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.
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:
Taking children to neighborhood parks
Special family outings to Golden Gate Park
Beach trips on warm days
Sunday afternoon walks
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.
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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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