Leather Hinges

A Change in our Lives I am May Violet Howell. Today is my twenty-first birthday, May 16, 1891. I am at my parent’s home in Sigourney, Iowa. My brother Sam is here from Davenport, Iowa. All of us, Dad, Mom, Sam, Ira and me are trying hard to be cheerful but we have just learned that Ira has consumption. This is almost death sentence. We all love Ira so much. He is a precious gift to our family. He was a surprise baby. I was in Chillicothe State Normal, Chillicothe, Missouri. After attending for two whole years, I almost had my teacher’s certificate with a major in Music Education. What a horrible time to learn that my younger half-brother Ira had consumption. The doctors told us that he would have a better chance of surviving if we went south. So, Dad, Maggie and Ira immediately made plans to move to Springfield, Missouri, where we had relatives who could help us find some farm land. After much discussion, it was decided that I was to stay in Chillicothe and complete my degree. Brother Sam came to Chillicothe for my graduation ceremonies and then I followed my family to the new Springfield farm. As an explanation to those who don’t know, consumption was the term used for tuberculosis. The move to a drier climate proved to be the right decision by May’s parents as Ira lived long enough to see May get married, move to Atlanta and return to Springfield. It was hard for the young May to be separated from her family to finish her schooling, but, the Howell clan, like the Stanford’s, believe that higher education was essential for a full life, a better life. In those days, sometimes the best that you could do for yourself was to make sure that your offsprings had a better life than your own. May Howell was the talk of the coffee shops in Springfield. A very beautiful, educated young lady had come to teach. Her hair was blue-black. Her eyes were the color of violets and her rosy cheeks just blended perfectly. She could play the organ, guitar and violin. She could sing soprano and could harmonize with any voice. The Ballard Howell’s were her parents. They had purchased the old Manz farm (twenty acres) three miles east of town. There was a three room house on the farm, rather dilapidated but livable. The local school system hired me immediately for the next term because certified teachers were needed there and at many other places throughout the growing country. They felt that I could add something new to the school, and it seemed that I made an immediate impact. I really enjoyed teaching, especially the organ, guitar and elocution. I combined my classes to put together an end-of-the-year program of music and recitations in late May before my first year was completed. The auditorium was packed when I led my students in a wonderful performance. We had duets, quartets, and folk songs, choir with four-part harmony and we had a one-act comedy. The play had the audience rolling with laughter. The local school board was so impressed with this entertainment that it became an annual graduation requirement. The auditorium was completely filled with cheering parents and friends. Certainly, today, the idea of a school play is nothing very innovative. But, when May started this practice she was on the cutting edge of educational reform. She was actually very lucky because she didn’t run into some of the “old school” mentality of accepting new ideas. This short program established May as an innovator and a popular teacher. With the horrible shortage of certified teachers, May had chosen very wisely. She could work wherever she wanted, with the limitation that she did not get paid during the summer. As you’ll notice in May’s case, this proved to be a blessing in disguise. As a teacher, I was only paid during class time. So, when summer came, I became unemployed. I needed money to help my family. So, I applied for a sales job at Stanford General Merchandise and Furniture Store right there in Springfield. Mr. Exter Stanford was the part owner and manager. He knew me from the musical program that he had attended just a few weeks earlier. Employees of the mercantile were teasing Mr. Exter about the idea of hiring me. He was having that same thought. Maybe I would consider working for him during the summer. I went in to apply for a job. Exter hid his enthusiasm as he questioned me about my qualifications. He was very professional and kept a stern face. He told me that I could work in the Ladies Wear and Cloth Department until eleven o’clock, then I was to go to the kitchen to help the cook with the noon meal. The store closed at noon for an hour and all the employees went to the back of the store to the dining room for lunch. This sounded good to me. There were eleven employees, including me. After I had settled into my new position, I relaxed enough to feel Mr. Stanford was watching me. And I was also interested in him. Mr. Stanford was quite a dashing young businessman. He was five feet nine inches tall. His eyes were blue, his hair brown and his mustache had a hint of red in it. He carried himself with great dignity. I learned later that he had attended Sumac Academy near Chatsworth, Georgia. He studied business and finances while he attended college. As a side note, all the teachers had to work during the summer. It was purely a matter of economic survival for the whole family. May was actually lucky, as some teachers did not have the luxury of enjoying their job. They would find some summer employment that paid better than teaching and never return to the classroom. May had also, perhaps unconsciously, noticed that she was over twenty and unmarried, a rare thing for the times. And, she obviously was “taken” by Mr. Stanford. I was surprised about a month later to see an organ had been brought into the dining area. Mr. Stanford was always pleasant but formal with me. I was delighted when he asked me to play the organ and sing while the other employees ate. He said that would inspire all the employees to feel more like a sales team and more like a family unit. I enjoy doing things like that. Dad called me his “showoff girl.” In the beginning, I sang and played alone. But soon, some of the men would join me in singing.