Margaret's earliest memory is of no significance but quite vivid. She recalls that at eighteen months old she was standing at a door looking in, with a window to her left, and before the window was a table with a red-check cloth on it. She was…
Within six months Margaret's family moved to Evanston and she continued Kindergarten there. There she had her first "disgrace" in school: she couldn't say the days of the week, unlike everybody else in her class
By February 1905 the Mortensons had moved to 1642 Washington Ave., Racine. Margaret and Kenneth visited the area and discovered that Washington Avenue was largely commercial. but 1642 was still there. That house is where Evangeline was born.
A.D. took a job in Chicago for additional income to support his family. He later found a house in Evanston and the family was able to move to the city. In 1969 Margaret and Kenneth visited the house and photographed it.
At the end of the winter the Mortensons found it difficult to continue to stay in Somers, especially for A.D. to be going back and forth in the cold weather, so before the fall they moved to Racine, Wisconsin, and they stayed at 1741 Villa St. In…
The Mortensons moved and took over a boarding house on Dempster St. That was when Margaret started kindergarten, and she remembers walking across a railroad track to school. Her sister Evangeline was adorable and everyone liked her, including the…
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.
Margaret tells the story of her family attending a Methodist summer camp. She wandered into a dining tent at the camp and, without her parents knowing it, had a meal. They had to pay for the meal, which they thought was too expensive and so Margaret…
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
Margaret recalls her first kindergarten project, a turkey cut out of paper and colored, and a sailboat cut out and put on a piece of paper. She also gives the names of her school teachers from kindergarten to eighth grade, and remembers one who was…
Margaret's grandfather died in June 1907, at the age of seventy-one. Adelle and the two girls attended the funeral. The total expense of internment was $ 144.25
Margaret was introduced to sports in fourth grade, especially softball. She learned to play volleyball in fifth or sixth grade. In seventh grade she began playing tennis.
Margaret continues reading from her diary about the club of twelve boys and twelve girls, skating, getting angry at a tall boy who threw ice cream to Evangeline, and other things that happened at school.
Margaret's grandmother died before she was born, but she has one memory of her grandfather Estberg. He came one day while she was playing with other kids and he stood behind her, a very tall man dressed in black. His image is mixed up with that of…
Margaret remembers living in her neighborhood of children. There seemed to be children in every family. It might have been a community of middle aged couples.
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 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.
Margaret tells about a male neighbor that was held up by a man with a pistol in Evanston. The man struck him on the head and he was bleeding. This shows that crime was in their neighborhood.
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 and her sisters decided to put on Cinderella for their father's birthday. The kids made their costumes. Family members were invited so that they could have an audience.
Margaret was born very early in the morning, and her parents were choosing names for their meaning. Her name, Margaret, means pearl. Dorothea means "a gift of God." Julia (which means "soft hair") was named after the girl's grandmother and her…