Abstract:
This document provides a concise biographical analysis of Lessie L. Parrish Gaskins, highlighting the often-unrecorded complexities of women's lives during her era, where documentation primarily noted "keeping House" as their occupation. Born in Georgia, Lessie received a formal education at Pine Grove School and was raised in the Primitive Baptist faith. Her life with Lucious Butler Gaskins, whom she married in 1904, was marked by frequent moves across Georgia and a brief, homesick period in Okeechobee, Florida, driven by her husband's farming and business ventures. Despite the limited occupational record, Lessie was a devoted mother to her eight children and, after Lucious's death in 1934, demonstrated remarkable resilience by supporting her family through her skills as a seamstress and later working at a pickle bottling plant, even walking a mile to and from work daily. Her life was also shaped by the profound grief of losing her husband and multiple children, yet she remained a central figure, known for hosting large Sunday family dinners and her longevity.
