The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-09-05
Home Garden Inspires Great Community Work

! patient she pleaded, as she
estimated the damage and hurried
back to her Office to order more
seed.
Mrs. O'NeaTs resourceful spirit
during this trying period is only one
example of her successful leader
ship. From the beginning she or
ganized her work in compliance with
dictates of her orderly nature.
IRON a map of the Council OF
L Social Service agencies she
worked out the basis of allotment
of ground. She chose engineers TO
plot and stake the gardens. From
Feb. II to June l she spent the
entire day in her Office, where she
directed workers in management of
the innumerable details.
She appointed watchmen in each
community garden to guard the
tracts day and night She selected
supervisors for each district to aid
and check up on the activities.
She worked all day with forty
made-work men, packaging 300, 900
tomato and cabbage plants, which
were sent to the district stations for
distribution. Mrs. O'Neal still works
one day a week in the Office, at
tending to details. Other days she
is out looking at the gardens and
comforting with workers.
Mrs. O'Neal originally had planned
to work in the city, but when the
mayors committee was taken over
by the Governor, the territory eX-
tended to Marion county. At the
end of the year, Mrs. O'Neal will
submit a detailed report to Fred
Hoke, chairman.
1--we learned enough about hu-
mainly to write book" Mrs. O'Neal
said I'D never done any social
welfare work My contacts this
winter revealed spirit, not unlike
our pioneering forebears."
"THESE unemployed are ingeni-
Il Gus. One rainy night during
the ploughing season, I fretted and
worried about Joe. who guarded the
tractors. I hurried out to the tract
next morning and found him warm
and dry in a ree-cornered shack
which he had constructed from
odds and ends picked up from a
nearby junk-pile.
"They improvised tools from the
crudest materials. They we're untir-
ing, too. Three men plowed all the
community gardens, and they
worked with enthusiasm"
Seeing many men made shiftleSs
by the force of economic distress
become independent, industrious,
and impelled by community trust
has made Mrs. O'Neal believe in the
worth of the community garden sys-
tenn. Her observations have given
her faith in the prospects of an
other year.
When Mrs. O'Neal returns from
trip to the gardens, she more than
likely turns to digging in her own
yard. Her hobby is cultivation of
ANIMALS, and her collection includes
some rare and unusual species. Eve
ningS find her in her greenhouse,
built this spring by made-work
helpers.
"THERE'S no better rest than
i being in my garden" main
tains Mrs. O'Neal. TT certainly is
a hobby to keep you close to your
family"
But she hadn't limited her inter
est to her own yard. She's followed
closely the activities of the Indian
apolis Garden Club and heads the
Indiana Federation of Garden Clubs.
She was largely responsible for
the latter's utilization with the Ma
tional Council of Federated Garden
Clubs, which insures it's continuity
of activities.
Mrs. O'Neal has managed har-
moniously to fit together demands
OF her time as a wife and mother
of Alice, 6, and Perry Jr., 4, and as
a leader of gardening projects. She
has served the Junior League and
the Orchard school.
Mrs. O'Neal is satisfied that Mar
ion county has made a creditable
showing in its community garden
project. Lake county, the pioneer
ranks first in the number of relief
gardens in Indiana, but this county
probably comes second, a record
which Mrs. ONeal has achieved in
year.
Statistics show that Indiana is
one Of the leading states in promot-
ing this measure of unemployment
relief.
"I think $1,000 would cover the
actual expenditure for the project,
said Mrs. O'Neal. Purdue univer-
sity experts have estimated that
from SO cents of average seed $25
worth of food is produced. What
better return would you want from
relief money!"