White And Poor.all 13 Of Us

John Blanchard, the youngest of 13 redheaded children, did not know he was poor as he bent over cotton stalks in a scorching August sun at age 12, striving to make at least a dollar that day by picking and sacking 200 pounds of the white fleecy stuff. It was 1934, the Great Depression had been underway for five years. His family, dependent upon cotton as a cash crop for most of their needs, could see no end to hard times and near-destitute circumstances as banks closed, food lines expanded, and a cloud settled over the nation, as FDR made many offers and promises of a New Deal. The family, prouder and clannish, are white, but color-blind to all in need. It was before official integration, but living together meant the salvation of body and mind, with a little Baptist thrown in.