All Anybody Ever Wanted of Me Was to Work: The Memoirs of Edith Bradley Rendleman

Shawnee Books

by Edith Bradley Rendleman, Professor Jane ADAMS (Editor)

From All Anybody Ever Wanted of Me Was to Work... "Starting around 1950, people stopped raising chickens, milking cows, and raising hogs. They just buy it at the store, ready to eat. A lot buy a steer and have it processed in Dongola and put it in their freezer. What a difference! Girls have got it so easy now. They don't even know what it was like to start out. And I guess my mother's life, when she started out, was as hard again as mine, because they had to make everything by hand. I don't know if it could get any easier for these girls. But they don't know what it was like, and they never will. Everything is packaged. All you do is go to the store and buy you a package and cook it. Automatic washers and dryers. I'm glad they don't have to work like I did. Very glad." Edith Bradley Rendleman's story of her life in southern Illinois is remarkable in many ways. Recalling the first half of the twentieth century in great detail, she vividly cites vignettes from her childhood as her family moved from farm to farm until settling in 1909 in the Mississippi bottoms of Wolf Lake. She recounts the lives and times of her family and neighbors during an era gone forever. Remarkable for the vivid details that evoke the past, Rendleman's account is rare in another memoirs of the time—usually written by people from elite or urban families—often reek of nostalgia. But Rendleman's memoir differs from the norm. Born poor in rural southern Illinois, she tells an unvarnished tale of what it was really like growing up on a tenant farm early this century.

240 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 1996

Reviews

[Diane Cambron]

Personal reminiscences of a woman born and raised in Union County, Illinois, where my dad’s family is from. She was of the same age as my grandparents, born around 1900. Her husband distantly related to my family. It was interesting for its insight into farm life during the early 20th century. It was a hard life, especially for women. I’m not going to give it stars because it was never intended to be read by the public at large, and it is not professionally written. It will go in my family history collection.

[Alan Emshoff]

My Grandfather's family Elbert (Al) Ballance. I knew very little about this family until I discovered the family tree in the back. Now I have more information on this side of the family than any other side.

[Dawn]

Through text and pictures, Edith opens the time window and lets us take a thorough look. I especially enjoyed this as my mother and her family lived in this bottom corner of Illinois.

[Virginia]

One of my favourite memoirs of all time. The pictures are wonderful, and I looked at them so often I was able to recognize the same people in later photos. They felt like my own family. I'm still so sorry I never got to meet Edith as she feels like an old friend now. Highly recommended reading.