Oral History Program Joseph V. Morrell Interviewed by Mack S. Taft circa 1960s Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Joseph V. Morrell Interviewed by Mack S. Taft circa 1960s Copyright © 2016 by Weber State University, Stewart Library iii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description The Great Depression in Weber County, Utah, is an Oral History Project by Mack S. Taft for completion of his Master’s Thesis at Utah State University during the summer of 1969. The forty-five interviews address the Great Depression through the eyes of individuals in several different occupations including: Bankers, Laborers, Railroad Workers, Attorneys, Farmers, Educators, Businessmen, Community and Church Leaders, Housewives, Children and Physicians. All of these individuals lived in Weber County from 1929 to 1941. The interviews were based on what they remembered about the depression, how they felt about those events and how it affected their life then and now. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Morrell, Joseph V., an oral history by Mack S. Taft, circa 1960s, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. 1 Abstract: This is an oral history interview with Dr. Joseph V. Morrell. Dr. Morrell discusses the 1918 flu epidemic, practicing medicine and surgery for the railroads, and trying to maintain a medical practice during the Depression. In 1917 his family purchased a home built by David Eccles for one of his children. The interviewer is Mack Taft. MT: Where did you live during the Depression years, from 1929-39? JM: I lived here in Ogden. MT: And what was your profession? JM: I was a physician, general practice. MT: Did you have any unique practice of any nature here in Ogden at that time? JM: Well, I was a surgeon for all the railroads here in Ogden at that time. MT: What were the problems of a doctor during the Depression years, Dr. Morrell? JM: Well, my particular problem, of course, was the scarcity of doctors in Ogden at that time. Many of them had gone into the service, and we were kept pretty busy at that time. MT: What would a new doctor’s problems have been? JM: Well, it was only about ten years previous that influenza had raged over this whole country, which lasted for about three years. That was one of the most severe experiences that we ever had. MT: What year did you start your practice here in Weber County? JM: In 1907. MT: And you went out of practice when? JM: Well, I retired in 1944 as a result of hip joint disease that came on very suddenly 2 and kept me on crutches and in bed for eleven years. Then after eleven years and several operations, I managed to get freedom from pain and the stiff hip, and I was able to get employment with the Utah General Depot with the US Government for military service. I was able to carry on the kind of activity that they needed. Then for an additional eleven years, I kept up that employment, retiring only after I became 88 years of age. MT: And now how old are you? JM: Ninety-two. MT: Do you remember anything particularly about the Depression years, 1929-39, that might be of interest to people? JM: Well, I was employed mostly at that time by the railroad companies. There were three of them, and while I did do a little general practice, I was employed most of the time with my railroad work. That work occupied my time pretty generally. The noticeable thing for me was that their business, as well as the general business in the community, had been very limited, and they reduced their wages by fifty percent, which made difficult going for me because it still consumed all of my time but made the going pretty hard. Salaries at that time were very low anyhow, and my income from my medical practice at that time was never enough to satisfy all of our needs. We had a growing family, and it became pretty tough. MT: Do you remember any of the new doctors who came in during that time? What would have been some of their problems in starting out during that time? JM: Well, of course, incomes for everybody were very definitely limited. It made tough going for all classes in the community. Prices of goods were very low, but 3 you didn’t have anything to buy with. But it did mean that, while we were still trying to get started, we would buy what we needed at the low prices even though it became very difficult. I had a considerable amount of life insurance, and I sacrificed a considerable amount of that to buy some rugs like we have on the floor here. We covered the floor with oriental rugs, which in the meantime were a great convenience for us because then we didn’t have to find any additional rugs. Other things were the same way. We tried to buy although we had to sacrifice. But, in the end, it was a very good investment for us. MT: Did you participate at all in the script program, where the professional people would get produce from the farmers as payment for their services? JM: I don’t remember now just what we did in the way of script. I think we were issued, but we had something that we had to show to get gasoline. MT: Do you remember anything else from the Depression years that would be helpful to mention – the difficulty of collecting money and so forth...? JM: Well, the collection of money during the Depression was just zero. The only money that I collected was what I got in the way of salary, but salaries were limited to amounts of, I believe, $125 a month from two railroads, and the third one $50 a month. So the total income was only about $300 a month. And I had to furnish everything out of that. So everybody suffered. MT: Did the farmers ever pay you with produce or anything along that line? JM: Yes, to a certain extent. We got vegetables and fruit, particularly fruit. Prices were low, however, so it was not difficult to live if you did have some income. But during that time, as I said, I sacrificed about $15,000 in life insurance, and that 4 made it possible to get food. MT: When did you build your home here? JM: Well, we didn’t build a home. This home was built ...by David Eccles about 1906 or 1907, and we bought it in 1917. He built three homes here for three of his children, and then they were all vacated, by the time we bought ours, by his families.