Education Transforms Generations

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 37
Back to School
#52ancestors

 

I've written about my Grandpa before because he was a huge influence in our family. According to the 1940 census, he only completed the 8th grade which wasn't unusual in the 1910s when he would have been going to school.  What was unusual was his attitude toward education.

 Grandpa was adamant that all of his children get an education, even the girls. It was unusual for a father to allow his girls to go to college back then much less demand it. He worked hard to make sure that they all went to either college or business school for at least one year before they got married. His son went on to get not only a college degree at East Central University, but also studied at Notre Dame and earned a Master's degree at the Carnegie Institute as a mathematician.  Two daughters went to college for a year before dropping out to get married with one of them finishing her degree after her children were grown.

The youngest two daughters went to business school which was an excellent choice as both married men who owned their own businesses. They were partners in the businesses and played a key part in their success.

 I have wondered if Central High school being so close played a part in his decision to buy the farm nearby. But when his oldest daughter was a freshman in high school, he saw some kids making out in the back of the school bus. He decided then that it wasn't the place for her to go to school so she went to live with his parents and go to school in town. Ironically, that is where she met her future husband, though they didn't get married until after she finished that first year of college.

Grandpa's attitude about education affected not only his children but also his grandchildren and great-grandchildren as many of them earned college  degrees in various fields. He probably didn't think he had much influence when he talked to the grandchildren about going to college for at least one year, but he did. Some of those grandchildren who didn't seem to listen, went onto get degrees later in life. Education really does transform lives.