On the back of this photo is written “Taken – 1922 Freshman at Earlham”
Mildred’s interest in fashion continued through her college years. Here she talks about working in a hat shop, and about the shoes that “everybody” at Earlham was going to wear.
Some of her grandchildren remember that Mildred used to wear a fur wrap that had actual heads on it, but this isn’t it. These puppies appear to be alive.
On the back of this photo Harold has written “This is my Midge – November 1925.”
American Quakers believed strongly in the value of education. As they migrated west, they would establish settlements which became towns, and other Quakers would come and settle there. Typically, a college would be established. In the East, the first Quaker colleges were Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore, and Guilford College in N. Carolina. Moving west, colleges were established in Ohio (Wilmington, and Malone, in Canton), Indiana (Earlham, in Richmond), Iowa (Wm. Penn, in Oskaloosa, where Elmer Votaw went) and Kansas (Friends University in Wichita, where Tirzah went). On the West Coast, there was George Fox (in Newberg, Oregon, where David, Sue, and John went) and Whittier College in Whittier, California (where Dick went, and David worked in the 1980s).
Mildred went to Earlham, and had a great experience there. When it came time for me to choose a college, she wanted me to go there too. But I had visited Earlham, for a week, when I was just entering high school, and did not care for it. So we agreed on another Quaker college for me: George Fox.
Mildred and Harold had known since they were children that someday they would marry, as she tells it. But they had agreed that they both needed to finish college first. While she was in college, she was increasingly anxious for that wedding day to come, and often referred to herself in her letters and photos to Harold as his “wifey”, even before the wedding.
But Mildred’s mother, Anna Stout, passed away during Mildred’s junior year at Earlham, and she took a year off school to be with her dad and assist him in ministry, just as her mother had done. After that year, she went back to Earlham, and finished her degree. Mildred and Harold were married after her graduation in 1926.
We have some letters that were written to, from, and about Mildred while she was in college. They provide insight into what college life was like for her, and some of the struggles that she had. The letters are pictured below; I think they’re readable. You can click on them to enlarge them.
This photo, sent to Harold Votaw, is signed on the front: “Your loving wifey, Midge.” Harold was the only person (as far as I know) who called her “Midge.”
Mildred sits on the steps in front of a building on the Earlham campus.
After her mother died, Mildred spent a year as her replacement, working with her father in pastoral ministry. She talks about that in this video clip.
On the back of this photo it says “Jan. 1927 new Chevy,” so it was taken after Mildred finished at Earlham, but it’s just the next year, and the car (the first one Harold and Mildred owned together?) is a classic.
On the back, this one says “The last snap for awhile.”
Letters from the College Years
(Click pages to enlarge them for reading)
In this letter, “Milly” writes home to tell her parents about a disease of the gums that she has contracted. She leaves some space on the bottom of the fourth page, so her father (who doesn’t seem to be too worried) used that space to fill in a note of his own when he forwarded the letter to Tirzah.
Milly uses this letter to send birthday greetings to her mother. On the back side, Lewis uses the space to send his own letter to Tirzah and Frank.
Mildred on the Earlham campus, wearing a scarf to ward off the cold. On the back of the photo is written “April 1923.”
Saturday afternoon
Dearest Tirzah and Frank,
You are the sweetest sister and brother that ever existed. You don’t know how I appreciated the candy. O, it’s wonderful. We get so hungry for candy.
We have the most terrible rules. We can’t buzz only on Friday or Sat. Night, then we can’t go to a show without a chaperone. I had a date with Russ last night. We went up town. Got a dope. Had to be back in 2 hours.
I forgot to tell you about getting initiated, didn’t I? The Sophies only took 1 girl from each floor. How I ever was picked from 4th, I have no idea. Well about 1:30 I woke up & 2 Sophies were getting me out of bed. Well I put on my kimona & slippers & started on my way. They took me to some old dark hole. The room was full of girls. They put a candle in front of me & put a paper back of it so all the light was on me. Well it was the Sophies mock-Council. They took me up for buzzing an upperclassman, going to the Murray without a hat, etc. I was down there about one hour. The next morning I went down to tell Ruth Day (my senior advisor) & she heard them talking about me. They said they thot I was a peach (or something) cause I took it so good. So maybe I didn’t act so awful bad.
Last night a bunch of me girls about 12 got up & tumbed 3 Freshies. Gee it was fun. The first one Elinor Day from Indianapolis & I had to carry by ourselves. Boy, she was heavy. About the time we were through with our dirty work a bunch of fellows from Bundy came over & serenaded us. College is great life.
We had a feed after that. We didn’t get to bed till after 2, then none of us could sleep so we got up & discovered smokey smell in hall. We got Miss Down & the whole faculty out. We discovered some girl had left her toaster on. After they left we all got in the hall and played rook.
I am having to do some pretty hard studying. I try to get that done in the daytime. When are you coming over? Come soon, please.
I am invited to a party at Cosands this afternoon so I must close and get ready. Thanks again so much for the candy.
Lots of love to you both, Milly
This is a thank-you letter sent to Tirzah and Frank for the gift of candy mentioned in the letter above. And then she tells about all the things that are going on in her social life – things that don’t get mentioned in the letter to Mom and Dad.
In this letter to Mildred from her father we can read about his concern for her well-being, and about the value of a dollar.
0 Comments