Margaret recalls her parents' decision to send her to Wheaton much against her will. The bribe was a second summer to the girls' camp, which cost pretty much the same as attending Wheaton. The only other pleasant experience was her meeting in later…
Margaret's senior year was not a good one: Kenneth was away, dad was ill, so life wasn't fun anymore. Kenneth and Margaret wrote letters quite often. Margaret tried in vain to turn Kenneth on to poetry. Margaret remembers the commencement events and…
Margaret did third grade at an open-air school. It was a new idea to which Adelle subscribed, so she sent her two daughters there. The kids would wear their winter coats and sit in the cold for school, putting their feet in a box to keep them warm.…
Margaret recalls her time in high school. She was taking the train to and from school. She talks about life at school, lunch time, and describes some of her teachers.
In second grade the kids' piano lessons were from the aunt of one of Margaret's classmates, Mary Peabody. She and Margaret were companionable in an easy, relaxed friendship.
Margaret tells about Miss Torrey, a brilliant but eccentric Bible teacher at Wheaton College. She had very acute hearing--she once heard the whispering conversation of two boys in the back of her classroom who were discussing the affairs they were…
Miss McCabe, Kenneth's Sunday School teacher, wanted all her boys to become preachers. One day she announced that Theodore Borrel was going to become a minister and asked Kenneth why he didn't want to become one. Shortly after, two of Theodore's…
Margaret recalls Russell Graves who was very nice to Evangeline, but the Mortenson family had the feeling that they were country cousins. Margaret eventually found out many years later that Russell had made his home in Washington, D.C., but he had…
Adelle and the girls went for dinner on New Year's day. They stayed for a concert and then went on to call on the McShanes. Mr. McShane revealed to Adelle the plans for Balanchard Hall and other renovation projects.
Kenneth remembers Mrs. D'Armant Minium, a very buxom woman with plump arms and a voice like cream. At age sixteen she became curious about having a baby, and so she had one, and then she disposed it somehow. Mae never forgave her for the baby,…
The cowboy evangelist tried to seduce Mrs. Ousley, who had become a Christian at his meetings. She had many problems in her marriage and was considering divorce. Margaret was shocked when Mrs. Ousley, who was a friend of hers, told her about the…
Kenneth tells how he asked Margaret to marry him back in 1924. Kenneth was working at a restaurant and was saving money to buy an engagement ring for Margaret. He bought an expensive ring, but the problem was that Margaret didn't seem to want to be…
Peggy and Margaret tell of how they acquired a fine piano. The piano was a Steinway grand piano, and when Margaret caught wind of it being for sale at a reasonable price, she went ahead and bought it!
Peggy tells of finding out that she was to have another sibling. Margaret was shocked to find that Peggy and Bill were quite excited at the prospect of a new baby.
Peggy tells of the time the Landons lived in Indiana. She tells of the house they lived in and recalls the mahogany desk which she remembers her mother sitting and writing.
Peggy tells of the summer of 1942 in which the Landons moved to Washington. Margaret would join them a little later, as she stayed behind to take care of the moving and packing.
Peggy tells of the birth of her new sibling. She also recalls the house-hunting process in which, when they found their house, they simply knew it was the right one!
Margaret did not see the play until it had been playing for six weeks, she says. She went up with Kenneth and another couple. Peggy asked her mother what sort of cake she would like, and she answered she wanted a simple cake like the ones her mother…
Margaret tells about her mother writing her about the completion of the Pierce Chapel, which did not have a balcony at the time. She remembers the building of the church and its beginnings.
Kenneth talks about how excellent Princeton was back then, just one brilliant professor after another. The scholarship was excellent before it all began falling apart.
Kenneth remembers Ray Pooks imposing his will at a high school track meet. He would require that the events be rescheduled so that he could participate in them all. Kenneth was amazed at this man doing everything just as he had said despite the fact…
Margaret reads from a 1976 issue of The Washington Post about children's games from the past that were lost with the coming of television. She talks about games they played in childhood. She expounds on her friendship with Mary Peabody.
Margaret recalls games the kids played on Harrison St. A child named Paul owned toboggans, with which the kids would sweep on the ice during winter. One girl owned a pony but was stingy about it. Everyone owned bicycles.
Kenneth recalls Robert Dick Wilson as a man in his 80's who had laid his life in sequences of 15 years each (teach, research, writing). He was about Kenneth's size and was very active.