INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Boggs seemed self conscious in this first interview, concerned about relating her story "well." Nevertheless, she spoke openly about her feelings and was not self-censoring.
5/1/1981
Description:
SUBJECT BIO - Betty Jeanne Boggs was only seventeen years old when she went to work at Doaks Manufacturing shortly after the family moved to Los Angeles.. Born in 1926, Boggs was raised in the northwest, and when graduated from high school, at sixteen, enrolled in the Jesuit-run Seattle University with the intention of majoring in aeronautical engineering. When her father was transferred to Los Angeles, she planned on continuing her course of study at Loyola University. However, when the Jesuits there quashed that idea, she and her mother both went to work in the aircraft industry instead. Before war's end, the family moved back to the northwest, and Boggs eventually enrolled again at Seattle University, where she met her future husband. After they married, they alternated finishing their college studies and working. She worked at Sylvania Electric until the birth of her second child, at which time she left the work force. As Boggs' children grew older, she returned to school and eventually earned an MFA (Masters of Fine Arts Degree). The spacious back yard of her hilltop home in Eagle Rock was graced by her sculptures: a massive ensemble of life sized stone figures. The three interviews with Boggs were conducted by Jan Fischer. Although she was initially self conscious and concerned about relating her story "well," she became more relaxed as each interview progressed. She was often dressed in the clothes that she wore to work at her table saw, and was delighted to show her work area and her art.
TOPICS - family background; parents; schooling; childhood; play activities; clothing; economic status; menstruation; and mother's attitudes towards men;gender roles; family life; relationship with parents; schooling; social activities; career aspirations; defense preparation; college; father's career; and Pearl Harbor;college; career aspirations; husband; move to California; defense work; and social activities;
