapiti [00:49:33] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:49:35] Dorothy, ready?
Dorothy Ferencz [00:49:37] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:49:37] How did the neighborhood change during World War II?
Dorothy Ferencz [00:49:43] Dorothy Ferencz. Well, I can’t tell you much about that because I wasn’t in the area. I was out of the area. And so I can’t tell you much about that, but- And I had no occasion, even now, to go into the Tremont area. But I do go once in a while to a restaurant and the thing that impresses well, Costa’s - we were there - and that Great Lakes Brewing Company, any restaurant. I love to eat. But the neighborhood, as old as it is, apart from the new housing, is still in good shape. And the bathhouse, of course, has been renovated and Dempsey’s Bar is still there and that other bar on the corner. Dewey’s, whatever the name of it is on the corner. And all those big houses they’re putting up there. My Lord. The only thing I don’t like down there is the projects. I wish the hell they’d get rid of those projects down, they look terrible.
Interviewer [00:50:42] When did the projects go-
Dorothy Ferencz [00:50:43] Oh, my Lord. Forever, it seems. And they’re deteriorated, they look bad. The windows are boarded up. I don’t even know if anybody lives there. But if they do, they should let ’em, move ’em someplace else.
Interviewer [00:50:59] Okay, thank you. Is that how the whole neighborhood feels now?
Dorothy Ferencz [00:51:01] I would assume so. Because if you live in that area, you certainly don’t want those projects there.
Interviewer [00:51:07] Okay. We’re gonna go now to what’s called the Sewing Club. Okay, now state your name and tell me about Sewing Club.
Marie McElroy [00:51:32] Okay. Marie McElroy. I met one of my old girlfriends, Rose Alice. Yeah, Rose Alice Collode[?], who was a funeral director on 14th Street. And she said, Marie, how about joining a club? I said, What? A sewing club. I said, I don’t sew. She said, Nobody in the club sews, but join, and no dues. And that fascinated me. So I joined the club. And that’s been over-
Interviewer [00:52:12] It’s a joke. It’s a running joke.
Marie McElroy [00:52:13] Yes.
Interviewer [00:52:14] Oh, okay.
Marie McElroy [00:52:15] Yes. Nobody sews. And it’s been over 30 years we’ve had the club and it’s terrific.
Interviewer [00:52:25] Tell me your best memory of the club.
Marie McElroy [00:52:27] Best memory of the club? Well, we used to meet at each other’s home and that was nice evening. We’d send the husbands out and for our whole evening the girls would show up at 7 in the evening and we had the whole evening to ourselves. And they’d leave about 12 o’clock all talked out and laughing, and we really- I enjoyed it. It was always a release. And they brought in news and I had some news and we would mention who we met. Once a month we would meet. It was always at some different home. And now, we had more members, now we’re down to eight.
Interviewer [00:53:17] What was the largest?
Marie McElroy [00:53:19] Oh, about 12. But two died and two died and one just moved away to Florida. And they didn’t leave because they couldn’t get along. [laughs] We just- I don’t- There’s something like a family. It’s really, really nice being with us. And no matter where we go. We went to a restaurant not long ago and in a restaurant you’re only supposed to stay an hour, you know, eat your meal. Three hours later, we’re still occupying the table and the waitress is ready to throw us out. [crosstalk] Yeah, we just love meeting once a month. And there are no ties. It’s just wonderful. It’s like going to visit a relative.
Marie Decapiti [00:54:22] Marie Decapiti. I think the core group of the Sewing Club were all students at Lincoln, and about three or four others joined who were friends of the members. And I must say that some people did sew. There were some, you know, they would bring mending or a craft that they were working on or embroidery. So there was some sewing going on. But eventually that just faded out and we have continued, you know, to meet. It has been, I think, just a great experience.
Interviewer [00:55:15] What’s your best memory? I mean, what did you- What did you guys do all the time?
Marie Decapiti [00:55:19] Well, talk. [laughs] Talk and eat, and-
Interviewer [00:55:24] You never went anywhere like amusement parks?
Marie Decapiti [00:55:28] Well, let’s see. What did we do? [crosstalk] Oh, yes, we went to Canada a couple of years for gambling.
Marie McElroy [00:55:39] A couple of years before that, we went to Niagara.
Marie Decapiti [00:55:42] We went to Niagara. We went to Niagara-on-the-Lake one summer. We drove and we attended the theater there. And we also, some of us- [crosstalk] Just girls. Just girls. And we also went to an elderhostel. An elder hostel is an organization- It’s an international organization for, I think, seniors 55 and older and they have classes or outdoor experiences all over the world. And so we went to one. Some of us went to one in Chautauqua, New York, which is not too far away because we would drive it, drive. And those were very, very good experiences. And it was just good to be together.
Interviewer [00:56:50] So. So a lot of talking, though?
Marie Decapiti [00:56:52] A lot. [inaudible]
Dorothy Ferencz [00:56:59] Dorothy Ferencz. Oh, yeah, we have a good time. And most, like Marie said, the core group are girls that I grew up with, went to school with. And they’re my very best friends. And if I needed a bed, I could go to any one of them and say, help me. And they would help me. So I appreciate them very much. And my favorite ones are going to Marie’s house and Helen M-[?] because they’re wonderful cooks. And we have a wonderful Italian food during which we talk and talk and eat and talk. But it’s great. It’s like Marie says, you talk. Everybody talks at once half the time, but it’s always good. You feel good when you leave. You’ve relieve yourself of all your frustrations and people listen. Thank you.
Marie McElroy [00:57:56] Okay. Oh, Marie McElroy. [coughs] Excuse me, Marie McElroy. Whenever I watch The View on TV, that is our club. And so because everyone is speaking at the same time, they all- One person has an idea and she can’t wait for the other person to finish, so she yells. Did you ever watch The View? Well, watch it. And that is our club. Because one day I came to a meeting and I said, hey, did anybody watch The View? And all nine of them said, no, they talk too much. That’s us.
Interviewer [00:58:48] Alright, what I want to know now is anybody got any- [inaudible] My question now is during the time in Tremont, you know how you had the little era where you had the women’s lib and you know how you grew up so conservative during your time in Tremont, how did you feel about that? I mean, how did you feel about the idea of being liberated and at the same time having a background that was sort of restrictive?
Marie McElroy [00:59:26] Well, Marie McElroy, when we lived in Tremont, you sort of had, you were told what your future was going to be, really. I mean, from the older people, you know, you were, when you talked about wanting to go to that you were going to go to college, they’d look at you cross eyed and say, oh, you’re going to get married and have children? And what do you need that education?
Interviewer [00:59:58] Did you resent that?
Marie McElroy [00:59:59] Yes, very much. And you have to keep arguing, you know, no, I want something more to do.
Interviewer [01:00:09] Point of tension.
Marie McElroy [01:00:10] And the men, by the way, the mothers would agree with you, but the men, the other men would always say, oh, your daughter, isn’t she going to go out and find a job? They always felt like you should help with the family, which we did. But the thing is that we, most of us were looking forward to the future. We were changed. We weren’t going to be housewives like our parent, like my mother.
Interviewer [01:00:40] Okay, so I’m a little confused. I thought the point of view of women’s lib was to get women to want to work and everything and. But you’re saying that your parents, did they want you to work or did they want you to get married?
Marie McElroy [01:00:54] Oh, no, they, they wanted me to-
Interviewer [01:00:56] Meet a guy and get married.
Marie McElroy [01:00:57] Yes, yes, that’s right. When you, when you graduated, then you’d find a job and then you’d meet a fellow.
Interviewer [01:01:06] Especially if they didn’t want you to work.
Marie McElroy [01:01:07] Oh yeah.
Interviewer [01:01:08] It wasn’t like they wanted to just go be a housewife.
Marie McElroy [01:01:10] Oh, no, no. They wanted you to work and then, well, to help yourself to know what, what you’re doing.
Interviewer [01:01:17] But it was sort of- But it was sort of for the family?
Marie McElroy [01:01:20] Yes.
Interviewer [01:01:21] Got you. It wasn’t for you?
Marie McElroy [01:01:23] No, no. Well, for the family and for yourself to better, to let you understand. Like in my house, my father felt that we would understand about finances, about household, everything. You get this education by meeting other people. And the only way you can meet other people is to go out and work. You couldn’t meet it hanging around the neighborhood and then- But they also were preparing on you marrying somebody that went to your church.
Interviewer [01:02:00] They were big on that.
Marie McElroy [01:02:01] Oh, yes. Your church, your religion, everything.
Interviewer [01:02:04] And did you feel constricted by that? Did you rebel against it?
Marie McElroy [01:02:09] [crosstalk] I just told myself, yeah, I wasn’t going to do that. And I didn’t. I just made up my mind, that’s it. And you were free to do a lot of things, but that old formula was still hanging around, and by the end of war, it was dissolved.
Interviewer [01:02:29] Okay, let me ask you this. Did you have any children?
Marie McElroy [01:02:33] No. [inaudible]
Interviewer [01:02:37] Question. How did growing up in Tremont, Marie, affect your perspective on the women’s lib movement and the whole thing, the restrictions and all of that?
Marie Decapiti [01:02:51] Marie Decapiti. I have to say that growing up in our family, you always felt protected, and they did expect you to marry and have children, and that was it. Of course, they wanted you to work also to help out with the family.
Interviewer [01:03:18] To have to be a wife and mother-
Marie Decapiti [01:03:24] Yeah.
Interviewer [01:03:25] Stressful. You know, I’m just-
Marie Decapiti [01:03:27] Well, yeah, well, I think many of them felt that once you got married, you didn’t have to work, you would have a husband to take care of you. Okay. So that would, you know, wouldn’t- It wasn’t- The war changed that. You know, women went out to work and that was it. They just continued, you know, going to work.
Interviewer [01:03:46] Okay. Did you have children?
Marie Decapiti [01:03:48] No, I never married.
Interviewer [01:03:49] Okay.
Marie Decapiti [01:03:50] So I had no children.
Interviewer [01:03:52] Okay. It’s interesting the way you said that, because you said it like, there’s no way you would have children unless you were married.
Marie Decapiti [01:03:59] Well, in those days, days that was pretty much the way it was. You, you didn’t, I mean, yeah, right. [crosstalk] You know, you didn’t have children unless you were married. I mean, in our family, you know, it would have been really a scandal. But those were days, you know, years ago, 40 years ago, 50 years ago. It’s, it’s different now.
Interviewer [01:04:25] So how do you feel about that now? I mean, do you still have that upbringing in your head and that’s the way it is? Or did it change?
Marie Decapiti [01:04:32] Well, you know, you. No, I’ve changed. Okay. I, I, I think I want women to be whatever they want to be and hope that they can, you know.
Interviewer [01:04:51] Okay. Does, does the club talk about this kind of stuff?
Marie Decapiti [01:04:54] I don’t know that we really have.
Marie McElroy [01:04:58] Occasionally we have.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:04:58] Yeah.
Marie Decapiti [01:05:00] I think actually most of the members in our group have done pretty Much what they want to do. I mean, they’ve been-
Interviewer [01:05:08] So it’s a fairly liberal club.
Marie Decapiti [01:05:09] That’s right. So it’s, you know, they’ve been- Several have been to college, several have worked out. And of course, some of them have married and had children. But it’s-
Interviewer [01:05:25] So do you think the influence of the club has anything to do with that, or do, you know-
Marie Decapiti [01:05:30] No, I think it’s an individual.
Interviewer [01:05:34] So in other words, when the core, let’s say the core is at Lincoln High.
Marie Decapiti [01:05:37] Right.
Interviewer [01:05:38] Do you, Are you saying that these individually independent, strong women saw it, gravitated to the club because they had this kind of, like, personality from the beginning, or did that evolve?
Marie Decapiti [01:05:52] Well, I think some of them had that personality.
Interviewer [01:05:55] They were just strong women?
Marie Decapiti [01:05:56] That’s right. Absolutely.
Interviewer [01:05:58] Okay. Can you think anybody in the club, let’s say, that maybe wasn’t, but because of the club, kind of got dragged along and became strong? Or everybody-
Marie Decapiti [01:06:07] No, I, I, I can’t think of anybody who.
Interviewer [01:06:11] You don’t have to name them.
Marie Decapiti [01:06:12] I’m just, No, I can’t think of anyone offhand.
Interviewer [01:06:15] Okay.
Marie McElroy [01:06:16] I think they’re very independent.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:06:17] Yeah.
Interviewer [01:06:18] Dorothy? Tell me-
Dorothy Ferencz [01:06:20] Dorothy Ferencz.
Interviewer [01:06:22] Right. About your upbringing and the restrictions and everything and how women’s live. Movement affected your thinking or did.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:06:30] Well, let’s see. I think the war did like Marie said, the war did most open up everything for, for women and, But I know I, I didn’t go to college. There was no money, and I got a job and I worked from day one till I retired.
Interviewer [01:06:50] Do you have any children?
Dorothy Ferencz [01:06:51] No, I’m not married. I don’t have any children. I don’t really have any children I tell anybody about. And then what else? The club I enjoy. And they’re all, we’re kind of all alike. Like Marie said, we’re always the same. And you gravitate towards your kind no matter where you are or who you are. And what else?
Interviewer [01:07:18] So, because the thing I noticed that when I asked you about the war, nobody really said that it sort of liberated you in the sense that-
Dorothy Ferencz [01:07:24] We were already doing whatever we did we were going to do. I was working and that was it. My contribution to the war effort was every 10 minutes I was donating blood. I must have donated about 400 gallons.
Interviewer [01:07:39] I guess kind of went the other way. I guess what I’m trying to say to you is that if you’re being told by your parents-
Dorothy Ferencz [01:07:45] No, my parents were. I could do what I want.
Interviewer [01:07:48] Okay.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:07:49] My parents never said, get married or whatever. I’ve got a job What I did, I wanted to do. There was no parental pressure of any kind.
Interviewer [01:08:00] Okay.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:08:01] So.
Interviewer [01:08:02] Okay. This question is for-
Marie McElroy [01:08:07] Marie McElroy.
Interviewer [01:08:08] I want you to tell me what is the future of the Sewing Club?
Marie McElroy [01:08:14] Well, let me see. For me?
Interviewer [01:08:17] Oh, what would you like to see it maybe evolve to or go back to or what would you like to see more of?
Marie McElroy [01:08:27] Oh. Well, I’ve gotten lazy in my old age and I just seem like I’m contented with the club as is just to see my friends and spend the evening. It’s a night out and you- [crosstalk] once a month and it’s at a different locale. So it’s either we already have a schedule, alphabetical schedule, so that it’s always either at a restaurant or at a person’s home or sometimes we want to celebrate somebody’s birthday or something like that. But I’m contented. I’ve gotten to a point where don’t change the rules. I’m too old.
Interviewer [01:09:15] The reason I ask you that is because it seems like if you have a club, a strong-
Marie McElroy [01:09:19] Willed girls. Yes.
Interviewer [01:09:24] Humorous camaraderie-type women, you guys would make great mentors. You ever thought about that?
Marie McElroy [01:09:32] Oh, no.
Interviewer [01:09:33] Because I think it would be a positive influence. I’m just curious as to why you guys never maybe have seen that in, in within the club. A lot of women or young ladies need to see that or hear it.
Marie McElroy [01:09:49] Wow.
Interviewer [01:09:49] Which is part of the reason why I’m doing this on the club.
Marie McElroy [01:09:54] No, in my married life I was so busy with my husband’s- He was in politics. So I went to a lot of meetings and things like that. But now- [crosstalk] Yes, but now I just feel I’m content at being home and going to the club. In fact, I don’t even want to join another club. I just enjoy this one.
Interviewer [01:10:26] Okay.
Marie McElroy [01:10:27] So.
Interviewer [01:10:28] Alright. Anything about the club?
Marie Decapiti [01:10:32] Marie Decapiti. I-
Interviewer [01:10:35] Wait a minute. I got two Maries. [crosstalk]
Marie McElroy [01:10:41] What’s funny about the club is there are three more. When you say Marie, we all say.
Interviewer [01:10:46] Okay. Tell me about what you’d like to see.
Marie Decapiti [01:10:51] I, I, I have enjoyed some of the short trips we’ve taken and I wouldn’t mind continuing that. The three of us have been volunteering at the zoo.
Interviewer [01:11:01] Okay. What day is that or is it random?
Marie Decapiti [01:11:06] It’s random.
Interviewer [01:11:07] Okay. Do you go as the Sewing Club or- [inaudible]
Marie Decapiti [01:11:12] No, no, no, we, we actually Sewing Club member introduced me to that. So you know, that’s how I started doing it.
Interviewer [01:11:25] You all have a picture?
Marie McElroy [01:11:27] No.
Interviewer [01:11:28] Okay, go ahead.
Marie Decapiti [01:11:30] And it’s an idea. [laughs] Well, anyway, as I say, I think I like what we’re doing and I enjoy being with this group. And I have enjoyed these short trips that we’ve taken, and maybe we could consider doing some more of that.
Interviewer [01:11:48] Okay. Go ahead, Dorothy.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:11:51] Dorothy Ferencz. Well, the best thing about the club is it’s not an obligation. You want to go, you go. You don’t want to go, you don’t go. And the trips and things that we have, I mostly don’t go because I have a sciatic nerve problem and I can’t walk very far, so I can’t volunteer at the zoo unless I sit down with the seals every two minutes. [laughs] And so I’m limited to where I can go. But I do enjoy the club. I enjoy and mostly enjoy the people. And, because [they’re my friends]-
Interviewer [01:12:28] Okay, so you don’t have, like, a vision of future expansion for the-
Dorothy Ferencz [01:12:30] At 80 years old, my future visit is tomorrow. [laughs]
Interviewer [01:12:37] Okay. [inaudible]
Dorothy Ferencz [01:12:50] What?
Interviewer [01:12:51] Final question.
Marie McElroy [01:12:52] Alright.
Interviewer [01:12:53] If you had not grown up in Tremont, do you think the club would exist? And why- [inaudible]
Marie McElroy [01:13:03] No, I don’t think so. I think it took- It’s because we think the same, we act the same. And even though our parents came from different parts of the country, they belonged to a different church. Somehow or other, it was the camaraderie of it. We needed each other. When we were children playing around-
Interviewer [01:13:34] You needed the environment of Tremont.
Marie McElroy [01:13:36] Yes, yes. We didn’t have a TV, a radio. There was no club to belong to. But because you would belong to your church and your church had activities and they insisted you belong there, and so you needed the difference from your home life to somebody else’s. We learned to cook. We learned to do all these- Oh. We learned to do all these things from different people.
Interviewer [01:14:13] Alright. Alright, last question.
Marie Decapiti [01:14:28] Marie Decapiti. I have heard of other groups similar. I mean, I have heard of other women together as a group for long periods of time. So I don’t think it’s that unusual. But- But I think- [tape stops and resumes]
Interviewer [01:14:55] Alright, Marie, again, she’s going to tell us.
Marie Decapiti [01:14:59] As I said, I don’t. I don’t think I heard of other groups, similar groups, not many, but this has really lasted a long time, and it’s really meant a great deal to each of us.
Interviewer [01:15:15] Do you think Tremont had to do with that, or do you think you would have found it anywhere else?
Marie Decapiti [01:15:20] That I can’t tell you. I don’t know. I just know that there’s a special rapport among this group, and I think it would be hard to find that somewhere else.
Interviewer [01:15:35] But you don’t necessarily attribute that to the upbringing you got in Tremont, though?
Marie Decapiti [01:15:39] Well, that would be hard to say. For one thing-
Interviewer [01:15:45] You don’t have to say yes or no, which way would you go.
Marie Decapiti [01:15:48] Well, I would like to say yes because it gave us an opportunity to be with other people.
Interviewer [01:15:58] You alluded to the differences.
Marie Decapiti [01:16:00] That’s right. So, you know, you don’t have to be with the same kind of person or the same group. We each have our own personalities, but at the same time, as I said, we do have this rapport, which-
Interviewer [01:16:20] Do you know of any other clubs like that that may have came from the Tremont area with other girls or guys that-
Marie Decapiti [01:16:25] Oh, I don’t. I- I don’t know of any.
Interviewer [01:16:27] Okay.
Marie Decapiti [01:16:28] I don’t know of any.
Interviewer [01:16:29] Dorothy, Same question.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:16:31] Dorothy Ferencz.
Interviewer [01:16:32] Do you think the club would exist had you not grown up in Tremont?
Dorothy Ferencz [01:16:37] Well, probably not, because I think that’s, you know, we all grew up from the same stock, same place. If you moved to Paris and you found, discovered 18 people from your city, you’d go to those people and meet, the same thing. We’re basically all from Tremont. We all went to the same high school, the same junior high school. We came to the same library, and we grew up and we just kept in touch. We could just as easily not kept in touch, but we were the kind that, you know, you sort of need friends and you just-
Interviewer [01:17:13] I think about where I grew up and I don’t want to go back.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:17:16] I mean, yeah, no, I have no reason to go back, but basically that was the thing that we all came from. And if I had grown up, God knows here, I would have gone to a different school. I would never have known Marie or Marie or the other Marie. [laughs]
Interviewer [01:17:34] Because you can imagine there are a lot of people that grow up in neighborhoods together that don’t form a club.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:17:40] And stay together because we were in the band together. That’s another thing. She was in the band, I was in the band, Irene was in the band. So we all had a. Somewhere along the line, we linked together. And still. We’re still linked.
Interviewer [01:17:55] Now, she mentioned the fact that, you know, you guys had no TV, and Marie mentioned, and-
Dorothy Ferencz [01:17:59] No.
Interviewer [01:18:01] Do you think that helped as far as the glue that made you guys talk so much? I guess-
Dorothy Ferencz [01:18:08] Well, I don’t know. As kids, or was it just so much happening? Well, as kids, we didn’t hang out together unless it was a school or at band practice. But at home, when you got home, you didn’t have- You were working at home, you were either cleaning or cooking or helping out. You didn’t have time to fool around much after school. But at school we were together. And at other meeting, like band, football games we were together at band we were together. But after school you were mostly at home doing something. You were never just playing.
Interviewer [01:18:43] Okay, so I’m just gonna make a roundabout guess.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:18:54] Well, somewhere along the line, I think we had a telephone. My father had a car. It was a Franklin, whatever that was.
Interviewer [01:19:00] Yeah, but for most of you guys’ childhood, there was no phone.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:19:03] Right. No phone. We had a phone in this because we had a store. We had a phone, but I don’t know who called us. [laughs] Pardon?
Marie McElroy [01:19:12] Yeah.
Dorothy Ferencz [01:19:13] Oh, sure. Oh, yeah. So.
Interviewer [01:19:17] So I’m gonna guesstimate that I’m sure you guys probably don’t want to tell me before I turn up, but I’m gonna guess that we’re all over 60 here?
Dorothy Ferencz [01:19:26] Oh, no, I don’t think so. [laughs] Let’s kill him now. You take part of him home and I’ll take the other part. Yes, that’s okay.
Interviewer [01:19:40] All over 70?
Dorothy Ferencz [01:19:42] Yes. Yes.
Interviewer [01:19:44] All over 80?
Dorothy Ferencz [01:19:45] Yes. Yes. No, not yet. Get out. Yeah, I’ll be 81 this December.
Marie McElroy [01:19:54] Mm hmm, March.
Interviewer [01:19:56] Oh, really?
Marie McElroy [01:19:57] March.
Interviewer [01:19:59] Do you guys see a lot of your friends your ages?
Dorothy Ferencz [01:20:02] We’re all just pretty much the same age.
Interviewer [01:20:05] Still alive.
Marie McElroy [01:20:06] Yes.
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