Stories of Survival

About

Through dozens of in-depth interviews representing all sections of the state, farm families recall their best times, their worst times, and day-to-day experiences such as chores, washing, bathing, clothes making, medical care, home remedies, spiritual life, courtship and marriage, and school experiences. Their stories reveal how ordinary men and women, frequently living in abject poverty, endured cataclysmic natural disasters and economic collapse with extraordinary courage, faith, resourcefulness, and a good sense of humor.

Author

William D. Downs Jr. is professor emeritus of mass communications at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where he served as chair of the department for more than forty years. A graduate of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, he also received MA and PhD degrees from the University of Missouri–Columbia.