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Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms Internal,onal A Bei' & H ow ei1 Information Com pany 300 Norm Zeeb Road Ann Arbor Ml 48106-1346 USA 313 761-4700 800 521-0600 Order Number 9238189 The ninth decade: Six Central Ohio women Hartranft, Linda Bussard, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1992 Copyright ©1992 by Hartranft, Linda Bussard. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. ZeebRd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 THE NINTH DECADE: SIX CENTRAL OHIO WOMEN DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Linda Bussard Hartranft, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1992 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Erika Bourguignon John C. Messenger A d v i s e r K j Richard H. Moore Department of Anthropology Copyright by Linda Bussard Hartranft 1992 To My Husband John C. Hartranft ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply indebted to Professor Erika Bourguignon for her encouragement and guidance during my years as a graduate student. Her intellectual breadth and enthusiasm for scholarship remain an inspiration, and I thank her for her help and her friendship. Thank you to Professor John C. Messenger, one of my earliest graduate school professors, for his encouragement and his help with editing. Thanks also to Professor Richard H. Moore for broadening my perspectives and providing useful suggestions. To the six women who offered me the stories of their lives, I am grateful; through you I have learned the meaning of being a woman in her eighties. I expected to find your lives fascinating, but I did not expect to make six friends. To my husband John, who has supported me in every way during this journey, no thanks could ever be sufficient, and to our sons, Jay, Jeff, and Josh thank you for your help, your understanding, and especially for your humor. VITA January 8, 1942.........Dayton, Ohio 1964....................B.A., Otterbein College Westerville, Ohio Major - English Minor - Spanish 1983....................M.A., The Ohio State University Anthropology 1987....................Admission to Candidacy for Ph.D. 3/1987-6/1987...........GRA position: editor of AnthroNews. department newsletter 1/1988-12/1988..........GAA position: assisting Anthropology Department Review Committee PUBLICATION 1986 Margaret Mead's Contribution to the Study of Sex and Gender. In Margaret Mead: The Anthropologist in America, Erika Bourguignon and Seminar Participants. Occasional Papers in Anthropology, number 2. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Anthropology Psychological Anthropology Anthropology of Women Anthropology of Age iv PREFACE The six women who generously participated in this study by sharing their life histories and their perspectives on life as women in their eighties generated data which are rich and varied, and the examples which appear in this document by no means exhaust the information which they presented. The interviews contain more information about each topic than is presented in the dissertation and also contain information about topics not discussed here. The joint nature of the project is evident in the selection process. The selection of the main issues was based on the fact that all or almost all of the women placed importance on these topics in telling their stories. The use of specific examples as illustration was based on my choice of the examples as appropriate, on an attempt to avoid duplication in the use of examples, and on the desire to let each woman speak concerning each topic when possible. It was with considerable frustration that I came to terms with the fact that each woman's story would not appear in the fullness with which she presented it. Each v woman's life history merits its own book; perhaps that will come in time. I consider myself to be a native anthropologist because I am a member of the society in which I am studying. Native anthropology, sometimes called insider anthropology or indigenous anthropology, is not new. In his Presidential Address to the AAA meetings in Detroit in 1964, Leslie White (1965) stated that while we should continue to study "the nonliterate and the prehistoric," we should consider the possibility that we can make more of a contribution by studying our own society, since we know little about it. Although this study does not speak to the questions he mentions as unknowns (Why do we prohibit polygamy in the United States? Why do we not adequately support our schools? What is the significance of America's interest in baseball?), it does address another American topic which merits exploration: the ninth decade of life. Perhaps White's suggestion had its intended effect? at any rate, Rynkiewich and Spradley (1975) note that students who wanted to study their own culture began to be heard, and in 1969 the AAA passed a resolution supporting the idea of doing research in the United States. This study also meets Joan Albon's (1977:70) suggestion that anthropologists should study "horizontally"— that vi is, study "those closer to their own social and economic status," instead of studying "down." John Caughey (1986) suggests that there are at least three reasons for anthropologists to study middle-class Americans: 1) we cannot understand fringe cultures in the United States without understanding the dominant culture; 2) documentation of mainstream America is important in itself and because of national and international implications; 3) the study of the middle-class is important to what Messerschmidt (1981:5) calls "the anthropology of issues." Donald Messerschmidt (1981:9) points out that there is an inside/outside continuum in anthropology, and that "perhaps the most reasonable approach for determining what it is like to be inside a particular culture...is to let the native informants speak as much for themselves as possible." I address the inside/outside continuum in the introduction, making the point that in studying old age in my own society, I am in some ways, nevertheless, exploring another culture. As a native anthropologist, I see some challenges and many advantages to my position. Because I am a native, I must resist over familiarity and make sure that my views and the views of the women are carefully distinguished. Caughey (1986) points out that although the native anthropologist may avoid gross misinterpretations, he or vii she is in danger of missing the patterns in a familiar culture. I have tried to address these problems by close reliance on interview tapes and by careful coding. There are some risks to doing native anthropology: Herv6 Varenne (1986:39) points out, for example, that the traditional anthropological veto, "My people don't do it that way" becomes "My mother doesn't do it that way," and the anthropologist is evaluated by those who are also natives. On the other hand, I have the advantage of drawing on a lifetime of experiences within the general society I am studying and therefore have a base of cultural knowledge from which to begin. I can serve as my own informant as I draw on experiences I have had with people in their eighties and the experiences of others with whom I speak. (When I tell a new acquaintance about my area of study, I am almost guaranteed a story of that person's relative, friend, or neighbor who is in his or her eighties.) Language is not a barrier, and I am aware of subtleties of speech and mannerisms that have meaning in this culture. I find it easy to establish rapport and a relationship of trust. Since I did not have to leave the field when my research was complete, it has been easy in the period following the study to maintain a relationship with each woman. As the literature review shows, this study joins a number of other studies of age done in this country by American anthropologists, but it. is one of the few to look at the lives of women in their eighties. It explores a subject that will be of increasing interest to researchers, however, in part because the numbers of the very old in our population will continue to grow in coming years, and in part because, as can be seen in the stories these six women tell, the ninth decade is a complex and intriguing one. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION........................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......................................iii VITA................................................. iv PREFACE............................................... V LIST OF TABLES...................................... xii LIST OF FIGURES.................................... xiii CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION....................................1 II.