About the diary writer
- Barbara McDowell Whitt
- Kansas City, Missouri, Alexandria, Virginia, United States
- ~ About: A 1961-65 Park College Diary ~ As a high school girl and then a college coed in the first half of the 1960s, I wrote nightly entries on the pages of one-year diaries. In January 2010 I began transcribing the entries into a blog and gave each one a title. I grew up on three farms within 30 miles of Iowa City and the University of Iowa with its Iowa Writers' Workshop. As the oldest of four daughters, in my diaries I sometimes referred to my sisters as "the kids" or "the girls." We helped our parents, but we also had good, wholesome fun - a characteristic I took with me to Park. Park is 300 miles southwest of West Chester, Iowa, in Parkville, Missouri, on the Missouri River 10 miles northwest of Kansas City, Missouri, and across the river from Kansas City, Kansas. In 2000 Park College became Park University. Today Park's flagship campus is in Parkville and there are an additional 41 campus centers across the nation. Park was one of the first educational institutions in the United States to offer online learning. My last post was on May 22, 2018. I may be followed on Twitter @BarbaraMcDWhitt.
Urie Gagarin Has Circled the Earth - Saturday, April 15, 1961
Phyllis and I helped this morning with the West Chester part of the FHA bake sale. We just made $21.50 compared to the $45.00 the youth fellowship made. We had to help move calves across the road before we went up. I stayed home from town this afternoon to do my research paper. I had to jump up about every five minutes to put wood in (or check) the stoves, but they liked the feeling of coming home to a nice warm house. Oh, by the way. On Wednesday a Russian astronaut, Urie Gagarin, became the first man in the world to circle the earth in a space capsule. It took 68 minutes. He "landed on both feet" upon his return. Columbus, the Wright Brothers, and Gagarin.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Barbara,
What a WONDERFUL idea! I love this. Not only do you share what was going on with you 50 years ago, it sparks memories for me of those times as well. Wishing I had kept a journal or a diary. Wishing I had thought of this! This blog is most enjoyable. I'll be back.
Cecelia
Cecelia, thank you so much for taking time when your life is as involved as it is right now for your comment and for leaving a comment following my comment on your blog. You have a beautiful blog. I am impressed with your blogging skills.
It is events like this that makes me realize how much has happened in 50 years. I echo Cecelia above that your blog is so great at sparking memories and making me wish I had some record of who I was back then!
I told Bill on April 13 that I was surprised I hadn't written about the Soviet cosmonaut circumnavigating the planet on April 13, 1961. As you read, I did, two days later.
Post a Comment