The Artificial Intelligence tools (like ChatGPT, Claude, CoPilot, Gemini, Grok, Meta, Grok, and Perplexity) can provide much useful and nearly instant information about subjects in a concise format, especially when they have been pre-trained on a large volume of information about the subjects.
I wondered if the FREE AI tool Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 could provide me with information about the life of a wife and mother, Amelia Anna (Brocke) Leland (1884-1975) in 1920. I attached Genealogical Sketch of the Severt Oliver and Amelia Anna (Brocke) Leland Family of Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho and California. to provide information to the AI tool.
(AI NotebookLM Infographic of Amelia Leland's Life in 1920)
1) The prompt was: "Please describe Severt Leland’s life in 1920 in San Franciusco, California."
2) The Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 response was:
Amelia
Leland: Wife and Mother in 1920 San Francisco
Managing
the Household at 182 Chattanooga Street
In
1920, thirty-five-year-old Amelia Anna Leland was the heart and
manager of a complex household at 182 Chattanooga Street in San
Francisco. As wife to Severt and mother to five children, plus
hostess to two adult male relatives, her days were filled with the
demanding work of maintaining a home for seven people in an urban
environment.
The
Daily Routine of a Homemaker
The
1920 census lists Amelia's occupation as "none," which was
typical for married women of her era and social class. However, this
designation belied the reality of her exhausting daily workload.
Early
Morning (5:30-7:00 AM):
Rising
before the household to prepare breakfast
Lighting
the kitchen stove and getting coffee started
Laying
out school clothes for the children
Preparing
lunches for Severt to take to work and the older children for school
Cooking
a substantial breakfast (eggs, oatmeal, toast, possibly bacon or
sausage)
Getting
five children fed, washed, and dressed
Ensuring
the two teenage girls looked presentable for school
Making
sure the boys had completed any homework
Morning
Work (7:00 AM-12:00 PM):
After seeing Severt off to work and the four older children off to
school:
Dressing
and supervising five-year-old Alda
Clearing
breakfast dishes and washing them by hand
Making
beds for seven people
Sweeping
and dusting
Starting
laundry (a major, exhausting task in 1920)
Shopping
at local markets for fresh food
Preparing
ingredients for the midday and evening meals
Afternoon
Activities (12:00-5:00 PM):
Preparing
and serving lunch for herself, Alda, and possibly the younger boys
when they returned from school
Continuing
laundry, hanging clothes to dry, or bringing them in
Ironing
(using heavy irons heated on the stove)
Mending
and sewing clothes for the family
Supervising
children's homework and activities
Beginning
dinner preparations
Managing
household accounts and expenses
Evening
Hours (5:00-9:00 PM):
Serving
dinner to the family of seven
Cleaning
up after dinner
Supervising
baths and bedtime routines for younger children
Helping
with homework or school projects
Possibly
doing more mending or handwork
Brief
time with Severt to discuss household matters
Preparing
for the next day
The
Physical Labor of Housework
Unlike
modern homemakers, Amelia had few labor-saving devices:
Laundry:
Without a washing machine, laundry day was grueling:
Heating
water on the stove in large pots
Scrubbing
clothes on a washboard
Wringing
clothes by hand
Hanging
everything to dry (indoors in San Francisco's fog, or outdoors when
sunny)
Ironing
with heavy flat irons heated on the stove
With
seven people, including two active boys, laundry was nearly constant
Cooking:
No
refrigerator, just an icebox requiring regular ice delivery
Shopping
had to be done frequently as food spoiled quickly
Everything
cooked from scratch on a gas stove
Baking
bread, preparing vegetables, cooking meat
Preserving
and canning when possible
Planning
meals around budget and season
Cleaning:
No
vacuum cleaner—sweeping with brooms, beating rugs
Washing
floors on hands and knees
Dusting
all surfaces
Cleaning
windows
Cleaning
the stove
Maintaining
order in a home with five children
Managing
the Extended Household
Beyond
her immediate family, Amelia served as hostess to her brother
Nicholas Francis Brocke (23) and Severt's brother Frank L. Leland
(32). This added:
Two
more people to cook and clean for
Diplomacy
in managing adult relatives while maintaining her household
authority
Additional
laundry and housekeeping
Perhaps
collecting rent or board from working relatives
Mediating
between different generations and personalities
Motherhood
Across Multiple Stages
Amelia's
unique challenge in 1920 was mothering children at vastly different
developmental stages:
Teenage
Daughters: Juanita (15) and Evelyn (14)
These
years were particularly delicate for mothers and daughters. The 1920s
brought revolutionary changes in young women's roles, and Amelia had
to navigate:
Guiding
Them into Womanhood:
Teaching
practical skills: cooking, sewing, housekeeping, budgeting
Discussing
proper behavior and reputation
Chaperoning
social activities and monitoring friendships
Helping
them understand their changing bodies and approaching adulthood
Preparing
them for eventual marriage or work outside the home
Education
and Aspirations:
Encouraging
them to stay in school (both had attended and were literate)
Discussing
whether they should pursue business school or secretarial training
Balancing
traditional expectations with new opportunities for women
By
1930, Juanita would be a bank clerk—evidence that Amelia supported
her daughters' independence
Fashion
and Appearance:
Helping
them dress appropriately for school and social occasions
Sewing
or altering clothes to keep them presentable
Navigating
the tension between new fashions (shorter skirts, bobbed hair) and
respectability
Teaching
grooming and personal hygiene
Social
Life:
Monitoring
their friendships with other girls
Chaperoning
interactions with boys
Teaching
them about courtship and proper behavior with young men
Attending
school events and performances
Pre-Adolescent
and Younger Sons: Harold (11), Lee (8)
The
boys required different attention:
Harold
(11):
On
the cusp of adolescence, beginning to need guidance on becoming a
man
Monitoring
school performance and behavior
Ensuring
he helped with appropriate chores
Beginning
conversations about responsibility and work ethic
Coordinating
with Severt on father-son activities and discipline
Lee
(8):
Still
very much a child, needing supervision and nurturing
Helping
with homework and school projects
Treating
childhood illnesses and injuries
Ensuring
he played well with siblings and neighborhood children
Teaching
basic manners and hygiene
Little
Alda (5)
The
baby of the family received special attention:
Constant
supervision (no kindergarten yet, home all day)
Teaching
basic skills: letters, numbers, colors
Playing
with her and reading stories
Preparing
her for eventual school entry
Perhaps
some indulgence as the youngest
Sibling
Dynamics
Amelia
had to manage:
Rivalry
and conflicts between siblings
Ensuring
older children didn't pick on younger ones
Delegating
age-appropriate chores fairly
Creating
family harmony and cooperation
Teaching
children to look out for and help each other
Social
Life and Community Connections
While
Amelia's census listing shows "no occupation," her social
role was crucial to the family's standing and her own wellbeing.
Women's
Networks and Friendships
In
an era before women commonly worked outside the home, social networks
were vital:
Neighborhood
Women:
Daily
interactions with neighbors while shopping or hanging laundry
Coffee
visits in each other's homes
Sharing
recipes, parenting advice, and household tips
Mutual
aid when children were sick or help was needed
Gossip
and news exchange
Church
Community:
The church was central to women's social lives:
Sunday
services provided weekly social contact
Ladies
Aid societies organized charitable work
Church
potlucks and social events
Mission
circles for women to study and fundraise
Holiday
preparations and celebrations
A
space to maintain both spiritual life and social connections
School
Connections:
With four children in school:
Attending
parent-teacher meetings
School
performances and programs
Knowing
other mothers through their children's friendships
Participating
in school fundraisers or events
Extended
Family Relationships
Maintaining
Connections:
Letter
writing to family in Idaho (her parents, siblings)
Hosting
relatives passing through San Francisco
Having
Nicholas living with them kept her connected to the Brocke family
Correspondence
with Severt's family in Washington state
Managing
family news and maintaining relationships across distance
The
Brocke Family:
By 1920, Amelia's family situation included:
Her
parents still living in Idaho
Siblings
spread across Idaho and other locations
Keeping
track of nieces, nephews, and family news
Sending
letters and perhaps photographs of her children
Norwegian-American
Community
Though
Amelia was born in Idaho to parents of German extraction born in West
Virginia and Missouri, marriage to Severt connected her to the
Norwegian-American community:
Attending
Norwegian Lutheran church services
Participating
in Norwegian cultural events
Learning
Norwegian recipes and traditions
Helping
her children understand their father's heritage
Social
events with other Norwegian immigrant families
Idaho
Heritage
Amelia
maintained her own identity as an Idaho native:
Pride
in her frontier childhood and German family traditions
Stories
of growing up in Kendrick and Latah County
Different
perspective from Severt's Norwegian-Midwestern background
Connection
to Western pioneer traditions
Entertainment
and Personal Time
Amelia's
leisure time was limited, but 1920s urban life offered new
possibilities for women's entertainment and personal enrichment.
At-Home
Pastimes
Handwork:
Women's hands were rarely idle:
Embroidery
and needlework
Knitting
sweaters, socks, and scarves
Crocheting
doilies and decorative items
Quilting
(often in groups with other women)
These
activities were both productive and social
Reading:
Women's
magazines: Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, McCall's
Serialized
stories in magazines
Library
books (San Francisco had an excellent public library system)
Recipe
clippings and household hints
Newspapers
for news and serialized novels
Music:
Singing
while doing housework
Teaching
children songs
If
they had a piano, playing or encouraging children to practice
Listening
to children perform
Out-of-Home
Activities
Shopping
as Entertainment:
Urban shopping was different from frontier life:
Department
stores like Emporium, City of Paris, White House
Window
shopping downtown
Special
trips to buy fabric, patterns, notions
Taking
daughters shopping, teaching them to be discerning consumers
Movies:
Silent films were affordable entertainment for women:
Afternoon
matinees while children were in school
Taking
the younger children to appropriate films
Family
outings to see movies together
Following
favorite stars like Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish
Movie
fan magazines
Parks
and Recreation:
Church
and Community Events:
Ladies'
luncheons and teas
Bazaars
and fundraisers
Holiday
celebrations and programs
Social
events providing rare opportunities to dress up and socialize
Personal
Care and Appearance
Even
with limited time, women maintained standards:
Weekly
hair washing and styling
Maintaining
a respectable wardrobe (though limited)
Caring
for hands worn from housework
Taking
pride in appearance when going out
Teaching
daughters about grooming and presentation
The
Invisible Labor of Emotional Work
Beyond
physical housework, Amelia provided crucial emotional labor:
Family
Mediator:
Smoothing
conflicts between siblings
Supporting
Severt after difficult work days
Listening
to children's problems and fears
Maintaining
family morale and harmony
Household
Manager:
Budgeting
and stretching Severt's paycheck
Planning
meals around availability and cost
Deciding
what needed repair or replacement
Managing
relationships with landlord and tradespeople
Health
Care Provider:
Nursing
sick children through illnesses
Home
remedies for common ailments
Deciding
when to call a doctor (expensive)
Maintaining
family health and hygiene
Memory
Keeper:
Maintaining
family traditions
Remembering
birthdays and anniversaries
Telling
stories about grandparents and family history
Creating
sense of family identity and connection
Moral
Guide:
Teaching
children right from wrong
Instilling
values and character
Religious
and spiritual instruction
Modeling
behavior and attitudes
The
Challenge of Modern Motherhood
Amelia
was raising children in a transitional era. Born in frontier Idaho in
1884, she was now a San Francisco mother in the Jazz Age. This
created unique tensions:
Old
Ways vs. New:
Her
own upbringing in rural Idaho vs. raising urban children
Traditional
gender roles vs. new opportunities for her daughters
Conservative
values vs. the loosening morals of the 1920s
Pioneer
simplicity vs. urban consumer culture
Generational
Differences:
Her
teenage daughters wanted bobbed hair and short skirts
Movies
and popular culture influenced children's attitudes
Education
opened new possibilities beyond domestic life
Urban
environment provided freedoms unknown in frontier childhood
Economic
Pressure:
Renting
rather than owning
Making
do with limited resources
Supporting
seven people on one salary
Helping
extended family while managing own needs
Women's
Suffrage and Changing Times
In
August 1920, the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote. At
35, Amelia would participate in this historic change. While not
everyone embraced women's suffrage, the era brought new awareness:
Political
Awareness:
Discussing
current events with other women
Possibly
attending meetings or events
Thinking
about issues affecting families
Having
opinions that now mattered at the ballot box
Changing
Expectations:
Recognition
that women had contributions beyond home
Discussion
of women working outside home
Daughter's
future possibilities expanding
Slow
shift in women's roles and authority
The
Strength Behind the "No Occupation"
The
1920 census's notation of "no occupation" for Amelia
obscures the reality of her labor-intensive life. She was:
Cook
preparing three meals daily for seven people
Laundress
washing and ironing for the entire household
Housekeeper
maintaining cleanliness and order
Seamstress
making and mending clothes
Nurse
caring for sick family members
Teacher
helping with homework and life skills
Accountant
managing household budget
Social
Director
maintaining family relationships and community connections
Counselor
providing emotional support
Manager
coordinating complex household operations
Personal
Resilience and Future Strength
In
1920, Amelia was in her prime years as a wife and mother. She had
been married sixteen years and had successfully raised five children
through infancy (no small feat when infant mortality was high). She
had adapted from frontier Idaho to railroad town Montana to urban San
Francisco.
Unknown
to her, she faced:
Twenty
more years with Severt
Buying
a home in the Sunset District in the early 1920s
Raising
children through the Great Depression
Becoming
a widow at 56
Living
with her daughter Alda’s family for 35 years
Losing
all her siblings
Watching
her children and grandchildren succeed
The
strength, resilience, and domestic skills she honed in 1920 would
sustain her through these challenges. The woman managing that crowded
household at 182 Chattanooga Street was building character,
maintaining family, and creating a legacy that would extend through
generations.
A
Typical Week in Amelia's Life
Monday:
Laundry day—the most exhausting day of the week, involving washing,
rinsing, wringing, hanging, and beginning to iron clothes for seven
people.
Tuesday:
Ironing completed, mending, and catching up on housework neglected
during laundry day.
Wednesday:
Marketing for mid-week shopping, thorough house cleaning, perhaps
baking bread.
Thursday:
More cleaning, preparation for weekend, possibly hosting a friend for
afternoon coffee.
Friday:
Marketing again, preparing for weekend, extra cleaning, perhaps
planning Sunday dinner.
Saturday:
Deep cleaning, special baking, allowing children more freedom to
play, Severt home for part of the day, perhaps family outing or
shopping trip.
Sunday:
Church in morning, special Sunday dinner, visiting with family or
friends, relative rest day (though still cooking and basic chores).
This
pattern repeated week after week, month after month, year after
year—the rhythm of domestic life that sustained the family.
Conclusion:
The Unsung Architect
In
1920, Amelia Leland was the unseen architect of her family's success.
While Severt worked outside the home and received the title of "head
of household," it was Amelia's tireless labor that created the
stable, clean, fed, and emotionally supported family unit that
allowed everyone to thrive.
Her
teenage daughters would grow up to be independent working women
before marriage. Her sons would achieve long lives and success. Her
household would weather the Depression and emerge intact. And she
herself would live to age 90, surrounded by descendants who owed
their existence to her strength.
The
woman at 182 Chattanooga Street in 1920, with her "no
occupation" notation, was in fact practicing multiple
occupations simultaneously, demonstrating skills, endurance, and love
that made all other family achievements possible. She was the
foundation upon which the Leland family legacy was built.
===================================
3) The Google NotebookLM Video Overview of this post is below.
4) I have no easy way to double check on these responses from Claude. I don't have many book resources for the subjects and the locality, but there are published books available for this time period and general location. The AI tools have been pre-trained on historical events, social history, geography, education, occupations, literature and other disciplines so they can provide information for questions like this one, and now have the ability to search the Internet for website articles.
5) As genealogists, we can usually find the early 20th century vital and census records for California families, and we may find occupation, newspaper, land and probate records. The family mentioned is my wife's paternal grandparents and I have significant information about their lives from the available records, but I know nothing about their daily lives other than what the records tell me.
6) After I read these types of social history summaries, I wish that I could be a time traveler for one day to visit the Leland family in San Francisco and witness their daily lives. I'm glad that the general lifestyles and occupations are known from historical records and witness accounts.
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Copyright (c) 2025, Randall J. Seaver
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