Oral History- Gertrude Jay Lewis

This week I found a good site for oral history documents at http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu. The one I read was by a woman named Gertrude Jay Lewis and her experience with the home front during WWII and also the cold war during her life. She was born and raised in New Jersey and was in high school during WWII. The interviewer asked a lot of questions about how she was raised, the impact of the depression in her childhood and religion. She was raised Jewish, but was never really religious until after WWII and the holocaust. She was interested in Mathematics, but didn't finish her education until after she had children. She went to college first in Cincinnati, where she met her husband and then later transferred to Rutgers after they were married. It was also interesting to note that her mother got a degree even when her husband didn't support it. She had three daughters, all of whom graduated from college and have great careers. The feminism that came out of just one family is pretty impressive. It was interesting the way she described the momentous events of WWII as just being on the back of her mind, exciting, but not directly related to herself. I think it is true no matter what generation is the focus.

Megan Fotheringham