Allen quit school after the 8th grade. He then spent some time in CC camp.
Allen, at 22, married 15-year old Virginia Short on November 11, 1939.
To Virginia, Allen’s family seemed rich compared to her family. Virginia’s mother Beulah Land (Thormpson) Short had struggled after Virginia’s father had died from an infection following an accident that put out his eye. Virginia had been ten when her father died. Virginia, who had quit school after the 9th grade, had hoped she could finish high school after she married Allen. That dream became one of her disappointments.
Like many Oakies, Virginia’s mother and some of her sisters had gone to California to work in the factories spawned by World War II. Allen and Virginia went also. Allen had not gone into the army because he was a farmer and because his vision was so poor. In California he had worked first in a factory in Oakland.
In 1942, while in Oakland, Virginia at 18 gave birth to Portia. Allen was very happy to have a baby, but he, like other men of his culture and generation, wanted sons. As Portia grew up, when he was most proud of her he would introduce her as his boy.
© 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003 Portia Isaacson Bass and Veta Leigh. All rights reserved.