About the diary writer

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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.

September 10, 2016: A Park College Freshman 55 Years Ago

Fifty-five years ago, on Saturday, September 9, 1961 my parents, three younger sisters and I saw Park College for the first time. Visits to college and university campuses while still in high school were not as common as they are now. Arriving from a farm in Iowa, we drove around the campus, then found a motel room in Riverside. Move-in day for Park students was on September 10.

Yesterday, September 9, 2016 was the 36th birthday for the younger of my husband's and my two daughters. Today she is moving from an apartment to her first house, both near Zona Rosa in the Northland area of Platte County. She sometimes drives through Parkville on her way home from teaching in Kansas City and thinks of her mom as she passes Mackay. 

In January 2015 Kenneth R. Klamm began a Facebook group called Parkville Missouri History. Parkville and Park have a true town and gown relationship, and Kenneth has graciously admitted me to the group and has liked contributions pertaining to A 1961-65 Park College Diary.

Today, in honor of the 55th anniversary of my first 21 days at Park and in Parkville and Kansas City, I have chosen to share the titles I gave my 1961 diary entries when I compiled them as blog posts in 2011.

We See Park College for the First Time -
Saturday, September 9, 1961

Park Days and Nights are Underway -
Sunday, September 10, 1961

Park is a Wonderful College -
Monday, September 11, 1961

The PCCs Give a Roman Party -
Tuesday, September 12, 1961

We Buy Bedspreads in Kansas City -
Wednesday, September 13, 1961

We Register for Classes and Find Books -
Thursday, September 14, 1961

College Classes Sound Enjoyable -
Friday, September 15, 1961

The Social Clubs Choose Their New Pledges -
Saturday, September 16, 1961

A Date for Frosh Court - 
Sunday, September 17, 1961

Dag Hammarskjold Dies in African Plane Crash -
Monday, September 18, 1961

Park's 87th Opening Convocation is Impressive -
Tuesday, September 19, 1961

Hell Week Has Begun -
Wednesday, September 20, 1961

Awakened at 4:00 for Hell Week -
Thursday, September 21, 1961

Planning a Freshman Skit for Frosh Court -
Friday, September 22, 1961

Hell Week is Over and Frosh Court is a Success -
Saturday, September 23, 1961

Mid-Prairie Yearbook Came Yesterday -
Sunday, September 24, 1961

A Day of Successes -
Monday, September 25, 1961

An Individual Microscope for Biology Lab -
Tuesday, September 26, 1961

Will Dress for Dinner on Tuesdays -
Wednesday, September 27, 1961

Liking the Way French Class is Taught -
Thursday, September 28, 1961

A Visit to the Campus Infirmary -
Friday, September 29, 1961

Our Dorm Room will be Colonial Style -
Saturday, September 30, 1961

To read what I wrote on each of those nights, I invite you to find the "Blog Archive" on the right hand side of this blog post. Scroll to read "Archive Explained" and then scroll to find September 2011.

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