Essay Comparing Livingston And Dora Strong Dennis

Daisy Thomas Livingston and Dora Strong Dennis both experienced different and similar experiences during the early and mid-1900’s.
The Jim Crow Laws came about that gave the meaning to any state law passed in the south that established different rules for blacks and whites. Daisy Thomas Livingston was born on March 25, 1926 in Greenwood, Mississippi. Livingston didn’t grow up on a farm but grew up in a subdivision. There was a work place called the Buckeye Oil Mill. The oil mill made cottonseed oil which extracted the seed from the cotton and made oil. Mostly the men worked the cotton fields.
Mississippi during the 1950’s and 1960’s were a series of destructive racial segregation laws that were put in place during the early 20th century that led to the Jim Crow Laws. This resulted in the emigration of almost half a million people; three quarters of them were black. At the age of 18 Livingston was married and started to attend Valley State in 1951. She wanted a new start in a different part of Mississippi. The women back then were under segregation and were excluded from different jobs that most of them worked as maids. The working class woman during this era was earning less money than a black man doing the same job. However black men would do

more of the yard work such as working in the fields. During this time the Great Depression was catastrophic mostly towards the black males. When the men worked at the Buckeye Oil Mill and cotton fields it became extremely difficult to hold their jobs. Livingston watched as this caused blacks to be laid off from their jobs. She remembers the Great Depression hurting her dad the most which caused a lot of issues.
School was very important during these times. The difference between Livingston and Dennis was that Livingston was able to fulfill her education in school while Dennis didn’t attend school because she had to work. Livingston was a very smart girl in school. Very few blacks received any education at all until public schools were established during the reconstruction time period. In class Livingston remembers being separated from the whites. The black schools had fewer books and horrible buildings. Black teachers and parents worked to improve schools but the city and county school boards gave less money for black schools than white schools.
“But I never liked being made to feel like a second class citizen. Of course I never liked that”. –Livingston
When Livingston would work they were taught Negro spirituals. They were passed were passed on for years which expressed a yearning for a better life and the need for a closer walk with god. The spirituals often revealed the struggles for survival and reflect worship experiences that expressed their hope for possibilities. She remembers doing a verse to make the song so it will be more interesting. Female African American nurses had it harder than most. They were in a profession still striving for equality and respect within the medical community. During the Jim Crow Era was the effect on the health care of African Americans. Between poverty and racism this put blacks in the south in a very compromising position. Blacks had to endure poor living conditions and the lack of available medical care due to the Jim Crow Laws. In the hospital that she worked in due to segregation blacks and whites were put into different sections of the hospital.
Voting was also a big issue during Livingston’s time. Law and practices were put in to make sure blacks would not freely participate in elections. The only problem was the 15th Amendment which granted blacks the right to vote. Mississippi led the way in overcoming the barrier presented by the 15th Amendment.
Years later her husband joined the military. Black men were serving in all combat service elements and were involved in all major combat operations. The most Livingston remembers when she was younger was her grade school teacher. He taught her a lot about herself and the person that she had become.
Dora Strong Dennis was born on November, 6th, 1900 in Mississippi in the country.

Dennis and her family moved to Arkansas. During the early 1900’s opportunities for better work. They had little choice but to attempt to achieve group advancement through economic initiatives and pursuit of better work. Dennis’s mom had become a nurse. This job was very common to have during this time. Instead of going to school she worked. Things were a lot different in the early 1900’s than it was in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Dennis more of a church going person. Church was very important to the family. They relied heavily on their churches. It made them retain their faith in God and found refuge in their churches even when it was

segregated.
Livingston and Dennis were both strong women who endured similarities and differences during their lifetime. Livingston was more educated than Dennis. Both women were hard workers who had to go through many struggles as two black women.