School Days and School-marms

School Days and Schoolmarms

BY DAVID A HALES

DURING THE DEPRESSION YEARS, four young women left their homes in Oak City, Utah, to attend Snow College. In doing so, Helen Shipley, Sadie Lovell, Blanche Nielson, and Lucile Roper1 were taking a step that was both adventurous and conventional: While most of their friends married right after high school, these young women decided to leave familiar surroundings in order to prepare for careers. With few alternatives available, however, they chose to pursue a traditional female occupation. As Lucile later recalled, "AuntJane and Mabel [Lucile's sister] tried to get me to follow in their footsteps and become a nurse I was not interested in nursing As a child I loved to play school and I decided I wanted to become a school teacher."2 Teaching also attracted the other three women.

Lucile, oldest of the four, left home first. After graduating from Delta High School in 1929, she spent a busy summer helping her father care for the family's large truck garden and orchard at their home in Oak City, a few miles east of Delta. Although even before the depression the Roper finances were meager, the family managed to accumulate enough funds to send their daughter to college

Lucile truly wanted to become a teacher, but it was difficult for her to leave home for the first time. Although she had the reputation of being the "life of the party," she was actually shy Besides, as the youngest daughter of a close-knit family of eleven, she had always been sheltered and protected by her older brothers and sisters.

Lucile joined her cousins Glenn and Lynette Rawlinson at Snow College, and the three rented a pair of upstairs rooms from Orval Peterson. Glenn slept in the kitchen/living area while the two girls shared the bedroom. Other students also rented rooms in the Peterson home, heating and cooking with a wood stove and using an outhouse with accommodations for two (affectionately known as a two-holer). The students bathed in an old round galvanized tub.

Lucile wrote, "I surely got homesick that year and didn't enjoy it much. Lynette was always running off to play [piano] for people, so I never got help or companionship from her. Glenn was real good and helped me out a lot."3

At that time, students at Snow College could earn an associate degree in education in two-years by completing ninety-six hours of credit Among the required courses were religion, handwriting, health education, educational psychology, curriculum, organization and administration, and practice teaching. In addition to maintaining a B average, students were expected to "befree from habits of using tobacco or intoxicating liquor ,and be able, otherwise, to give evidence of good character."

Tuition for three quarters was $50,which included a student body fee admitting the student to all regular lyceum numbers, dances, sporting events, and entertainments; it also included a subscription to the college newspaper, Snow Drift. The Snowonian, the annual yearbook, cost $2.50 Two-year graduates received a Utah State First Class Certificate permitting them to teach in Utah's elementary schools for five years without further examination.4

Lucile was confident that she would be able to find a position once she completed the program. She was also quite sure she would find a position in Millard County since she knew severalyoung women who planned to resign in order to marry. As Miriam Murphy has recorded, "Besides their generally lower pay, women teachers were saddled with another handicap that cut short their careers and effectively kept them from working toward higher-paying supervisory positions Most school districts fired women teachers who married."5

After a year of homesickness Lucile returned home the next summer to help her father. In the fall of 1930, her hometown friends Blanche, Helen, and Sadie convinced her to return to Snow College and room with them. At this time the Roper family was able to gather the necessary funds even though, as Lucile recalls, "We were still having hard times Father sold a calf for about $2.00."6

Lucile's parents were only able to send her $5.00 each month to meet her expenses; since her share of the rent and electricity was $2.50, her budget was very tight, but it was comparable to that of other students The college catalogue reported: "The cost of living in Ephraim is much lower than in the large cities of the state. Good room and board in a private house can be obtained at from $5.00 to $7.50 per week. Nonresident students can reduce their expenses by renting rooms and boarding themselves. Rent is from $2.00 and up per room per month."7

The young women chose to "reduce their expenses" by renting two front rooms in the home of Peter Hansen and bringing all their food with them from home. One room was used as the kitchen/living room and the other as the bedroom "We had to go outside to the twoholer and some times it was pretty cold," wrote Lucile.8

Blanche recalled, "I remember my Dad dropped me and a hundred-pound bag of flour off at school. We took all our food from home canned fruit and vegetables We ate what our families were eating at home. If they killed a beef we got some; if they killed chicken we got some, too. During the year they would send us food packages through the U.S mail We also ate lots of bread and sardines. Canned sardines were very cheap in those days. We would have starved otherwise." Lucile confirmed, "We had to take a good supply of food because we could get home only at Christmas and at the end of the year. The old man [Hansen] let us put our food storage down in his cellar."9

Helen remembers that, although she was a farm girl, she had never liked sweet corn. However, because Mr. Hansen let the girls pick all the corn they wanted from his garden, that changed: "I learned to like corn just to have some variety." Lucile remembered, "We would take turns making the bread and running home, which was a block from the college, to bake our bread Sometimes it would be well cooked."10

Wash day was a major chore for the students The girls had to heat water on the stove then wash the clothes with a scrubbing board in a number 3 metal tub. In winter, they had to hang their laundry in the kitchen, creating a small obstacle course. Lucile's wardrobe was typical for the time. She had one pair of shoes, two every-day dresses, a blouse and skirt, and a Sunday dress. For Easter one year she was excited to receive a new dress from her sisters. Blanche and Helen had similar wardrobes, but they did own two pairs of shoes each.11

Naturally, the coeds anxiously awaited care packages from home. One day they received a large box in the mail. Excited and expecting to receive some special items from their families, they opened it "But to our sad plight," reported Lucile, "[we] found an old dead crow. We were a sad bunch of hungry girls. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "The girls blamed the hoax on some "fellows" who had been coming to the house. But when, several days later, Ned Armstrong came by with a hefty fish he had caught at Fish Lake, the girls overlooked the prank. "Boy, was it ever good," Lucille wrote.12

Fellows had been showing up at the house since the beginning. The first night the young women were in Ephraim, some local boys dropped by to meet the new arrivals The young men, who had been drinking, insisted that the girls go out on the town with them and became obnoxious when the girls refused. Finally, Lucile told them that she was the mother of the family and that her daughters could not go out. After that, everyone called Lucile "Ma." Blanche, the smallest of the girls, acquired the nickname "Buzz." On campus, the entire Oak City group became known as "Hansen's little pigs" because their landlord raised and sold pigs. The girls detested the nickname.13

Although on that first night "Ma" had sent the unruly young men packing, Hansen's house soon became a popular place for boys Late one evening Mr. Hansen appeared at the door in his nightshirt and cap, holding a candle; he told the boys it was time for them to leave. Lucile wrote, "The boys left in a hurry, but it did not stop them from coming back." Hansen apparently reported the late-night activities to the college, though, because the administration called Lucile in and told her she needed to see that there was more studying and less play at her residence. She spoke to her roommates, and the situation improved.14

Still, "We hardly ever spent a weekend without doing some crazy thing," Lucile wrote. For one thing, the Oak City coeds and their friends liked to put on mock weddings. One would dress as the groom, another as the bride, and the rest as bridesmaids and other members of the wedding party. And at homecoming, "not any of us went to the dance, but stayed home and goofed off. Lula [Jensen] and I dressed up silly and the rest bet we wouldn't dare go in those clothes up to the bakery on Main Street and get some candy Well, we took them up on it and went. Of course, we went sneaking through the lot, took off our silly duds, went and bought the candy, and went back to the house," donning their funny clothes again before they returned. They shocked their friends with their apparent audacity.15

A special friend of the girls was Astrid Jorgensen (now Larsen), who attended college classes but lived at her home in Ephraim. Astrid spent many hours with the Oak City crowd, and her parents, George and Alma Jorgensen, often invited them all for dinner. Since Astrid's father was a farmer and sheep raiser, the girls enjoyed mutton, lamb, and produce at the Jorgensen home. They also enjoyed some hours of respite there According to Astrid, whenever contention arose among the four, the one who was in the most trouble with the rest of the group would go home with Astrid and stay until relations improved.16

Despite the fun of college, Lucile still suffered from homesickness. She specifically lamented the time when she was not able to return home for the funeral of her two-year-old niece But warm relationships with both friends and teachers may have helped ease the pain of separation At the small Snow College of the 1930s, students and teachers formed great friendships, and despite their limited food supplies the Oak City coeds enjoyed inviting their teachers for dinner. Lucile wrote, "We had some grand teachers at Snow. Miss Lucy Phillips was a sweet lady who really understood people and was always willing to help out with our problems. [Heber C] Snell was a good old gentleman, too. He taught religion. There were many more, but these two stand out in my life." Lucile spent one Thanksgiving holiday with the Phillips family in Springville, and she always remembered the warm hospitality she received from the entire family.17

As the year passed, their experiences together bonded the young women. Before they returned home for the summer Lucile wrote in Blanche's yearbook: "Dear Buzz, Our old school days are nearly o're, And we shall swim to the same old shore, And live as friends forever more I surely have enjoyed living with you this winter in the 'College City.' I love you dearly. We have had some good old times, the kind that batchers always have. I don't know what I would have done without you kids to cheer me along in this old world of ours. I hope you will always remember me as your 'Ma' of dear old school days at 'Snow.' May success be your lot is my wish. Love, Lucile (Ma)." Lucile and Blanche had played together as young girls herding cattle on the banks of the irrigation ditches in Oak City Helen had also been a friend since childhood, and these three women remained close throughout their lives.18

Although she had not completed her student teaching, Lucile graduated in the spring of 1931.Since students did not have money for the traditional caps and gowns, the young men wore suits and the young women their best dresses. "My graduation dress was light blue with ruffles going from the front to the back," Lucile wrote.19

That summer Lucile worked for her sister Mabel, a nurse who ran Delta Hospital for Dr. M. E. Bird. In the fall, she completed her student teaching at Ephraim. Although she had been confident that she could find a job, when Lucile finished in December she was not able to find a single teaching position. However, she did learn from Dr. Bird that the government was looking for teachers who would establish kindergartens. She inquired and received permission to start one in Oak City "Each parent who wanted their children in the school had to pay ten cents per child and the government would pay the rest. So that's how I got started teaching." With very few supplies available, Lucile relied on her ingenuity: "I got along well with the Sears and Roebuck Catalog and the Montgomery Ward Catalog for the kids to learn to cut out."20

When Lucile learned that one of the teachers in Oak City was getting married, she went to see Clead Nielson, a school board member, and he helped her get a job teaching third, fourth, and fifth grades. She enjoyed that first year of teaching. "Edith [Stevens] and I spent many hours in the evenings, (especially around Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter) decorating our rooms." Lucile lived with her parents, paying $20 per month for board and room, which helped her brother Rawlin attend school at BYU.21 Her time at Oak City was to be short, however. "The next summer we were in the canyon to a program and Dad heard a man talking to the Superintendent about me. He said I favored my own relatives too much. When our assignments [for the new school year] came out I was assigned to A.C. Nelson School at Deseret." In Deseret, Lucile taught third and fourth grades and lived in an old schoolhouse owned by Mr. and Mrs .Louis Schoenberger, a couple who had boarded teachers for many years. At this point Lucile was earning $75 per month and paying $25 for room and board, which included a lunch to take to school. "I was envied by many. People just couldn't believe a single woman would have $50just for herself."22

For three years Lucile taught at A. C. Nelson School, attended Brigham Young University during the summers, and continued to provide financial support to Rawlin, who graduated in 1935with a teaching certificate. After teaching his first year in Millard County, Rawlin was eager to go to Carbon County, where pay was higher. He learned that there was a vacancy for a teaching couple in Wattis, with housing provided, and he convinced his sister to go with him after the superintendent agreed to hire the brother/sister team. Lucile wrote, "It was quite a raise too, from $85.00 per month to $175.00 per month."23 However, when the two arrived in Price, they learned that the position had been given to a husband and wife. Instead, the district offered the Ropers teaching positions in Consumers and Gordon Creek.

During her first year in Carbon County, Lucile was severely injured in an automobile accident and required several months of recuperation at the family home in Oak City By the end of her second year teaching there, she was engaged to marry Albert (Bert) Hales, whom she had first met while she was teaching in Deseret. Lucile recorded, "I did want to teach one more year, but Bert said, 'now or never,' so I decided it better be now." When they married on June 28, 1940,Lucile surmised that her teaching career had ended.24

She was the last of the four roommates to marry. Sadie married Anthony Christensen in 1931after her first year at college. She wanted to continue her schooling, but her husband was a teacher and said, "One schoolteacher in the family is enough." He and Sadie settled in Aurora, Utah, where they farmed and raised a family; she never completed her college studies.25

Blanche and Helen both graduated in the spring of 1932. Helen taught school for one year then married Harold Anderson. She never returned to teaching. Blanche taught for one year in Deseret and two years in Lynndyl. When she married Ralph Crafts on July 1, 1937, she too assumed that her teaching career was over

However, World War II changed the status of married women in rural classrooms. Many young men who had fought in World War II either lost their lives (as was the case with Lucile's brother, Rawlin)26 or moved to larger metropolitan areas when they did return. Also, many young women had gone to live and work in cities during the war and chose to stay there afterward. The resulting demographic shift caused a teacher shortage in many small rural areas.

In 1947, although they had not taught for many years and were not certified teachers, Lucile and Blanche were contacted by Hinckley High School principal Kenneth Robins,who persuaded them to teach at Hinckley Elementary School. The school administration wasso desperate that the superintendent agreed to provide transportation for both Lucile and her babysitter. Each weekday morning Lucille Cahoon, the babysitter, would board the school bus in front of her home in Oasis and ride to the Hales residence in Deseret. There she would get off the bus, and Lucile would get on and travel to school with the students After school the bus routine was reversed.27

Blanche taught until December, when she and her husband had the opportunity to adopt a baby boy. Lucile had become pregnant, but she was able to finish the year because her pregnancy was not obvious. "Mrs. [Fannie Lee] Hilton was surprised when I told her I was pregnant. She said, f just thought you were getting pleasantly plump.' She told the Superintendent and he said to let me go on teaching if I felt like it." School ended on May31, 1948,and Lucile gave birth to a baby boy just a week later With a new baby and two other children at home, Lucile decided not to return to the classroom in the fall.28

Both Blanche and Lucile spent the next years raising their families. By 1960, however, expanding economic opportunities in fields other than education created new demands for teachers. That year Blanche returned to the classroom, teaching at Delta Elementary, and Lucile began teaching kindergarten at the Sutherland Elementary The two were hired because of their experience but with the understanding that they would acquire the current credential, a bachelor's degree in education. Blanche and Lucile, now in their late 40s and early 50s, were not typical coeds anymore, but they took correspondence courses and went to summer school year after year until they finally graduated from the College of Southern Utah in June of 1966.

Lucile taught until 1974 and Blanche until 1977, ending careers that each exceeded twenty years and spread across five decades. During this time, the two women saw many changes. They themselves had become harbingers of change as they, like many other young women, left the comforts of home with plans to pursue an education and return to their communities to teach They became role models, both for other women and for the children of rural Utah. Lucile provided hundreds of Utah children with their first introduction to reading, and Blanche was responsible for acquiring a grant and establishing the first media center in any Utah school.

The careers of the two were significantly affected by events and laws of the time. They entered the teaching profession in the 1930s confident that they would be able to find jobs, since most women were not allowed to teach once they married. In the late 1940s, years after they had married and left the profession, school officials begged them to return—although they were not certified to teach—because of the teacher shortage caused by the war. They left teaching to raise their families but re-entered the profession during the 1960swhen a booming economy again caused a shortage of teachers. After years struggling to juggle families, jobs, and education, and after they had produced a legacy of quality job performance, these same women were forced to leave the careers to which they had devoted much of their lives, talents, and energies Ironically, it was not their choice to retire; instead, the mandatory retirement law abruptly ended their careers.

Toward the end of their lives, both women agreed that their greatest rewards had come from their experiences in teaching and raising families. Yet they still looked back fondly on those memorable days as students themselves, sharing hard times and sardine sandwiches at Snow College during the Great Depression.

NOTES

David A Hales is Director of the Library at Westminster College, Salt Lake City

1 Lucile, the author's mother, carried the full name of Rachel Lucile Roper The women's married names were Helen S. Anderson, Sadie L. Christensen, Blanche N. Crafts, and Lucile R. Hales.

2 Lucile Roper Hales interview by author, Deseret, Utah, June 1989 Lucile also wrote a detailed life history, and it is mainly through her perspective that the story unfolds

3 Lucile Hales, life history notes (original copy in possession of Rawlene Hales Hansen, Washington, Utah; pagination by author), 20-21

4 Thirteenth Annual Announcement of Snow College, 1929-1930 (Ephraim: Snow College, 1929), 31, 32,36,27

5 Hales interview; Miriam B Murphy, "Women in the Utah Work Force from Statehood to World War II," in John S McCormick and Joh n R Sillito, eds., A World We Thought We Knew: Readings in Utah History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1995), 189-90

6 Hales life history, 24

7 Annual Announcement of Snow College, 27, 28

8 Hales life history, 24

9 Blanche Nielson Crafts and Lucile Roper Hales interview with author, Hinckley, Utah, June 1989; Hales life history, 25

10 Helen Shipley Anderson interview with author, Oak City, Utah, August 1997; Hales life history, 25.

11 Helen Shipley Anderson interview; Crafts and Hales interview

12 Hales life history, 25

13 Ibid

14 Ibid., 26-27

15 Crafts and Hales interview; Hales life history, 21

16 Astrid Jorgensen Larsen interview with author, Ephraim, Utah, April 1996

17 Hales life history, 28, 29

18

Snowownian, 1931, original in possession of Ralph Crafts, Hinckley, Utah Lucile and Blanche married men who were cousins to each other, and for the rest of their lives the two families lived only three miles apart

19 Hales life history, 27

20 Ibid., 30

21 Ibid., 31

22 Ibid., 31-32; Hales interview

23 Hales life history, 40

24 Ibid., 47

26 Sadie L Christensen telephone interview by author, February 1990

26 Hugh Rawlin Roper enlisted in April 1941 He became a pilot and was killed when his plane collided with another plane during their return from bombing the Ploesti oil fields in Romania on August 1, 1943

27 Hales life history, 64

28 Ibid., 64, 65