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.
The Status of American Women - Thursday, January 23, 1964
I must wake up and face reality again on something. I'm in sort of a depressed state of mind. I sincerely hope it is all in my mind a notion I had tonight. I just wonder if Fred might have had a can of beer tonight. I should have been able to smell it, but I wasn't sure. Terry Scullin had an article in the Stylus that made it look like the whole Narva staff decided on having the editor of Playboy choose the Narva queen and attendants. Drat it. I should have written to Phyllis again tonight since it's one of my bad days - the way it was for her when she last wrote! I went with Evelyn to Brisch's tonight to get a book. This afternoon the Park College women had a "forum" in the Meetin' House to discuss the status of American women.
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2 comments:
The status of American Women was actually something women students in the sixties were studying all the time. But, like the feelings of discomfort around Playboy and beer, a lot of those ideas about identity and gender were not quite conscious. Do you think you recognized the irony at the time in this entry?
Shirley, thank you for pointing out that the status of American women was being studied all the time by women in the 1960s. And no, I hadn't recognized the irony in my diary entry. I appreciate your noticing it, bringing it to my attention and posing your question.
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