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<p>DALLAS &#8212; The fifth-graders at Wycallis Elementary School in Dallas were recently learning about the Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world.</p><p>The Great Depression began in 1929 when the stock market crashed, wiping out millions of investors. It lasted for 10 years and America fell on very hard times.</p><p>We all heard those stories when we were growing up. Our parents and grandparents would tell us how good we have it now and how bad it was during the Depression.</p><p>And they were right, yet we really never seemed to grasp just how bad a time it was back then.</p><p>So these fifth-graders wanted to learn all they could. It so happens that one of their teachers had a great source with great knowledge of the Great Depression &#8212; her grandfather.</p><p>Cara Nolan is the teacher &#8212; her grandfather is Jack Martin, who will turn 96 in April 2019. Jack was born in 1923, so he was 6 when the Great Depression hit and by the time it ended in 1939, he was almost 16.</p><p>Jack&#8217;s memories of those difficult times are vivid and he shared them with his granddaughter&#8217;s fifth-grade class on Nov. 13.</p><p>Jack spoke to the reading classes of Rachael Hayes, Stephanie Wycallis, Susan Timlin and Nolan at Wycallis Elementary. Nolan said this was one of the few times the kids had a speaker giving a first-hand account of the Great Depression.</p><p>Nolan said Jack talked about his family &#8212; how they were in a good financial position because his father was a supervisor in a silk mill in Connellsville which was doing well through the Depression. Jack said people came to his house for help, often having neighbors over for dinner. Jack said the railroad knew the Martin home was a place people could come for a meal and would actually send people to their home.</p><p>Jack told the kids about the long bread lines and how people waited for other items like pork in a can. Jack said his aunt baked bread and his mother would buy bread from them to help them make some money. Some people sold apples &#8212; anything they could to make money, he said.</p><p>Jack said people were so desperate for sources to heat their homes, they would pick coal and use anything available.</p><p>When people would get behind on their rent, they would move out in the middle of the night so they wouldn&#8217;t lose their possessions.</p><p>Jack told the students the average wage was 32 cents an hour and no overtime pay. People would work up to 12 hours a day. Movies were 10 cents. Many people didn&#8217;t have cars.</p><p>Jack said President Franklin D. Roosevelt started the WPA &#8212; Works Progress Administration &#8212; in 1933, employing millions of people to carry out public works projects. The old wall at Huber Field in Plymouth was one example of the great work done by the WPA.</p><p>Jack told the kids that not many people had telephones and a lot shared party lines. For entertainment, Jack said the kids would play kick ball in the streets, using a tin can for a ball. Jack said when the circus would come to town, it was a big event. Jack&#8217;s parents would give him extra money so he could take his friends with him.</p><p>Nolan said the kids were very interested and had a lot of questions. They asked what kinds of games kids played and they wanted to know what kind of movies played back then.</p><p>When I visited with Jack, he said he remembered going to the store for 15 cents worth of minced ham. He said many people opened their doors to others, giving them shelter and food.</p><p>&#8220;We took care of one another,&#8221; Jack said.</p><p>His visit with the fifth-graders was a learning experience for sure. And it points to the valuable resource we have here in our older population. Most kids these days just use their disposable thumbs and Google to seek answers to their questions.</p><p>But there is no better way to learn than to listen to the voices of experience &#8212; voices like Jack Martin&#8217;s.</p><p>We all have the opportunity to learn from our elders &#8212; to gain knowledge from their wisdom and years of experience. We can learn so much about so many topics, like the Great Depression, but also about things like morals and values and hard work and sacrifice and compassion and community.</p><p>As we walk through life, take some time to take advantage of the wisdom of our older citizens. We can learn so much &#8212; just like the kids at Wycallis did from Jack Martin.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_Columnshot-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_Jack-Martin-and-great-grandaughter-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jack Martin and his great-granddaughter, Riley Nolan, pose with a card filled with thank-you notes from the fifth-grade students at Wycallis Elementary School in Dallas. Martin recently spoke to the students about the Great Depression. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_Jack-Martin-and-great-grandaughter-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Jack Martin and his great-granddaughter, Riley Nolan, pose with a card filled with thank-you notes from the fifth-grade students at Wycallis Elementary School in Dallas. Martin recently spoke to the students about the Great Depression. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Hearing history from someone who was there