Margaret loved reading from the beginning of her schooling. She would complete and turn in her assignment before it was due in order to get to read one of the books that Miss Morse kept at the back of the classroom. She remembers her mom reading to…
Margaret acquired two kittens and one day they disappeared. Adelle didn't want to tell her about what had happened to the kittens, but she overheard her mom telling her dad that the tom had killed them both. That was her first experience of the death…
Every Saturday afternoon, A.D., Margaret's father, would bring home a bag of candies after work. The girls were expected to be polite and nice to each other in their using of the candies.
Evangeline was punished by her mom for running after and catching the streetcar. On another Margaret also was punished for running in front of the streetcar. Mom would usually punish the kids verbally.
One day Margaret saw Elisabeth hold sand in a cup. Mother was baking in the kitchen and as she turned to the sink Elizabeth dashed in an threw the sand into the flour bin
Margaret's youngest uncle, Lawrence, was on the football team of Northwestern University. Her dad, A.D., began taking her to Lawrence's football games. That was when Margaret acquired her taste for football.
When Margaret was seven or eight years old she became very sick. The family doctor could not figure out what the disease was, so there was very little that could be done to help her. Suddently she had a terrible convulsion and the sickness was all…
Margaret has always been popular, a "top dog." She always had friends, always was team leader, class president, etc. It was natural to her and everybody took it for granted. In seventh grade she had her reverses: her parents wouldn't let her go to…
Margaret remembers her second grade with Miss Stevens, and her favorite song back then, "Marching Through Georgia." They always had music lesson; it was just part of life
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 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 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 began traveling alone to Chicago at age seven. She would take to train and board the bus in the city to go see her eye doctor. She was always safe--there were dangerous areas but she never went there.
Margaret recalls transportation in her childhood, how easy it was to travel around in the city and its neighboring towns because streetcars were everywhere. She tells about the shops on Central Street near the railroad station. The annual income of…
Margaret recalls many black maternal families coming from the South to Evanston, IL, for work. She describes the many black women she met and talks about one in particular, Florida Mitchell, who worked for her mother Adelle. Florida was raising money…
Another habit of the Mortenson family was family visits. They visited Grandmother often and many other members of the extended families. They visited people on both sides if the family.
During her many visits to Grandmother in Racine, Margaret would be sent to a store to get, say, a loaf of bread. Once she had to walk past a saloon to get to the store. She had never seen a saloon or a drunk person before, so she would get close to…
By the time she was ten years old Margaret was famous for liking to make presents for people. One summer when she was visiting in Round Lake she earned money by swatting flies for her aunt. With that money she bought gifts to return home and give to…
Margaret learned very early not to lie or steal. She remembers the first time she lied, she quickly realized she was not good at it. She also recalls stealing a piece of gum and felt so bad about it that she decided that this wasn't for her.
Aunt Minnie wouldn't visit as often as Adelle wanted, because she and her husband were farmers. She and her husband had a very nice house for that era but never had running water. Margaret and her aunt's children never were close: neither enemies nor…
Church was always an important part of life in the Mortenson family. Margaret's grandparents and parents were Methodists. The family was active in the Central Street Church. The Boyd family were educated people and made good money. William Boyd…
Margaret always loved Christmas. One time A.D. couldn't be home for Christmas, so the family didn't buy a Christmas tree. Margaret found one that someone had thrown away by the road side. She dragged it home triumphantly, and Adelle realized how much…
Margaret's favorite doll was Daisy, the name it had when she got it. It was made by the company where her father worked. The company published three different advertising journals, and Margaret owned the journal in which Daisy was first advertised.…
Margaret remembers playing behind the house with Evangeline who was making mudpies, a common practice in those days. Evangeline would eat those mudpies, a habit Adelle had a hard time to cure her of.