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.

The Edge of the Great Plains - Saturday, October 5, 1963

The delegation to the Park-Tabor soccer game at Hillsboro, Kansas returned at 2:30 this morning. We had a ball. We left at 1:00 and got to Hillsboro at 5:00. We went on a school bus (memories), by turnpike to Emporia, and then west across rural Kansas to the edge of the Great Plains. At the last turn-off we were 37 miles from El Dorado. We had a "Commons" lunch in the town park, but some of us supplemented by going to a cafe. The game was thrilling, a 3-3 tie after three 5-minute overtimes. We stopped in Emporia for snacks at the restaurant where the team stopped for dinner. It was a high school type thing on the college level.  

Sent Dave His Yearbook - Friday, October 4, 1963

I stayed up till 2:00 working on my paper, got up at 7:00 and went to breakfast and came back and finished it by 10:30. I finally got around to sending Dave Kennedy his yearbook. It had been returned for lack of correct address, although it had been forwarded to a box number in Fairfield. Hope the "D Street (510)" address John Sojay had reaches him. Margie is in the health center with swollen glands. She was fine when she and Nancy went to Kansas City this afternoon. Nancy got some slide film and flash bulbs for me. She walked up to see Margie when I went to work tonight.

A Paper on "Jung on Freud" - Thursday, October 3, 1963

I guess I still haven't learned not to wait until the last minute to do a paper. I was lucky to get hold of the library's copy of the "Atlantic Monthly" long enough to take notes on most of the material I wanted, then finished with the copy one of the military men got for Judy Cox. Now to evaluate it. I think I may stay up and get it finished tonight since I don't have a class till 11:00 and could sleep late. Nancy served cake to Judy, Margie and me in Margie's room tonight. I wasn't in the dorm from 8:30 this morning till 5:00, and then only till 5:30. After supper we had a float committee meeting, then back to "Jung on Freud." Nancy and I will be sharing the dining room. She's typing a poli sci reading report.

A Judicial Council Matter - Wednesday, October 2, 1963

Days go by so fast I'm not getting anything done. This is ridiculous. We had a combined men's and women's judicial council meeting tonight over _____'s protest that the P.R. [Proportional Representative] election was unfair because ______ told voters to vote for ______ while he was at the polls. We voted the election invalid. The student council will have to decide whether or not to have a re-election. I finished typing the health center reports this morning and took them up to Mrs. Flaherty after lunch. It was an hour before I got away.

Pay Day Was Today - Tuesday, October 1, 1963

Pay day was today. I'm still trying to decide how to account for the $62.32 they credited me with. Even with helping with registration, and ninety cents an hour at the health center and $1.00 for the yearbook, I shouldn't have gotten that much I don't think. This was a nice warm first day of October. Gee, the first of October. It doesn't seem possible. Mrs. Flaherty gave me the end of the month health center records to type.

LLC Float Will Be "Johnny Appleseed" - Monday, September 30, 1963

We had an LLC meeting tonight to decide on our float theme. After much discussion, "Johnny Appleseed" finally won out. Now to get our idea carried through. We played the PCCs in speedball. In spite of a good game, we lost 8-0. Tomorrow I have a test in psychological statistics. I hope for the best. Thank heavens, we won't have any more quizzes this week in phys psych, but we will have an hourly next Monday. Nancy showed me some slide pictures that she took this summer tonight. With a relatively simple camera, they turned out very well. I'll have to try a roll of slides with my camera this fall.

Breakfast for the Lowells - Sunday, September 29, 1963

The Lucernes got up at 7:15 to get the Meetin' House ready for the surprise breakfast for the Lowells. It was really nice. We also ate dinner under the east balcony. Then we had a short float committee meeting. Nancy and I studied in front of the science hall and in Mackay until 3:00 when some of us went down to the Lowell-Lance softball game. We only lost by two points. We certainly gave them enough support! Tonight Wayne and I worked as one of the subcommittees on a float idea. We are going to suggest "Johnny Appleseed."