When I was Small

November 5th, 2020 1 Minutes

When I was Small is a personal look at how one East Kootenay family survived the Great Depression. The Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History published this title by Alta and Fee Hellmen in 2006 and would like to invite patrons to revisit an early Kootenay legacy.

Ranging from Roosville, through Ta Ta Creek to Invermere, Alta Goodwin’s story documents her family’s struggle from 1920-1935. It is not a brand new idea – most of us know some of the trials and tribulations caused by the Depression.

However, what is new is that this is a woman’s voice, a woman’s view. Alta talks about the family’s pressures, the constant wear and tear on her mother as child followed child, six in ten years. What is also new is the local base of the story – our region, part of the Columbia Basin.

When I was Small is just the kind of manuscript the Columbia Basin Institute wants to make public. It is compact, compelling, and written with feeling and dignity by a master storyteller, Fee Hellmen.

This book is available from the Columbia Basin Institute. Try it and get a glimpse into a vanished perspective of what our region was seventy-five years ago. If you are interested in ordering a copy, check out our webstore @ https://basininstitute.org/store/index.html