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Written Memories By Anne C. Brown May 26, 2005 (Ms. Brown was born in Burke, VA, in 1921 and has lived all of her life in the area.)

1. What do you remember about the home front? Rationing, working 5-1/2 days weekly, plane watching, writing daily letters to family soldiers, listening to news, having air raid drills, donating blood, hearing of local casualties.

2. Where did you shop for clothes, groceries, appliances? In department stores for clothes and grocery stores for groceries.

3. Can you describe what medical care was like? Went to local Dr. or they came to house. Helped care for family when ill. I was hospitalized in 1944 and was dirtier than I had even been. There was a laundry strike at the time and we were given a clean dress and sheet every other day, needed or not! We were given about a quart of water to bathe ourselves.

4. What is your most vivid memory about your school experiences? My elementary school was a 3-room building, with stoves and outhouses. There was a pump with a tin cup attached for everyone to use. We went home to lunch or carried it.

5. What is the biggest difference between today's young peoples' experiences and your childhood experiences? Money. My childhood occurred during the depression. Clothes, toys, even necessities were quite restricted.

6. What were your childhood chores? Drying dishes, light cleaning, ironing.

7. What were your childhood or teen amusements (sports, social events, recreation)? Walking to friends', fishing, skating, sledding.

8. What did you pay for your first home in this area? Don't remember.

9. What was a typical evening meal time like? Dinner was held when the working members arrived.

10. How did you communicate with relatives and friends? By phone, visits, letters.

11. What brought you to live here? Birth [in Burke, VA].

12. What organizations have you belonged to (PTA, garden clubs, Jaycees, etc.)? 4-H Club, Methodist Women's group, help to Fire Dept.

13. How long have you lived in the Braddock District or Fairfax County? All of my nearly 84 years.

14. What is your fondest memory of the area? Leaving the heat of D.C. (with no air conditioning) and getting on Braddock Rd. to Burke, with shade on each side of the road.

15. What was a typical day at elementary school like? Can't remember anything very pleasant except learning to read.

16. How did your family celebrate holidays? Sparsely.

17. Could you describe some places before suburban growth (e.g., Burke, Annandale, Braddock Road, Burke or Lake Accotink Park)? Annandale was the end of the bus line, just a triangle where Columbia Pike joined [Rt.] 236. Burke was a crossroads with a tiny Post Office, two stores, and a railroad station. No parks were available or even thought of.

18. There was more than one forest fire, mainly set off by sparks from trains into the woods. One Easter there was a large one that went on for about three days. The biggest train wreck I recall was on a Sat. while I was working in D.C. A young girl waiting at the station for her father was struck and killed by a large timber.