Maurie Cardwell Born about 1906 in Kentucky
Inmate: #5159 Grand Rapids Jail
Rec: 5 July 1930
Crime: Prostitution
Age: 24
Fined $50
Married
Beatrice Johnson Born about 1908 in Cleveland, OH
Inmate: #5694 Grand Rapids Jail
Rec:13 Aug 1931
Crime: Prostitution
Age: 23
Married
Theresa Williams Born about 1903 Thomasville, GA
Inmate: #6640 Grand Rapids Jail
Rec: 17 Mar 1934
Crime: Prostitution
Age: 31
30 days in jail
Married
The Great Depression was from October 29, 1929 – 1939. Ten years of hardships.
Arrests of women nearly doubled as the Depression came to affect the citizens of Grand Rapids, although still remaining a distinct minority in comparison to male arrests The effect of the Depression on women is also seen in an examination of the marital
status of women. Table 4 does not provide obvious evidence to suggest a dramatic rise in the number of prostitutes arrested by the GRPD. Instead the rate is fairly constant throughout the years covered, and the changing martial statuses of the women profiled suggest the changing nature of the trade. In 1929 out of the six prostitutes arrested, four were single, one was married, and one divorced. By 1933 out of the nine women arrested on charges of prostitution, six were married, two single, and one widowed. When the prostitutes moved out the known ‘red light’ districts of the city and into the poorer and even working and lower middle class districts, the GRPD responded to the perceived threat to social order and arrested these women representing new and threatening signs of growing economic desperation and uncertainty.
Source:
From Drunken Drivers to Prostitutes and
Shoplifters: The Onset of the Great Depression and
Shifting Police Priorities in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, 1928-1934
Sarah J. Sweers
Grand Valley State University
Prostitution during the 1930s was still big. Prostitutes would get paid typically two dollars for fifteen minutes.
Women were largely uneducated beyond grade school, they were brought up to be wives and mothers.
During the Depression, unemployment and lack of income made family life a struggle, and having many kids wasn't ideal. Couples actively tried to avoid pregnancies and children, and methods of birth control became essential. The struggle over birth control during the first two decades of the 20th century brought the Comstock Act of 1873 to the forefront of political and social discussions. The act was used to condemn birth control advocates, but, during the Depression, many states passed legislation allowing for women to have access to contraception.
Many women welcomed birth control information and devices. Condoms for men were common, but with the push to have women control their own reproductive options, diaphragms and female condoms gave women the ability to actively control the size of their families. Early versions of inter-uterine devices and eventually the birth control pill continued to revolutionize reproduction. Fertility rates during the 1930s sunk to as few as two children per woman from over three children two decades earlier.
Inmate: #5159 Grand Rapids Jail
Rec: 5 July 1930
Crime: Prostitution
Age: 24
Fined $50
Married
Beatrice Johnson Born about 1908 in Cleveland, OH
Inmate: #5694 Grand Rapids Jail
Rec:13 Aug 1931
Crime: Prostitution
Age: 23
Married
Theresa Williams Born about 1903 Thomasville, GA
Inmate: #6640 Grand Rapids Jail
Rec: 17 Mar 1934
Crime: Prostitution
Age: 31
30 days in jail
Married
The Great Depression was from October 29, 1929 – 1939. Ten years of hardships.
Arrests of women nearly doubled as the Depression came to affect the citizens of Grand Rapids, although still remaining a distinct minority in comparison to male arrests The effect of the Depression on women is also seen in an examination of the marital
status of women. Table 4 does not provide obvious evidence to suggest a dramatic rise in the number of prostitutes arrested by the GRPD. Instead the rate is fairly constant throughout the years covered, and the changing martial statuses of the women profiled suggest the changing nature of the trade. In 1929 out of the six prostitutes arrested, four were single, one was married, and one divorced. By 1933 out of the nine women arrested on charges of prostitution, six were married, two single, and one widowed. When the prostitutes moved out the known ‘red light’ districts of the city and into the poorer and even working and lower middle class districts, the GRPD responded to the perceived threat to social order and arrested these women representing new and threatening signs of growing economic desperation and uncertainty.
Source:
From Drunken Drivers to Prostitutes and
Shoplifters: The Onset of the Great Depression and
Shifting Police Priorities in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, 1928-1934
Sarah J. Sweers
Grand Valley State University
Prostitution during the 1930s was still big. Prostitutes would get paid typically two dollars for fifteen minutes.
Women were largely uneducated beyond grade school, they were brought up to be wives and mothers.
During the Depression, unemployment and lack of income made family life a struggle, and having many kids wasn't ideal. Couples actively tried to avoid pregnancies and children, and methods of birth control became essential. The struggle over birth control during the first two decades of the 20th century brought the Comstock Act of 1873 to the forefront of political and social discussions. The act was used to condemn birth control advocates, but, during the Depression, many states passed legislation allowing for women to have access to contraception.
Many women welcomed birth control information and devices. Condoms for men were common, but with the push to have women control their own reproductive options, diaphragms and female condoms gave women the ability to actively control the size of their families. Early versions of inter-uterine devices and eventually the birth control pill continued to revolutionize reproduction. Fertility rates during the 1930s sunk to as few as two children per woman from over three children two decades earlier.
Because of the economic insecurity of the period, ideas and ideals around such institutions as marriage and the family changed. Along with a rise in the use of birth control, many young couples decided that marriage — as an economic and familial building block — didn't make sense for them. So they lived together without the legal designation.
One perhaps unexpected result of the depression was the emergence of commonly accepted abortion. Tens of thousands of women regularly performed abortions at home, or chose a safer route and went to “professional abortionists.” These professionals were certified doctors, recognized by and sometimes partnered with general practitioners. Abortion was illegal, so these centers took precautionary measures, but were well known amongst women through word of mouth and business cards.
The crucial decisions they made impacted their health, their families, and their survival during the Great Depression.
So what happened to these women? My research hit a dead end. We may never know how their lives turned out in the end. I hope it break them but made stronger for it.
The movie They Lady Refuses is a somewhat how they looked at these types of women, labels are always placed, which is hurtful. She is on the verge of becoming a prostitute.
Link for the movie is above.
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