Etta Feild Caves

WN: --Tuesday, December 4, I'm Wanda Newton and I'm at the Rainbow Nursing Home and we're going to have a little conversation with Etta Feild Caves. Etta Feild how long have you been in the nursing home now, do you remember? (pause) I don't know, do you?

EFC: No.

WN: Okay, about a year, would you say?

EFC: Oh, yeah. About a year.

WN: Okay, Etta Feild, can you tell us when you were born?

EFC: Yes, I was born January 12, 1904.

WN: And were you born in Bristow?

EFC: No, I was born in Mississippi, and I--

WN: When did you leave Mississippi?

EFC: I left Mississippi when I was ten years old.

WN: Did you come directly to Bristow?

EFC: And came directly to Oklahoma. I had visited out here before but that was the first time.

WN: Who did you visit when you came out here?

EFC: I visited the R.L. Joneses.

WN: They were already here?

EFC: Yeah. Well, that wasn't here, that was in Drumright Field.

WN: Oh, in Drumright. And when did you move to Bristow, do you remember that? About when?

EFC: In--I had moved to Bristow when I was ten years old and so that was nineteen hundred and--

WN: Let's see you were born in--

EFC: In nineteen hundred and fourteen.

WN: 1914. Where did you live when you first came to Bristow? Do you remember 00:02:00which house you lived in?

EFC: The house I lived in isn't standing today. It was across there from the (pause)

WN: That's alright.

EFC: (pause) --from the-- (sighs)

WN: Now don't worry about it.

EFC: --the--(pause)

WN: Or maybe you'll think of it pretty soon.

EFC: Wait just a minute. Anyway it's almost on the side of the Legion.

WN: Oh, the Legion Hut?

EFC: Yes!

WN: Oh! And then when did you move in the house on east 11th. Didn't you live on east 11th?

EFC: East 11th.

WN: Did you live--didn't you live in a two-story house there?

EFC: Yes--

WN: Isn't that where my brother lives now, did you not live there?

EFC: Yes, I lived there longer than any place but oh, so many houses in between.

WN: Oh, so many in between. Did you--

pause in recording

WN: How many brothers and sisters did you have, Etta Feild?

EFC: I was the oldest, and then Mary Helen, my sister, is twelve years younger than me. And the third boy, the oldest one, was Robert Lee. And he was always 00:04:00called 'Brother.' And Brother (pause) Well, let's see, he was almost two years younger than me, his birthday was in October. Then along about I'm thinking six years younger than me were the twins, and they were Vernon and Edward.

WN: I didn't know they were twins! I never did know that. Can you think of 00:05:00anything that was outstanding in your childhood that you remember real well about anything that you did when you were little, Etta Feild?

EFC: Yes, I can recall Aunt Allie--Mrs. Monfort Jones--having us in when she was entertaining one of the womens' clubs. I don't know what that could have been. And it was to hear a lady who was the instructor down at Chickasaw, and the principal thing that she gave was Enith (ph) Ardon (ph).

WN: You mean she gave the reading?

EFC: Yeah.

WN: My word!

EFC: We sat on the staircases and--

WN: And listened?

EFC: Well, we children did.

WN: So now, you always had Negro help didn't you, Etta Feild? When you were a child?

EFC: Yes, I think we always did.

WN: I remember Mrs. Jones always had help. We don't have it like that, now. Can you tell us anything about your early school? Where did you go to school, Etta Feild? Do you remember where the school was?

EFC: Well, the first year when I was in school the building stood there where Edison is. And I was just there but one year and anything. And there was six grades.

WN: Do you remember any of your early schoolteachers, Etta Feild? The names of any of them? (pause) I can't remember any of mine, I thought you might've had a special--you never did get a spanking in school, did you?

EFC: No. Now we had a man teacher that--to start out with, which was a different--you know, from Mississippi.

WN: (laughs)

EFC: And that man was--well, maybe I'll recall it later on.

WN: Well, that's alright. Mother had a man by the name of Mr. (John F.) Sharp, but that wouldn't have been him, would it?

EFC: No, Mr. Sharp was still connected with the school but he wasn't--may have been still head of the

WN: Of the schools at that time? Do you remember any of your schoolbooks? I remember looking in the old library, you know, list of the newspapers and I saw that the Joneses and some of the people were sort of responsible about getting a library at that time. We didn't even have a library.

EFC: No, we didn't have a library.

WN: What did you do for entertainment?

EFC: Well, we read books ourselves and certain ones were read aloud, you see, to a group of children, maybe.

WN: How about your lessons at home? Did you parents make you study your lessons at home?

EFC: Oh, yes, we studied our lessons at home at night.

WN: And your parents listened to you read and everything? You didn't have any radios or anything like that so you spent your time--did you have to sew? Learn to sew? What did you have to learn to do as a child? You didn't have any chores that you had to do, did you Etta Feild?

EFC: I don't think so, except to look after the younger ones. (laughs)

WN: With brothers that can be a chore sometimes, too. And how about your clothing? Did your mother make your clothing?

EFC: Yes. Mother made some of it but generally it was somebody who was real good about making clothes.

WN: Like a seamstress.

EFC: They were kind of, a little fancy, like these pants that we wore, why, they had tucks in them and--

WN: Lots of lace, didn't they? Did you have a lot of lace?

EFC: They might've had lace on the bottoms. [Indecipherable] lace.

WN: Did you ever have to iron any of them? Did you have to learn to iron or do anything like that?

EFC: I don't think so. I don't believe I learned to iron at that time.

WN: Okay, can you think of anything special that you remember about your early church, Etta Feild?

EFC: Well, I know that it was a wooden one, and it sits right there where the Methodist Church is now.

WN: And you've always been a Methodist? Were you Methodist in Mississippi, too?

EFC: I was Presbyterian and then a Methodist in Mississippi, and out here, why, 00:11:00I was a Methodist and then a Presbyterian when--in some later years.

WN: I know, Etta Feild, in my contact with you, you've always been so special to so many different people because you always did so much for everybody and you--and in your club work you were always so special. Can you tell me anything about the early clubs that you belonged to? I know I read in the paper, I think, did you belong to Embroidery Club and Culture Club and--do you remember--I know you've always done so many things and you've been so active in your church, I 00:12:00know that. But can you remember anything special that happened in any of the early events? (pause) I know the Culture Club and some of them helped start the libraries, I read in the paper where it had a library in a schoolroom once, but I didn't get to read the rest of the article, I thought maybe you might remember some of that. (pause) Did you all have a car?

EFC: Oh, yes. We had one car for all of us.

WN: But you--you don't remember using horses or carriages here in Bristow at all, do you? Or did you? Do you remember any of that?

EFC: I remember using horses when I came in from Drumright when I was eight 00:13:00years old, you know, [indecipherable].

WN: And you stayed with Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones then, over in Drumright?

EFC: Yes.

WN: So--

EFC: And then I stayed with them, some of those years and I went to school in Bristow when my family were out in the oilfields.

WN: Do you remember anything unusual that happened during the early oil days? Did they have difficulties then like they have now? You know, with workers or financing or can you remember any of them talking about anything like that?

EFC: Well of course you'd hear the bit about financing, you know, and at 00:14:00noontime the men would generally walk home from down at the American National Bank--

WN: Everybody came home for lunch, didn't they?

EFC: Yeah, for lunch. And then walked back.

WN: What's the farthest you ever had to walk for school or anything? (pause) You never had to walk a long way, did you, or did they take you to school?

EFC: The third and fourth year in the seventh--eighth grade I had learned to ride a bicycle and that's the way that I went from up on 11th street--let's see, 10th street--

WN: And went to school on your bicycle. Do you remember any early Christmas celebrations you had? Anything special you ever got? A doll, or anything that was really wonderful to you?

EFC: Well, I wasn't so very fond of dolls and so I never did--(laughs)--have any of those, and--

WN: But did you like books and games better or what, Etta Feild?

EFC: Yes, I think so.

WN: And birds, I know you've always liked birds, haven't you?

EFC: Yes, but I don't know that we had any books on birds in those days.

WN: I thought maybe you might've had a canary or something for a pet. Did you ever have a dog for a pet?

EFC: No, I never did. We had a dog when we were over where--the Fords, you know.

WN: And then, Etta Feild, after you finished high school, you finished high school here in Bristow? Did you finish high school in Bristow? Or did you go to a private school? Do you remember if you finished high school in Bristow?

EFC: Oh, I finished high school in Bristow, yes.

WN: And then you went from there to what school? Did you go to Ward-Belmont or where did you go?

EFC: I went to Washington, D.C. because I had an uncle and aunt who had moved to 00:17:00Washington, and it was called National Park Seminary.

WN: All girls?

EFC: Yes. All girls.

WN: And then you came back to Bristow? What did you do after you finished school?

EFC: Well, I get mixed up on the--

WN: Is that when you took a trip to Europe, or were you in school when you took your trip to Europe? Your first trip? (pause) Or had you finished school? Do you remember?

EFC: Well, I took two trips to Europe and I think they were ten years apart, something like that.

WN: Oh, look at your little sparrow! They're so cute, aren't they?

EFC: (laughs)

WN: Etta Feild, tell me--when you went back and forth to school, how you got 00:18:00there. Did you, somebody drive you back to Washington or did you all go on the train?

EFC: Went on the train, yes.

WN: And you caught the train from Bristow?

EFC: Yes.

WN: Can you tell us anything about the early days of catching the train in Bristow and about--now, I know that the depot was segregated, can you tell me anything about the white and the black, you know--when you traveled, you remember anything about the distinction they made between the white people and the black people when they traveled? Or at the depot or anything?

EFC: I--I can just recall it was mostly white people that rode on trains.

WN: Do you remember anything--

EFC: --and the trains left out of here, oh, five or six in the evening, you know, some of them would come down to the station and see us off--

WN: --meet the trains. Oh, that was always exciting, wasn't it? They used to love to watch the trains come in. Like Dickie Walker (ph), he used to go down and meet them with the girls. (laughs) When did you get married, Etta Feild, do you remember what year you were married?

EFC: Isn't that terrible, not be able to recall just exactly what year--

WN: I don't know what year I was married. I never can remember whether I got married in 1941 or '42, so no, it's not terrible. At least I'm going to say it's not terrible because I can't ever remember, either. So I don't know. And can you 00:20:00tell us who you married, Etta Feild?

EFC: Yes, I married (husband, Boyd Forbes Caves)

WN: You'll think of it. Handsome young man.

EFC: Yes, of course he was a handsome young man! He was a little older than me and--

WN: Did your parents object? Did they think he was too old for you?

EFC: No, they didn't have anything to say about it. It was after we left Mississippi that I married him and he came down to Tchula, Mississippi and down there and we had a wedding party and my cousins were the bridesmaids, you know.

WN: Oh, well how exciting, I didn't know that! And then you all came back to Bristow, and--

EFC: Yes, and he was a good friend of the Wolfs--a Steve Wolf, and Mrs. Wolf, and so he was in that house and I came right out there and would look after the house in a way, they had a cooking, and stay live in year after year.

WN: Was he a boarder at their house or was he related to them?

EFC: No, he wasn't related, he was just--I don't know, sort of like an adopted son.

WN: Oh, how wonderful. And then when did you all build your house on sixth 00:22:00street? You lived other places before you built your house on sixth street?

EFC: Well, let's see. We lived first in the Wolf house because they were not there. And so then we had tried to select our lot to live on and we wanted to live on the one down on the corner, but Mrs.-- (pause)

WN: Well, don't worry about it. She didn't want to sell her lot, or share it?

EFC: No, she didn't want to sell a lot.

WN: Is that the lot right next door where Marvin Sullivan's house was built? Is that the lot?

EFC: Right next door?

WN: Uh-huh. Or where Aileen Wagoner has her house? And the Sullivan house was built?

EFC: Yeah.

WN: So then you went across the street and got that lot, is that what you did? And when did you build that house, do you remember what--

pause in recording

WN: Was Elaine born in that house that you built on sixth street?

EFC: No, she wasn't. We lived in one house--we lived in two houses--

WN: Oh, you did? You lived in that house where Norma Smallwood lived at one time? Where Margie Neal lives now?

EFC: Yes, we lived there the second. The first one went up--we lived (pause) 00:24:00almost across the street on seventh street.

WN: On seventh street. And then you built your house after Elaine (Caves Nolan) was what, about two or three years old? Or how old was Elaine when you started building your house, do you remember?

EFC: She could walk because I have on a--

WN: On a movie?

EFC: [Indecipherable.]

WN: But now Denise (Caves) now was born in that house.

EFC: Yes.

WN: Okay. So, anyway, now, so we've got you here on sixth street and you've had 00:25:00a wonderful, wonderful life and have certainly been an asset to our community. And I see where the park entryway has your name on it, and I think that's a nice thing for our community, also, honoring Etta Feild Caves who certainly was one of the pioneer garden people in Bristow. Can you tell me anything about some of the early people that you worked with? I know Mrs. (JV "Beula") Dorman was--

EFC: Yes, Mrs. Dorman was a real hard worker and gardened--

WN: She was one of the first people to get the flowers started at the entryway and then what was the lady who lived south of town out on the oil camp that helped so much with the garden club? Do you remember her name? Then she moved to 00:26:00Texas? When her husband died? And she had a daughter? But Mrs. Dorman and you all worked so hard with those children out at the park, I can see you yet--you all out there getting the little Junior Garden Club people to try to be interested in helping their community. Was Mrs. Kelly in Garden Club, too?

EFC: Yes.

WN: Because I remember she tried to get projects down there by the Hamburger King, you know, beautification? You all were always doing something that was to help. I can remember you, too, helping so many children who needed clothing and how many times you came by my house with garments for children to be fixed and what a wonderful thing you did, Etta Feild. See, you've forgotten all those 00:27:00things you did, haven't you? Well, other people haven't forgotten. Okay.

end of interview