Kenneth recalls his time at the University of Cincinnati, Mrs. Heintzman at whose house he was living, and the seances she held for people from the university because she was a medium.
Following Bradley Jr.'s death, Brad Sr. wanted Kenneth to have a life-transforming experience, so he took the whole family to Gull Lake Bible Conference where Kenneth met Charles Blanchard, then President of Wheaton College. That encounter led to…
Kenneth told Charles Blanchard he had quit college and Blanchard proposed that he come to Wheaton College. He remembers being mostly unimpressed by Wheaton, but as Margaret walked into the registrar's office where Kenneth and his father were, Kenneth…
Kenneth recalls having a hard time getting Margaret Mortenson to go on a date with him because she was the darling of all the football players. Eventually, Margaret named a date when she was free and they had their first date. Kenneth describes it as…
Kenneth had had so much elementary practical chemistry at Cincinnati that he felt like it was kid stuff (he had worked for so long at the Erie Railroad and knew far more chemistry than what he was studying in college). He became careless about this…
Despite his incomplete grade in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati, Kenneth had taken so many classes there that, following his transfer to Wheaton, he was told he would graduate in three years rather than four. This was astonishing to him.
Kenneth told his father Brad about Margaret, who he had met at Wheaton, so Brad came to meet her. Immediately he knew she had qualities he couldn't cope with. From the first time he met her he was afraid of her. He wished his son could find a…
Kenneth recalls a class fight in which he got at Wheaton. It was the first time in the history of the college that this was happening. Kenneth and his pals "stacked" the rooms of their adversaries, throwing everything on the floor.
Kenneth joined a literary society, the Baltonians (Margaret was in the Aeolians). He prepared a musical program for the society. Each society had its own hall.
Kenneth tells of an important conversation with Margaret's mother, who didn't like him at first. She struck him as a wise and humble woman. The two became good friends.
Kenneth remembers a mishap in his performance at the Beltonian banquet when he and another fellow forgot the same word on the same note twice. People thought they had done it on purpose, and that they were pretending they had forgotten.
Kenneth graduated from Wheaton in June 1924. His mother was ill and so couldn't come to graduation, but his father did. Kenneth worked during that summer to earn some money.
Kenneth and his friend Bill Gale arranged to steal the junior class' "donkey," and Ken was supposed to run away with it while Bill blocked the way to the group. They succeeded, but Kenneth got hurt badly at the ankle
At Princeton Kenneth started a business auctioning books. He gained a reputation from that and managed to build his library. By the time he graduated he had an excellent theological library.
Kenneth's letters to Margaret in the summer of 1924 were full of news about his mother and father's relationship getting better, in part because of Kenneth's decision to become a minister. He wrote about his desire to go to Princeton. Kenneth talked…
Archie was fun. Evangeline was going with him. He was chosen for the basketball Hall of Fame at Wheaton. He was only about 5'9" or 5'10", but he could just shoot straight up in the air.
Kenneth talks about his summer after graduation from Wheaton and his beginnings at Princeton. He remembers Eddie Love and Ding Darling, two roommates who shared the room next to his.
Darling was an incredible preacher in the use of words and tones. He preached one of his Pittsburgh sermons, and the man who was evaluating had nothing to say but to comment that Darling was going to be one of their most famous preachers.
Kenneth's first semester at Princeton he studied Hebrew and Greek and worked hard to be part of the top ten who entered professor Robert Wilson's advanced Hebrew class after Christmas time.
Kenneth remembers the first time he met professor Robert Wilson. He came to Kenneth's room and made a joke with a huge pipe. He had divided his life in sequences of fifteen years: 15 for study, 15 for writing, and 15 for teaching.
Kenneth recalls professor "Das Machen," a bachelor who would go around singing that nobody loves him. It was a way to invite people to come to his room and enjoy treats and chat.
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.