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Roesch, Genevieve (audio interview #1 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of three interviews conducted with Genevieve Roesch in her daughter's home in Fullerton. At the time of the interview, work was being done on her own home in Tujunga. Initially self conscious, she gradually warmed up and seemed to enjoy the interview process, noting that it was making her think about things she hadn't thought of for years. She was surprised when the tape was turned off, commenting on how much she was talking. 11/24/1980
- Date
- 2021-05-10
- Resource Type
- Creator
- Campus
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- Notes
- *** File: rrrgroesch1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:03-4:04)... Roesch was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1907. She was close to her grandmother and she lived with her for many years before she died when Roesch's own daughter was three years old. Roesch's grandfather was a minister and worked as a chaplain at a prison in Fort Madison, Iowa. He died when Roesch was seven years old and she remembers his funeral. After he died, her grandmother remarried a Civil War colonel and they moved to Gloversville, New York where he owned and operated a glove factory. Roesch visited her grandmother often and lived with her at one point for six months. (4:04-5:31)... Although she does not know much about her mother's background, after her mother died, Roesch became close with her uncle, who told her more about her mother's early years. (5:31-8:08)... Roesch's father pursued an electrical engineering career, and when she was nine years old, they moved to Panama where he was employed as an engineer on the construction of the Panama Canal. She lived there for four years, at the time that WWI began. (7:05-12:10)... Roesch's parents were neighbors and grew up together. Her mother was in her early twenties when they married, and did not work outside the home either before or afterwards. Roesch and her younger sister were born in Illinois. After they returned from Panama in the early 1920s, they stayed with their grandparents in Gloversville, New York until they moved to Long Beach, California. Roesch talks about her sister's marriage to an accomplished Mexican baseball player who met at Franklin High School in Los Angeles. They moved to Mexico City after they married because he was tired of the prejudicial treatment he received in California. (12:10-17:33)... Roesch started school in Chicago, but went to fourteen different schools before she entered high school because her family moved around a lot. When they moved to Panama, she stayed out of school for a year while her father awaited a government-issued home in an American zone. Although most of her friends were Americans, she also played with the Panamanian children whose parents could afford to send them to American schools. She left Panama when she was in the sixth grade. (17:33-18:38)... Roesch describes her childhood games. She was very athletic and enjoyed playing baseball. She continued to play sports in both junior high and senior high school. She graduated from Poly High School in Long Beach, where she played tennis, baseball, basketball, football, and field hockey. (18:38-19:17)... Roesch's favorite subject in school was art and she planned to go to Otis Art School after high school. Because her parents couldn't afford the tuition there, she decided to enroll at UCLA instead. However, she married before her first semester began. (19:17-21:58)... Roesch didn't know why her father decided to leave Panama and move to Long Beach, but she thought that it was probably a good idea to leave because of health risks. He worked there for six years. Many of the American families that lived near Roesch in Panama also moved to Long Beach and there a reunion picnic every year in Highland Park. Her father eventually got a job with Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles. He commuted to work until she graduated from high school, at which time they moved to Los Angeles. (21:58-23:23)... Roesch's mother did not talk to her about menstruation or sex. When she started her period it came as a surprise. Her mother did not explain anything after Roesch informed her what had happened. (23:23-24:36)... Whenever Roesch played baseball at home, it was with boys. When she was in junior high and high school, however, she was on a girls' baseball team. Her interest in baseball faded when she began playing tennis in high school. (24:36-26:01)... Roesch's main social activities in high school were dancing and going to the movies. Her family owned a radio and they listened to it often. Her husband was involved in radio electronics and they devoted an entire table in their home to radio components. End of tape. *** File: rrrgroesch2.mp3 (0:02-2:27)... At Poly High School, where she graduated in 1926, Roesch majored in art and thought about pursuing a career in commercial art. She gave up on the idea of going to Otis Art School because her parents could not afford the tuition. However, she had enough high-school credits to major in art at UCLA. (2:27-4:33)... Roesch was baptized and confirmed at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Panama. She recalls the day General Pershing and his nineteen-year-old son came to services at St. Luke's. During the short period she lived with her grandmother in New York, Roesch went to church three times on Sunday and once on Wednesday evenings. When her family moved to California, their church activities declined and she began going to whatever church most of her friends attended. Her church activities decreased even more after she married because her husband was agnostic. (4:33-5:01)... All of Roesch's relatives lived back East or in the Midwest while she was in California. (5:01-6:24)... Roesch and her sister were responsible for many of the household chores after they moved to California. Her mother worked part-time baby-sitting and doing other odd jobs for the Navy families that lived nearby. Her mother was an active woman who would rather be out doing things than be at home. She thinks that her mother was spoiled in Panama because she had a maid, freeing her up for other activities like the Eastern Stars. (6:24-8:17)... Although Roesch does not recall how her parents made decisions about managing their home, she believes that her mother was mainly in charge of things. She thinks that her parents were happily married, but to her "they were just old people." She describes her mother as a domineering woman and her father as a sweet and agreeable man. However, both parents were equally strict when she was young. (8:17-9:10)... Roesch began dating when she was in high school, going to the movies or playing tennis. On Sunday evenings, she told her parents that she was going to church with her boyfriend, but they usually went dancing instead. (9:10-10:45)... Roesch's family rented an apartment on Esther Street after they moved to Long Beach, which she recalls as a nice neighborhood. When she visited her old neighborhood in the late 1960s while she was attending a high-school reunion, it was very run down and was a predominantly neighborhood. (10:45-13:00)... Roesch's first job was at a "five and ten" when she was in high school. She then got a job in the hosiery department at Ingram's Department Store in downtown Long Beach, where she made .25 cents/hours, which was considered a lot of money at the time. She kept all of her wages and says that she probably spent her money foolishly. (13:00-17:44)... After Roesch graduated from high school, her family moved into a home in Los Angeles. She took about a year off after high school to contemplate her future, during which time she got a full-time job at a high-end department store in Beverly Hills. She decided to enroll at UCLA because many of her girlfriends were going to school there and she frequently stayed with them in the dormitories on campus. Her classes were scheduled to begin in September, but when she married in May 1927, she decided to forego college. After she married, she and her husband went to New Jersey where he was employed at an electronics company. They lived there for three years, during which time her son was born (1928). (17:44-18:49)... Roesch and her husband were originally married by a justice of the peace without her parents' knowledge. They were upset when they found out and demanded that she get married in the church. After their church wedding, her husband returned to New Jersey and she joined him there. She did not look for work in New Jersey because "after you got married in those days, you didn't work." (18:49-20:25)... Before she married, Roesch had not thought about starting a family, but discovered that she was pregnant soon after she married. When she wrote to her husband in New Jersey that she was pregnant, he sent her a dozen red roses. After she joined him in New Jersey, they moved in with his sister, where they lived for one or two years. (20:25-23:03)... Roesch's husband worked for an electronics company in New Jersey during the Depression. When they returned to California, however, he had a difficult time finding work in his field and did various odd jobs to make ends meet. In 1931, he got a job with a company that manufactured radios and refrigerators in Eagle Rock. They moved to that area and she gave birth to a daughter in 1933. (23:03-25:01)... Describing her daily routine as a homemaker when she lived in Eagle Rock, Roesch notes that in addition to joining the PTA, she maintained an active social life. She and her husband liked to entertain at home and socialize with their friends. Her husband eventually became the sole operator of the electronics store in Eagle Rock. When he closed the store at night, they went to the movies or to nightclubs with friends. (25:01-25:48)... Roesch and her husband separated and divorced in 1935, at which time she enrolled in classes at a business college in Glendale. Although she held various jobs to support her children, she mainly worked for an attorney on a part-time basis up to the war years. End of tape. *** File: rrrgroesch3.mp3 (0:00-2:03)... Roesch's husband made all of the household and financial decisions, which she notes was one of the problems in their marriage. She never felt that it was necessary for them to develop a budget for household expenditures during their marriage, and she does not believe that they had a checking account. She did not begin budgeting her income until after she built her first home in 1953. (2:03-9:48)... Roesch and her husband (Douglas Roesch) divorced in 1935. He provided her child support, but it was necessary for her to work after the divorce. She stayed with her mother-in-law for a couple of months until she found a place of her own. At that time, Roesch's grandmother moved in and took care of her children while she went to business college. Her ex-husband eventually remarried and had three children. He operated Douglas Roesch Communications until he drowned in a sailing accident in 1954, at which time their son, Roland, inherited the business. Roland struggled for awhile before he decided to merge his business with another electronics company in Los Angles and their business became one of the largest sound companies in the area. (9:48-13:07)... Roesch attended Glendale Business College for approximately one year. She worked for an attorney on a sporadic basis for about three or four years; he paid her according to the type of work she completed. In the mean time, she halfheartedly looked for work in Los Angeles, explaining that she was able to support her children on the eighty-five dollars a month provided by her ex-husband. She rented a home in northern Pasadena because she thought the climate would be better for her son's asthmatic condition. However, when this failed, she moved her family to Tujunga and his condition improved in a matter of two or three years. (13:07-15:24)... Roesch and her children moved to Tujunga in 1939. Later, she got a part-time job at the local five and dime where she worked for two weeks before applying for a job at Lockheed in 1942. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Genevieve Roesch went to work at Lockheed in 1942 fully intending to work there for only one year, doing her part for the war effort. Born in Chicago, the first of two children, Roesch joined her engineer father in the Panama Canal Zone when she was nine years old. The family left the canal and moved to Long Beach in 1920, where she graduated from high school, after which she worked as a sales clerk for two years. She married in 1927 and went with her husband to New Jersey, returning to Los Angeles in 1931. She remained a full-time homemaker, caring for her two children, until 1939, when she began working part-time in various clerical and sales jobs. Her part-time earnings and the partial support from her ex-husband was enough for her to live comfortably. Although she originally planned to join the war effort for a short duration, she began to enjoy the regular paycheck. She transferred out of production work into a clerical position after one and half years, and continued as a clerk at Lockheed for the next thirty one years. TOPICS - family background; father's career and work history; move to Panama; schooling; housing and living arrangements in Panama; childhood; sports and athletic interests; move to Long Beach; sister's marriage to a Mexieducational and career expectations; religion; household chores; mother's work history; parents marital relationship; dating; housing and living arrangements; early work experiences; meeting and marrying husband; pmarital relationship; divorce; ex-husband's family background and electronics business; ex-husband's death; business college; financial arrangements with ex-husband; early work history; move to Pasadena and Tujunga
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8442536555104947-rrrgroesch1.mp3 | 2023-10-18 | Public | Download | |
2723828914108951-rrrgroesch2.mp3 | 2023-10-18 | Public | Download | |
2996619038782144-rrrgroesch3.mp3 | 2023-10-18 | Public | Download | |
3694542562215324-rrrgroesch1.jpg | 2023-10-18 | Public | Download |