Graduation

Of the seven children of Betsy and Edward Walker who survived to adulthood, all but the oldest Lily graduated from Washburn University. After nearly two decades of living in rural Morris county, Edward and Betsy moved to Topeka so their children, all their children, could receive as much education as possible. Thus set in motion the belief and tradition that women as well as men deserved the chance to attain a college education. In all it's a tradition that has continued for more than 100 years. Eula, the second oldest daughter, was born in 1884. I'm assuming she graduated from Washburn in 1906. Pictured here are the four Walker sisters at the time of Ada's graduation from Washburn. From the top it's Eula, Grace, Edna and Ada at the time of Ada's graduation in 1916.







The tradition continued into the next generation. Pictured here are Ethel, Helen and Mary Grace in 1942.



And yesterday two more joined the ranks of college graduates with the graduations of Kelly and Frances from the University of Kansas. To honor the tradition we gathered all of the Walker female descendants we could find and with the help of Scott took their picture. Those of us here on the steps have degrees from KU, Kansas State University and Colorado State University. Now more than 100 years since the first female Walker graduated we have four generations of college graduates. The men have also continued the tradition, but today we're highlighting the women.

Mother's Day

Rebekah Sharpe nee Hutton circa 1855. She looks glum but as Steve pointed out to me recently people were not told to say, "Cheese." Because the eye of the camera had to be open for several seconds to allow enough light, people were told to hold still. [I've decided that she spelled her Rebekah this way because that's the inscription on her grave marker. Her son years after her death spelled it Rebecca, but I'm going with Rebekah.] She gave birth to 12 children with at least four not making it to adulthood. It was the death of her youngest child that brought the family to homestead in Parkerville Kansas.



This is Betsy Walker nee Sharpe with Edna Jessie in 1895. Gussie remembered that this portrait which includes the whole family was taken on Thanksgiving Day because the pharmacy was closed for the holiday. Betsy gave birth to nine children and only seven lived to maturity. One child that died was Gussie's twin, but the other appears to have been hers and Edward's first born, a boy who possibly was named Thomas.


The third photograph is of Edna, Allan and Ethel taken circa 1917. Edna and EA were married in 1913 and they became parents with Allan's birth in November 1914. Ethel was born in January 1917. Helen followed in 1920 and Mary Grace in 1923.


Finally, the fourth photograph is of Mary Grace Morgan nee Burkhardt and Susan in May of 1950.

A century of mothers.

CORRECTIONS FOR FRIDAY'S POST

For some reason I messed up a few names. I'm guessing I was in too much of a hurry. But anyway it's Eula and Frank Faust, not Epps. And I errored in Allan's name. I always can remember it's two a's, but I should also remember it's two ll's. In honor of Gussie's picnics, Lee and I and the boys tried one this weekend at Potter Lake in Lawrence. Dominic had a better time than Cameron because Cameron didn't care for the clock aka the Campanile.

GUSSIE & PICNICS

These pictures of a picnic are from 1919. There's no place identified as to where they were taken, but my thought is it could be the cabin that Percy and Jen owned. (Somewhere near the Menninger campus. Maybe Mary or Helen could tell me if that's anywhere close to correct.) Apparently Gussie loved picnics much to the joy or at least amusement of most of her close relatives. One niece who was raised on a farm wasn't that impressed with her desire to commune with nature.

Erma Burk Wilson wrote: In the summer they liked to have their evening meal in the park. My aunt would fix bologna sandwiches and bring canned beans. I was never very thrilled with these picnics. My aunt called it “Communing with nature.” Living on a farm I knew all about nature. Also I liked my beans hot. My uncle would have met us with ice cream and that made it all worthwhile. Erma is the daughter of Myrtle Burkhardt, EA's older sister.

Mary has another take on the picnic:

She loved picnics and if my dad didn’t come home for supper she was a great one to load the supper up in the car and we went off for a picnic. I remember eating a lot of macaroni that was kept hot in the double boiler. On holidays we generally had breakfast at the park. Generally fried bacon and eggs.

The standout memory I have from those picnics were the shoestring potatoes in a can. I also remember the beans. But back to these pictures. It looks like a jolly group although I wonder what exactly was Alan trying to shoot. Bruce in England helped me with these pictures and he liked the dog begging from Jenny Walker.


The top picture from the left back row: Frank Epps (Eula Walker's husband),Edna, Jenny Walker, Bill Smith, EA and Ethel. The front row from the left: Marguerite and Mildred Epps, Bud Walker, Alan and Margaret Walker.

The middle picture in the background; Frank Epps, EA, Ada Walker Smith, Edna, Betsy Sharpe Walker and Jenny Thayer Walker. In the foreground is Eula Walker Epps.

The bottom photo is Frank Epps, Percy Walker, Jenny Thayer Walker, Bill Smith, EA and Ethel. The front row is Marguerite and Mildred Epps, Bud Walker, Alan and Margaret Walker.

One last comment from me - I think EA pulls off the jaunty beret better than Percy.

Happy Easter from the Morgans 1969

I always knew Steve was taller than the rest of us, but . . . . . At least Scott got to grow some more in the years after this.

But my point - Happy Easter 2011!

Rehearsal Picnic - 1913

EA and Edna celebrated their coming marriage with a picnic near Garfield Park the night before they wed. Unlike current day, it included only a few family members. Attending were Gussie's sister Ada, her brother Percy and her mother Betsy. Rounding out the celebration were Percy's wife Jenny and their son, Ernest, "Bud," and Jenny's brother Thayer. His given name was William so I don't know if Gussie forgot his name or he went by Thayer. There's also another person who is unidentified.

Gussie clearly took the first picture because she's the only one not in it. People look like they're having a good time. The second picture shows Jenny, EA and Thayer heating dinner. It's hard to figure out what's cooking because it looks like they're heating a paint can. I like the guys' formal wear and Jenny's white dress which she seems to have no fear of getting dirty.

For dinner the group moved to a different area. I used this picture for Chris and Stephanie's rehearsal dinner. I liked the casualness of it, the horse in the background and everyone having a good time. For those who love minutia, the picnic basket and dinnerware are resting on a small carpet.

The final photo is a cropped image that I included because I like the way Gussie looks. It's hard to call her Gussie because here she looks like Miss Edna Jessie Walker about to become Mrs. Edgar Burkhardt.

Houston Final Four 1971

In 1971 KU played in the Final Four in the Astrodome. As you can tell from these photos we students were placed somewhat below the floor. Sally and I and a couple of friends thought this would be a great event. It was fun, but KU lost two games - the semis to UCLA and the consolation to Western Kentucky. Oddly Villanova who lost to UCLA in the championship game, and Western Kentucky both had to vacate their spots. So the record is UCLA first and KU fourth with two asterisks in between. Apparently Western Kentucky's star player had signed a pro contract during the year.

These photos are from the consolation game because my film of the semis was lost while we were at the beach at Galveston. The semis were on Thursday and the final on Saturday. Friday Sally and I and the group went to the beach and someone opened my camera. I've always blamed the UCLA students, but I don't know.

For a good description of that final four, check out this http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkc/men/7459155.html.