JM: How did you react when you saw the photo of your father?

AD: If I had stumbled over it, I would have known right away who it was. There was a nephew of his that I took a lot of pictures of when I was a teenager, and this photo of Daddy looks a lot like that young man.

JM: What about discovering that he was working in a glass factory at that age? What did you think of that?

AD: I knew that he didn't have a lot, because it was a big family. So that part of it didn't bother me. Actually, he looked like he was having fun. I found out that my father's older brother, Eugene, also worked at the glass factory.

JM: When were you born?

AD: I was born in 1932, at my home at 214 South Henry Street, in Alexandria.

JM: Where was your father working then?

AD: The Mutual Ice Company. He was an engineer. This was the place that made ice that people put in their refrigerators or in refrigerated train cars. The company had these huge motors, maybe about eight feet in diameter. Daddy took me in there once and showed me. They were in a big room. His job was to keep those motors running right.

JM: How many years did her work there?

AD: He was there from about 1920 until a year before he died.

JM: What did he die from?

AD: Pneumonia. He had had a cold. He got really sick overnight on Christmas day. They took him to the hospital about 6:00 the next morning. I went over to visit my grandmother for a while, and when I came back home, they told me that Daddy had died. I just sat down in a chair and cried my heart out. He was only 48. His father died one week later, and his mother died a year later.

JM: What kind of a father was he?

AD: I think he was a good father. We all loved him. He liked to have fun. He liked to joke around with his brothers when they were all grown men. They used to play around and poke each other. He liked to listen to music, old hillbilly music like the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. He liked to tease us a little. I remember that whenever we would ask where something was, we'd say, ‘Where is it at?' And he would say, ‘It's behind the at.' He was always correcting us about that.

JM: How big was he?

AD: He was short, maybe about 5' 5".

JM: What special things did you and your father do together?

AD: Not a lot, because he worked nights and slept in the daytime.

JM: How far did he get in school?

AD: He said he had a third-grade education. But I think he was smart, maybe because he knew how to keep those motors running. He could read and write.

JM: Did your mother work?

AD: No. I was only two years old when we lost her. There were four of us children. One of his brothers and his wife moved in and took care of us until Daddy remarried, about a year later.

JM: Did you know your father's parents?

AD: Yes. I spent a lot of time at their house. They lived about 12 blocks from us.

JM: How many houses did you live in?

AD: I lived in the one on Henry Street until Daddy died. We called it a row house, but it was big, two stories, with an attic, and a basement with a ghost in it. We lived in the whole house. I think the rent was only $25.00 a month back then.

JM: Was it close to your father's job?

AD: About 12 blocks. He worked on North Henry Street. He walked until we got our first car, a '37 or '38 Chevrolet. We didn't live fancy. I don't think anyone did back then. But Daddy always had a job, even during the Depression.

JM: How did World War II affect your family?

AD: My brother Charles joined the Coast Guard. So we worried about him. In the evening, before he went to work at midnight, Daddy would patrol the neighborhood to make sure there were no lights on.

JM: When did you get married?

AD: I graduated from high school in 1950 and got married a year later. I could have had a scholarship to go to college, but I wanted to go to work. I was a secretary for the US Navy. I worked for the Navy Department and at the Pentagon. I took the bus to work.  My husband was Richard Dodson. He worked for the Virginia Electric Power Company, and then he joined the Navy when the Korean War broke out. He was in about two years. He never went to Korea, but my brother Ashby did.

JM: How many children did you have?

AD: Two.

JM: Have they seen the photo?

AD: Yes. They think it's wonderful. They are just thrilled about all this. They never knew him. It's really dredged up some memories.