SARAH HELEN HENDRY STEEN

November 5, 1914 - January 22, 2013 by Morris Grissom Steen, Jr.

Sarah Helen Hendry Steen was born in the City of Madison, FL on Nov 5, 1914 to Adison Eugene and Mary Emma (Mamie) Millinor Hendry Madison and Taylor CounIes were fronIer country when she was born She was born 49 years aKer the American Civil War ended When she was born, there were no income taxes, no social security, no Medicare, no Medicaid, no reIrement plans, and no hospitals in rural north Florida. Also, there were very few doctors and no electricity in rural areas She was born three months aKer the start of World War I She grew up in the horse and buggy days She grew up in a racially segregated society There were few automobiles in Taylor or Madison County when she was born There were no paved roads in this area to speak of when she was born She was 4 years old when the communists took over Russia and created the Soviet Union She was 6 years old when American women were given the right to vote She learned to play the piano with experIse when she was a teenager She was 15 years old when the worldwide Great Depression hit She aUended and graduated from Florida State College for Women (now FSU) when the school had only a few hundred female students She was in a sorority, Alpha Xi Delta, while in college When she was 21, her only brother died of pneumonia She was a schoolteacher during a Ime when female teachers had to have permission to get married When she was 24 years old, she eloped to Galveston, TX to marry Morris G. Steen on Dec 27, 1938 She taught school over a span of 48 years, unIl she was 72 years old She was witness to public school integraIon during the mid-1960s When she was 27, she moved to Puerto Rico to live with her husband who was serving there in the U. S. Army All 5 of her children were born in her parents home at Moseley Hall, FL, all delivered by Dr. Ralph Green of Perry

She was 27 before she owned her rst automobile She did not have running water, electricity, or refrigeraIon in her home unIl she was 33 years old When her children ran from her when they misbehaved, she would run them down and discipline them She could kill snakes in her yard with an ax or hoe and shoot a rabbit in her garden She could shoot a possum in the chicken house with a shotgun She could trap, skin a raccoon, and tan its hide She could cook squirrels and rabbits and catch, clean, and cook sh She could catch a chicken, ring its neck, and clean and cook the chicken for dinner She could feed the hogs, cows, and chickens She could sew and mend her own clothes and her childrens clothes She could do handy things with tools around her home She could harness up a horse or mule, hitch them to a plow and culIvate the garden She could grow and tend a garden and preserve and can the vegetables She would pick blackberries and make homemade jams, jellies and blackberry cobbler She could change a at Ire She was an historical witness to the start of World War II - her husband spent most of the World War II years ghIng the Japanese in the Pacic Theater She was an historical witness to the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan that ended World War II in the Pacic She was an historical witness to the Korean War When she was 38 years old, she took her 5 children to Germany to live with her husband while he was serving with the U. S. occupaIon forces She was 38 years old before she saw her rst television She was 41 years old before she owned her rst television She was 70 years old before her home was air-condiIoned She did not receive Social Security unIl she was 70 years old She was an historical witness to the rst unmanned and manned space vehicles sent into orbit around the earth She was an historical witness to the Vietnam War (two sons served in the Western Pacic and her oldest son served in-country Vietnam in the U. S. Navy

during that period) She was an historical witness to the U. S. pueng the rst man on the moon She was witness to integraIon of American schools and southern society She was an historical witness to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the redrawing of historic naIonal boundaries She saw America go from a poor, agricultural, agrarian society to the greatest economic powerhouse in the history of the world She was a member of the generaIon that created the best public school system the world has ever known only to witness its demise within a single generaIon She has never bought a stock and the only bonds she ever bought were U. S. War Bonds and U. S. Savings Bonds, but she knew how to save money She was frugal She never bought a home - the home she lived in for 65 years was deeded to her by her father and she made improvements to it on several occasions She could paint on canvas and do art projects She had good talent in the industrial arts She could sing and she played the piano for her school and her Church She was 94 years old before the rst black person became president of the United States At 98 years old, she sIll owns the property her great grandfather acquired when he moved his family to Shady Grove in Taylor County Florida in 1852

These are some things you may or may not know about Sarah Helen Hendry Steen. She is a tough cookie, and she has seen a lot and done a lot in her 98 years. In her day, she was an extraordinary woman, a force of nature!