Kenneth (age 6 or 7) and his older brother made a propeller at their father's railroad shop. He tells of how they got into trouble again with the motorman (whom the propeller almost hit). The kids vanished but were eventually found.
Kenneth and his brother built an elaborated tree house across the street from 710 Walnut St., ran an aerial to the tree house and put electrified wires around it to prevent "unauthorized" access to it. He tells how the tree house became the locus of…
Brad took his son, Kenneth, on a visit to his older brother, Henry, in Washington D.C. Brad's first job was in Washington, so he wanted to see the city again after many years. He also wanted to show Kenneth the great painting of Commodore…
Kenneth continues on his parents' visit. They were planning to travel further East, and Kenneth wasn't sure they would come back his way, so he took them on another visit to the house of Billy Irwin, Kenneth's roomate.
Kenneth and Margaret say that their "period of adjustment" to living together was perfectly natural. They had gone to school together for two years, sat in the same classes, eaten together in the dinning room, shared visits back and forth with their…
Kenneth and Margaret went to talk with missionaries from Siam to prepare for their assignment. With Kenneth, Jr. they discuss missionary training and new ideas in preparing missionaries.
In February Kenneth wrote that he and Margaret had been officially appointed to Siam. The plan was for them to depart in August, about a month before Margaret gave birth to their first child. Margaret reads a list of the items they were advised to…
Kenneth and Margaret arrived in Princeton and drove through the city, proudly admiring its beautiful streets, with their truck full of baggage. Kenneth couldn't believe how much stuff Margaret owned.
Kenneth accidentally met Mr. Lindsay Hadley on campus and invited him over for dinner without knowing who he was. They had a good conversation (though a bit discouraging as to the Landons missionary plans) at the dinner table. It turned out that…
Kenneth tells of the time he and Margaret were driving home at night, and they almost had a head-on collision with a huge car coming at a very high speed. Kenneth managed to instantly get their small car out of the road. The two of them couldn't…
Kenneth and Margaret didn't see each other from the fall of 1924 to the summer of 1926, when they got married. Kenneth wanted to get married a year earlier, and he believed he could support her. They frequently wrote letters to each other during…
After their wedding Kenneth and Margaret spent the next day in Chicago. They had lunch at the LaSalle Hotel where they were staying, and an early supper near the dock, where they were to board the boat that was going to take them across Lake…
Kenneth and Margaret make final remarks on the taping. They thank Kip for doing the recordings. Kenneth says "thank you" in Thai, and states that they have great appreciation for the records.
Kenneth tells of the background to his appointment at the State Department. There had been a number of inquiries before the call from Washington. Kenneth wasn't interested in most of them. He tells how Mortimer Graves, secretary of the Council of…
While Kenneth was traveling in Bangkok in 1960, Prime Minister Sarit requested Kenneth for breakfast. Through the course of the breakfast, Sarit talked quite highly of Kenneth. As it turns out, the entire thing was televised, and many invitations…
Kenneth and Margaret tell about Kenneth's earliest exchanges with the government about Southeast Asia. They talked about when the Japanese could attack Thailand, why the Japanese were in Indochina and how far, if they attack Thailand, they could…
During that initial three weeks, Kenneth had two offices, one in the Triangle Building, and one in the Library of Congress, a research office, with full facilities and the availability of the stacks. That was when he discovered all of the Thai…
Kenneth had one further temptation to leave government when, in 1947, Chicago University invited him to deliver the Haskell lectures in comparative religion. These were the most prestigious lectures in religion in the United States. This, however,…
Kenneth left the OCI for the BEW in part because the Harvard folks couldn't get along with him about the Chinese he spoke. Margaret points out that Kenneth spoke the Swatow dialect, Taichu, that was commonly spoken among the diaspora of Chinese in…
Marshall Sarit of Thailand came to dinner with the Landons in 1958. When Kenneth and Sarit were on the porch, Sarit noted the wild animals which lived in the same area as the Landons. Noting they weren't afraid of him, he concluded Kenneth had the…
Kip notes from Kenneth's letters that he was being paid $20 a day. He started out at $15 a day, then moved up to $20. Kenneth was negotiating for more. Ernest Griffith was a man of wealth, a Quaker business type who was determined to get everything…
Margaret and Kenneth explain who Prince Damrong was. He was a very powerful and highly respected person, not only by the Thai but also by all the foreigners living in Bangkok. He was the premier prince. They tell of the coup d'etat that led the…
Kenneth tells of his serving on the admissions committee of the Cosmos Club. Customarily, one would only serve for three years. However, after replacing a member who resigned, and finishing that members two years on the committee, he was able to stay…
Margaret returns to the name of Baxter, looking up the Baxters in a biographical dictionary. James Phinney Baxter III. She reads about his work as president and lecturer at several colleges. When the OCI became the OSS, he became Deputy Director of…