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…
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
Kenneth tells about how often Margaret would suggest that they just be friends. He remembers three such occasions, but Kenneth wouldn't settle for this--"Well, you can't do that with me."
Kenneth and Margaret remember trying to get Adelle to visit. Margaret reads from her letters to her mother and realizes that in each one she asks how soon Mother was going to come.
Margaret recalls visiting (with Kenneth) the house in which she was born and raised, at 8412 Highway E, Somers, Wisconsin. The house was altered and enlarged, but the room she was born in was still there. They had tea with Mrs. Tabbert, the wife of…
Margaret wrote to her mother that she and Kenneth were going to the Wrights for Thanksgiving. She talks about the turkey they were going to eat. In those days turkey was still a luxury meat that you never had more than once or twice a year.
Margaret reads Kenneth's letter to her mother about describing their first Christmas together, the gifts, and the atmosphere. She also reads a letter from her mother explaining their celebration of Christmas without Margaret.
Kenneth dated Zoe Landon and Isabel Mann before he started dating Margaret. Both Kenneth and Margaret recall their first signficant date. Kenneth had invited Margaret to the annual Baltonians' banquet, where he was the program chair.
Kenneth and Margaret were awoken one night by a call from the security system office, saying that the alarm had gone off twice (though the Landons couldn't hear any alarm sound). Kenneth got up, took his weapon, went downstairs and this time he…
Margaret and Kenneth talk about the wedding. Margaret reads from a local newspaper's report a detailed account of the wedding. Both give reminiscences of the wedding, its people, the way they dressed, and its impact on other wedding ceremonies.
Kenneth and Margaret talk about about their wedding plans. Margaret had hoped that they could go to her parents' cottage at Stony Lake for their honeymoon. They went to Gull Lake instead, where Kenneth's father had rented a cottage. Margaret wanted…
Kenneth remembers people in the small community of Wheaton praying for him and a girl named Isabel Mann. The two of them were discovered several times walking arm in arm. This was not done at the time in the community.
Kip recalls Kenneth's commenting on Peggy's boyfriends when she was in high school. Kenneth says she was very popular with the boys. He remembers her dating a young Italian boy whom her parents thought wasn't the boy for her. She decided not to date…
The area where Kenneth and his family lived was infested with black snakes, and often the kids would find them curled up in their clothes at the river where they used to go swimming. One day one of the children caught a six-foot snake for the Barnum…