Why did Nathan Pollard move to Altus Oklahoma.

Sometime before 1931 Nathan Pollard moved the whole family to Altus Oklahoma. I know it was before 1931 because in January 1931 he enrolled his kids in school at Altus Oklahoma. After moving to Altus Oklahoma his household also changed as serveral of his kids had gotten married and moved out. Then sometime in 1942 Nathan and Birdie Pollard moved to Wichita Falls. They brought with them all of his kids and their kids wives, living in a small house again? What caused such a dramatic change? While I can’t be sure, the 1940 census reports provide some clues.

In the 1940 census Nathan lists his employer as WPA. The WPA was the Works Progress Administration, a new deal program to provide funds for construction projects. In the 1930s Altus OK received several projects from the WPA including the contrition of the National Guard Armory, the city hall and a public library. Shortly after 1940 those projects ended.

In conclusion I believe that Nathan Pollard lost his job in Gainesville sometime around 1932 and needed to find work. The economy in Cooke county had taken a dip and he needed to look elsewhere. Given he already had family in Altus Ok and they had construction jobs there, he moved and secured a job with the WPA. His other sons had also found jobs there allowing them to move out of the house. Then sometime around 1940-1941 Nathan lost his job. At that point his sons found jobs in Wichita Falls, so he moved in with them. As a side note it seems like Nathan retired after that because I don’t see any record of him having a job starting in 1941.

I plan to make a trip to Altus OK at some point (its about 3 hours from me). I want to see if the National Guard Armory, city hall and public library are still standing. It would be pretty surial to look at those building and think my great grandpa helped build it. These stories really bring to life the history of the Great depression. I have read so much about it, but you really lose site of the human side. Seeing how my great grandpa had to constanty struggle just to survive really brings to light the human toll the great depression had on everyone. I hope to write more about that later ( a little teaser there).