“Growing Things from the Soil Is Bliss”

Annie Greenwood and her husband Charlie were newcomers to the land when they bought their Idaho farm. But what they lacked in experience they made up for in hard work and commitment. In the passages presented below Annie delineates her lack of experience in dealing with cows, her pride in growing Golden Bantam corn that looks like the picture in the seed catalogue, and the family's trip to the movies. Most importantly, Annie tackles a subject avoided by most women writing autobiographies in the 19th and early 20th Centuries—abuse. In one excerpt below, Annie describes the men with “the beating habit” and the women and children who were their victims.