INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of two interviews with Beatrice Morales Clifton, conducted at the dining room table in her home in Sylmar. Although she was initially nervous when the tape recorder was started, once she warmed up, the words came gushing forth.
1/23/1981
Description:
SUBJECT BIO - When Beatrice Morales Clifton went to work at Lockheed in 1942, her life was forever changed. She had never worked outside the home before, and in fact going to Lockheed was practically the first time she had gone anywhere on her own. Born in Marfa, Texas, the last of three children, Clifton's family moved to San Bernardino, California when was still an infant. While still in high school, at the age of fifteen, she married a man twelve years her senior. By the time she left him at age eighteen or nineteen, she was already the mother of two. She had two more children with her second husband, whom she married in 1935. Although her second husband was a "good husband," he was very traditional and strongly objected to his wife taking a defense job. Although she initially defied him, she returned home when one of her children became sick. Not satisfied with her old way of life, she tried several jobs after the war and in 1951 returned to Lockheed Aircraft. Shortly afterwards, she divorced her second husband, and subsequently was married two more times, to men who worked at Lockheed. She continued working at Lockheed until her retirement in 1978, working her way up the pay scale. Clifton, a warm and exuberant woman, was an eager participant - almost as though she had just been waiting for someone to whom she could tell her story. Although she was open and communicative, it took her time to "warm up" to the interview. As a result, I decided to interview her in two longer sessions rather than the usual three. Once she did warm up, the words came rushing forth. All the interviews were conducted sitting at her dining room table in her modest home in a semi-rural neighborhood of Sylmar, which she shared with a companion and a dog. Her house was filled with her handiwork, including embroideries and ceramics. Her backyard, which was filled with flowers, was divided into a space for a large Winnebago and boat and a fenced area where she kept chickens and goats.
TOPICS - family background; family life; childhood; and education;family life; education; menstruation; religion; marital relationship; husbands; childbirth; children; health; and work;husband and marital relationship; social activities; friends; children; family background; defense work at Lockheed; sexism; work clothing; and plant environment at Lockheed;
