The Graduates

Why me? Okay, okay.

This is a picture recently sent to me by Raymond O'Connell, my eldest cousin. He had found it in some pictures he was going through and thought I should have it. (His father was my mother's brother Raymond.)

Written on the back, someone had written the words, "graduates -- Cora and Stella." That would be my mother, Catherine Cora on the left, and her sister, Mary Estelle. No date. I'm guessing it would be around 1918 or 1919. My mother taught school for five years before she married in 1924 at the age of 27. Aunt Stella was also a teacher and sometimes they were assigned to the same one-room school and boarded at the same home in the town. The townspeople considered it a great honor for the teacher to choose their house to live in during the school year, but it wasn't free. My mother said it cost $3 per week and that covered all her needs. Her wages were $65 per month so $12 didn't cut into it too much. The system wouldn't hire married women, so once she married, that was the end of her career. Same with Aunt Stella, who had married a couple of years before. My dad and Uncle Raymond, also teachers, didn't have to quit once they married. I believe the judgment against women had to do with having babies as soon as they married, and they certainly couldn't teach while pregnant. Just another example of how times have changed!

I only barely recognized Grandma. Didn't recognize Aunt Stella at all. That photo is almost 90 years old. Amazing.

I recognized Grandma right away. I must have seen enough old photos of her through the years to be able to recognize her. I do not recognize Aunt Stella in the picture...

I thought there was a strong resemblence to Carol, or vice-versa, from Aunt Stella.

Grandma was a pretty girl. Her hairdo was so perfect. Uncle Pat looked a lot like her; the way the mouth is held.

My favorite story is hearing how the old-timers regulated bathroom breaks. One finger up meant you needed to go number one and therefore should only take a minute. Two fingers told the teacher, and observant classmates, that you'd be a minute longer and why. I am glad times have changed.

I just thought of something to add to Janine's last comment. During the winter, it was the teacher's job to shovel a path to the outhouse. And also to make sure the step or steps into the classroom were clear of snow. And then it was her job to make sure the snow-melt was taken care of inside so that the floor wasn't ruined. Plus, the wood-burning stove had to be loaded -- I'm pretty sure someone else chopped the wood -- and set afire so the children would have a heated facility to come into out of the cold. All in all, the teacher had done a pretty hard job before any child showed up that morning. In my next musing, I'll tell you how my mother taught "manners" to her class.