Narrative of Interview with Virginia Nichols

Virginia Nichols was born in 1924. She was born and raised in a small town in upstate New York and continues to live there today. Virginia was a young girl when the United States became involved in the Second World War. She did her duty at home, before the outbreak of war she worked in the canning factory to take over for men who had gone into the service, and then after she graduated from high school she worked in offices. She was very active in school and music, taking her many places and allowing interactions with many people. Working became more of a necessity for her than simply a patriotic duty, although she did have close ties to the war effort.

Virginia’s new beau had been sent overseas and her situation was like many other women, what to do at home while she waited for Dick’s return. Virginia’s life seemed to revolve around the question of Dick’s return, and when he finally did return, even before the war’s end, her life seemed to finally gain stability. She became a wife and mother in the aftermath of World War II, overcoming privacy, money, and family issues that many at the time were forced to contend with. Virginia’s life was active from her school days through her adulthood. World War II allowed her the chance to assert her independence even more, working and living on her own for an extended period of time, and gave her an appreciation of what she did have.