Janie Ledlow Shores
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Janie Ledlow Shores February 10, 2010; February 16, 2010; November 20, 2010; November 22, 2010; November 29, 2010; December 12, 2010; January 11, 2011; January 19, 2011; February 2, 2011 Recommended Transcript of Interview with Janie Ledlow Shores (Feb. 10, 2010; Feb. 16, Citation 2010; Nov. 20, 2010; Nov. 22, 2010; Nov. 29, 2010; Dec. 12, 2010; Jan. 11, 2011; Jan. 19, 2011; Feb. 2, 2011), https://abawtp.law.stanford.edu/exhibits/show/janie-ledlow-shores. Attribution The American Bar Association is the copyright owner or licensee for this collection. Citations, quotations, and use of materials in this collection made under fair use must acknowledge their source as the American Bar Association. Terms of Use This oral history is part of the American Bar Association Women Trailblazers in the Law Project, a project initiated by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession and sponsored by the ABA Senior Lawyers Division. This is a collaborative research project between the American Bar Association and the American Bar Foundation. Reprinted with permission from the American Bar Association. All rights reserved. Contact Please contact the Robert Crown Law Library at Information [email protected] with questions about the ABA Women Trailblazers Project. Questions regarding copyright use and permissions should be directed to the American Bar Association Office of General Counsel, 321 N Clark St., Chicago, IL 60654-7598; 312-988-5214. ASA Senior Lawyers Division Women Trailblazers in the Law ORAL HISTORY of JANIE SHORES Interviewer: Arden B. Schell Dates of Interviews: February 10, 2010 February 16, 2010 November 20, 2010 November 22, 2010 November 29, 2010 December 12, 2010 January 11, 2011 January 19, 2011 February 2, 2011 Interview Number One - Judge Janie Shores ORAL HISTORY OF JANIE SHORES ON BEHALF OF WOMEN TRAILBLAZERS IN THE LAW A PROJECT OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SENIOR LA WYERS DIVISION · BY ARDEN B. SCHELL FIRST SESSION - FINAL This is the first interview of (Judge) Janie Shores. The interview is being done by Arden Schell. This is the first of many interviews and today's date is February 10th, 2010, and we are in Janie's Shores house in Montrose, Alabama. Arden: So, I am going to begin by asking Janie about her childhood, what she can tell me about growing up in Baldwin County, but she was born in Butler County. · Janie: That's right; I was born in Butler County on April the 30th 1932. My mother remarked on every birthday that English dogwood was in full bloom on the day I was born. English dogwood is beautiful; and she said that, always, as if it were very important that I know, that it bloomed on my birthday every year.. Once I asked her: "Did you see the dogwood from the windows in the hospital room?" "Honey, we didn't go to the hospital to have babies back then. Nobody went to the hospital." She was at home. I was delivered by a Dr. Moorer. It was a difficult birth, resulting in a condition known as dystocia, or Erbs palsy. It is a result of nerve damage during a difficult birth. It causes partial paralysis. In my case it resulted in impairment of the right arm and shoulder. I cannot tum my right hand with the palm up, can't put on a jacket or anything else unless I start with the right side because my arm will not extend back or up enough to get it on after I have put the left side in. I can't use a fork with my right hand, etc. But all of this I do instinctively now, without thinking about it. Most people don't notice any impairment now. I simply became left handed in any activity requiring full right arm mobility. For example, I am a left handed tennis player; I bat left handed, can't drive a golf at all (but can putt); I eat with my left hand, but write with my right hand. I simply used my left side when the right side didn't work and learned to do so without thinking about it. For example, I never put on a jacket (or any other sleeve) by putting on the left side first. The right side won't work that way. I do all this without conscious effort and never considered the condition a serious handicap. A year and a half after I was born, on December 11, 1933, my sister, Verla, arrived; also at home. We were both born during the height (or depth) of the depression. Franklin Roosevelt became president a few weeks before I was born. He died when I was in the 9th grade. When I heard he had died in Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1945 I thought it was the end of the world. I can remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. ( On the porch swing in the house we lived in during World War 11). Of course, like everybody else, I also remember exactly where I was when news came that president John Kennedy had been shot and killed in Dallas, Texas in 1963. (I was in the car driving from Gadsden to Birmingham). I was 20 years when General Eisenhower was elected president, I too young to vote, the right to vote was not extended to 18 year olds until much later, but I was for Stephenson, although most everyone I knew was for Eisenhower. I am certain that no member of my family ever voted for a Republican. Being so near the same age, my sister and I were almost like twins. In fact the entire family was vel).:7 near in age. My mother was 17 years older than I was, and my father was 18 years older than I was. So, in a sense, all four of us grew up together. My earliest memories are of playing outside with our cousins. Depending upon the time of the year, we played soft ball, hide and seek, hop scotch, marbles, etc. Hollis., my father's brother, really our uncle, but because he was only a year or so older than the older cousins, was our leader. He determined what we did on a day to day basis. Under his direction we built forts, tree houses, and lots of bird traps. He was very good at it too. He caught all kinds of birds in those traps. I suspect that I could build a bird trap now. Both sets of grandparents lived within walking distance of where we lived. My maternal grandfather was Varnon Scott, a first generation Scots- Irish immigrant. He was a big man with blue eyes and red hair. He and Annie, my mother's stepmother, lived on a farm and raised cotton, hogs, cows, tomatoes, velvet beans. I remember playing in piles of cotton which was piled on the porch ( called the gallery) before it was hauled away on wagons to the gin in Georgiana. Tomatoes were stored in a dark room to ripen before they were canned. They smelled wonderful. It was a very rural life, no nearby neighbors, never ending chores but quite beautiful in a way. It was in many ways a very pleasant childhood. We picked berries (huckleberries, blackberries) chinquapins and wild pansies. We built tree houses and forts. I don't recall being bored or lonely. Everybody went to town on Saturday. When we were 2 older we went with our cousins to the movies on Saturday afternoons. We didn't have a car. My paternal grandfather Steve Ledlow, a second generation immigrant from England (there is a town in England called Ledlow, which is how our name is spelled) had the only car in the family. Sometimes, but not often, the children were allowed to ride with him on trips to town. Periodically a van, called the "rolling store" came by. I assume it served as a source for anything one needed before the weekly trip to town. It was a van or truck, and sold a few staples such as coffee, sugar, etc. and "patent" medicines. I remember we. used to wait for it with anticipation although I don't recall that we ever got any treats from the rolling store. I do remember getting some kind of tonic once a year. I don't know what purpose it was supposed to serve but every child was required to take it once a year. The full treatment involved castor oil. The rolling store was very convenient. Wish we still had rolling stores. Arden: You said your grandparents lived close by, could you tell me something about your grandparents? Janie: I was closer to - or at least saw more of - my father's parents. Steve and Gertrude Ledlow (Miss Trudy ... my mother called her). We called them Papa and Granny. He was a tall, thin, handsome man. Reserved and mean, I always thought. He seemed to like Verla more than he did me or any of my cousins. I know she liked hi!Il more than I did. He did not talk to us much and was always dressed in a business suit. All of the grandchildren were in awe of him or afraid of him, or both. In addition to farming ... cotton, potatoes, sugar cane, etc. he harvested cypress trees and made cypress shingles, which he sold for roofing and houses. Cypress is indigenous to our part of the South. The wood is very durable and used to be used extensively. He didn't talk much, or least not to the children. I remember a big machine in the back of the house, called the cane mill.