Besides his baby and age-three pictures, this is the earliest photo we have of Harold. Nothing is written on it, but the photographer’s stamp at the bottom indicates that it was taken in Los Angeles. We know that Elmer moved his family to Southern California in 1913, when Harold was 10 years old. He stayed in California through high school and college, with occasional trips to Mexico to help with his father’s business down there. This photo was probably taken at some time during those years.
This picture was taken when Harold was a student at Cal Berkeley, as you can tell by the big ‘C’ on his sweater. This appears to have been taken on the occasion of a picnic lunch.
Nothing is written on this photo, but I chose it because Harold is holding a straw “boater” – a type of hat that was popular at the time. We now include straw boaters in “Roaring 20’s” costumes, and that’s the era when Harold was in college.
Harold Votaw (my grandfather) was born in Oklahoma on June 25, 1903. His parents were Elmer and Ruth Votaw, and Harold was their fourth child, and third boy. Elmer moved his family about quite a bit, and within two years Harold was living in northern California. In 1909 they moved to Wichita, Kansas, where six-year-old Harold met Mildred Stout, also six years old, for the first time. She was the pastor’s daughter, and they were “special” to each other from day one. Their relationship lasted for the rest of his life.
This appears to be Harold’s high school graduation photo. He graduated a week before his 19th birthday.
Apparently Harold played tennis while in college – a sport that his son took up as well, when he was a student. On the back of this photo is written the date – August, 1923 – and the location, Golden Gate Park (San Francisco).
We have two copies of this photo. One says that it was taken in Richmond, Indiana (where Mildred was going to college). The one shown here was sent to Mildred as a post card. On the front it says “Always Your Harold” and the date, 11-4-25. By that time Harold had graduated from Cal and was waiting for Mildred to finish her senior year at Earlham before they married. The back of the photo says (in Harold’s handwriting), “To my own promised wifey Midge from your devoted Harold.”
Harold’s high school diploma – the only document of his that is in our archives. I don’t know why he graduated from Los Angeles High School – he lived in Whittier and I would expect that he would have graduated from Whittier High.
After high school, Harold enrolled at University of California, Los Angeles. After two years at UCLA, he decided that he wanted to study pharmacy, and he transferred to U.C. Berkeley (also known as Cal). He graduated with his pharmacy degree in 1925.
Nothing is written on this photo, but it appears to have been taken while Harold was in college. His college graduation photo is at the top of this page.
To learn what Harold did immediately after college, we can read the letter below.
This is an excerpt from a letter written by Clayton Votaw, Harold’s brother, for a memory book that was given to my father in 1988. At the time of the conversation that Clayton recalls, Harold was probably living with Clayton and Alma, his wife, since both Elmer and Ruth had previously passed away.
The date of this photo (August 4, 1923) is written on the back, so Harold was a student at Cal Berkeley. He had only recently arrived there, and he was on his own, so owning a car would be important. I expect that it was new (for him) when this picture was taken. On the front it says ‘”Chevy” and “me”‘. This photo was undoubtedly sent to Mildred at Earlham College in Indiana.
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