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.
WCTU County Resolutions From Grandma - Monday, July 27, 1964
Well, perhaps at last I can rest assured that I have done about all I can do for the 1964 Narva - I got the receipt back that said Karen had gotten the registered mail package. The girls and Mom went to Cedar Rapids today. Mom got me a name stamp and pad - but the name will have to be sent to me. Ann has gone to Marty's for the week. I'm done with my dress except for a snap and hook and eye. Nic, Charlie and I had a discussion about the Women's Christian Temperance Union County Convention's resolutions that Grandma McDowell, of all people - my own grandmother! - wanted in the paper. I thought Nic was going to have a fit over one of them.
Started Reading George Orwell's 1984 - Sunday, July 26, 1964
I proceeded to get more suntan this afternoon. Maybe I'll be a fairly acceptable shade of "brown" when I return to campus - America and its "status symbols." I started reading George Orwell's 1984. Maybe someday I'll get some of the books read I should have read long ago. The kids had a youth fellowship meeting tonight to plan a bridal shower for Irene Hole. I wrote to Dean Nelson to obtain permission to have a car on campus and wrote some other "business" letters.
The Gaslight Singers Were on Hootenanny - Saturday, July 25, 1964
I have my dress finished except for the buttons and hem. I suntanned for an hour this afternoon. The Gaslight Singers who were at the Park College hootenanny were on Hootenanny tonight. Mom, Dad, Phyl and Ann went to the veterinarian, Mr. Peterson's farm to see about a five year old brown mare. I "wrote" a folk song, "Home Town." I thought we had something going there for a while when Virginia began setting it to music. I don't know which is worse - being "ignored" or being "insulted" by Nic. Today he "insulted" me by acting that way himself when I couldn't think of a caption for an ad cartoon. Men!
Virginia and Ann Plan to Get a Triple Bunk Bed - Friday, July 24, 1964
I couldn't even ride my bike tonight because it had a flat tire. It was just too hot to do anything, so I did things like polish my fingernails, pick at my peeling suntan, pick at the piano, and wash my hair. Virginia and Ann are fixing up their room and plan to get a triple bunk bed. They painted my desk and Ann's dresser blue, green and white to match their color scheme. There were only five or six local news items in tonight's paper - the fewest I've ever had, I think. And after Mrs. Stewart praised my work on the local news and said she misses me during the winter.
"These Most Giddy and Brisk-Paced Times" - Thursday, July 23, 1964
"These most giddy and brisk-paced times." - Shakespeare's Twelfth Night - that adequately describes college days, but right now I need an opposite expression - wonder what it might be. I'm coming along nicely with my dress. I saw a $15 dress in Seiferts of the same material. I also saw that Wards now has the material I've had all summer reduced by 30 cents a yard - I might as well have left it at the store all this time. Orrs are looking for their lost beagle as is everyone else in town - so I learned as I rode my bike on the back road.
Found Two New Dresses at Bridges - Wednesday, July 22, 1964
Hair always looks the best just before you go to bed. So true! I just came forth with a style that the girls think is pretty great for something I did myself. That's true, too. I hope I can keep it this way till tomorrow, but I guess I won't sit up all night. I went on one of my once in a while shopping splurges and, for the first time in my life, bought something at Bridges. In fact, I got two dresses, both on sale - a $15 (regularly $20) Rosecrest arnel and nylon pink-yellow-blue print two piece, and a tailored blue shift with a red belt and trim. I started sewing on my shirtwaist.
Am Reading The Catcher in the Rye - Tuesday, July 21, 1964
I'm about to finish reading The Catcher in the Rye. It seems too depressing for me to get the full enjoyment of its meaning. I cut out one of the shirtwaist dresses that I've had the material and patterns for all summer. Maybe I'll get it sewn before much longer. It has been so hot these days. The air just hangs on you. We enjoyed corn on the cob and watermelon tonight. Mom, Virginia and Ann had a dentist appointment at 10:30, so I got dinner. Daddy likes his secretarial job at the high school. It seems strange to live in a home where the head of the house has an 8:00-5:00 office job.
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