


From Cotton Fields to Coal Town
Young Marrietta Walden was happy with her family living in rural Arkansas. When her father’s crops failed due to drought, a new door opened for her father to take a job up North at John Deere in Illinois. She was hit with culture shock and intimidation seeing the size of the school she would attend, and learning about electricity and indoor plumbing. Soon, the family settled into a more stable and prosperous life that resulted in Marrietta going to college and becoming a teacher and college professor.
Young Marrietta Walden was happy with her family living in rural Arkansas. When her father’s crops failed due to drought, a new door opened for her father to take a job up North at John Deere in Illinois. She was hit with culture shock and intimidation seeing the size of the school she would attend, and learning about electricity and indoor plumbing. Soon, the family settled into a more stable and prosperous life that resulted in Marrietta going to college and becoming a teacher and college professor.
Young Marrietta Walden was happy with her family living in rural Arkansas. When her father’s crops failed due to drought, a new door opened for her father to take a job up North at John Deere in Illinois. She was hit with culture shock and intimidation seeing the size of the school she would attend, and learning about electricity and indoor plumbing. Soon, the family settled into a more stable and prosperous life that resulted in Marrietta going to college and becoming a teacher and college professor.