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October 1939. "All the members of the congregation. Friends church (Quaker)." Mrs. Wardlow and Mrs. Hull are over to the left of the entrance to the dugout. Dead Ox Flat, Malheur County, Oregon. View full size. Photo: Dorothea Lange.
Six of my ancestors are in this photo. They misspelled our last name as Wardlow, it's Wardlaw. Both of my fathers grandparents are pictured here as well as my great aunt and uncle. My father's father's parents (great-grandparents) Everett and Eva Wardlaw are on the left. She is the short lady with white hat and coat. Her husband is directly behind her. My father's mother's parents (again my great-grandparents) are the second couple from the right, Truman and Esther White. She is wearing the long black coat holding the Bible. Their son (my grandmother's brother) Leroy White is just right of the door. His sister (my grandmother's sister) is the lady wearing the black coat on the far left. My grandparents are not in this picture. My father was raised in this area of Oregon and we still have family there. This picture is in a collection in the Library of Congress.
I think I saw a show about that town on The History Channel or PBS - or rather about the man who made all of those photographs. I can't recall why the town was made that way though.
["The man who made all of those photographs" was a lady named Dorothea Lange. - Dave]
Seems strange that folks would go down below to go to church as opposed to going up to church. I'm just kidding
Society of Friends is the formal name of the Quaker religion. Most of these people, Mrs. Wardlow and Mrs. Hull included, lived in dugout structures similar to the church.
Clearly one can see the advantage of that in the event of a tornado. I don't think they have too many of those in Oregon, though.
Check out those outhouses! I can never see an outhouse without thinking of the spiders and creepy crawlies that lurk inside, waiting to drop down some unsuspecting victim's blouse.
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