By Dr. Ferrell Miller
Geary County Historical Society Board Member
“Thelma Baker – Librarian At The George Smith Public Library”
Women’s History Month is an annually celebrated in March and is intended to focus on highlights of contributions of women have made to events in history and contemporary society and their stories. In remembering some of the Geary County women who have made contributions to community, stories will be shared in this space during the month of March.
Susan Filby (Susan Filby Moyer), who worked as a librarian at the Dorothy Bramlage Library in 1994 and is now the Director, wrote in an article for the JC Union newspaper that during the first half of the 20th century few occupations existed for women in general and single women in particular. Teacher, librarian and perhaps secretary were among them.
Thelma Baker was born on February 8, 1908 to J.C. and Olive Baker. Local papers proudly, yet incorrectly, announced the new arrival as a boy. The family moved several times prior to settling at 529 W. Second Street, where Mrs. Baker and Thelma lived most of the rest of their lives. Soon after graduating from Junction City High School in 1926, joined the staff of the George Smith Public Library where she remained for nearly 30 years. (The George Smith Public Library was then located at 103 W. Seventh Street in Junction City and is now the George Smith Reception Hall).
Thelma first served as assistant librarian under Ruby Babcock and later became chief administrator in 1930. Because of the ingenious plan of the library’s founder, George Smith, to make the library a self-supporting institution, the duties of the librarian included collecting monthly rent from the businesses tenanted on the floor below. At times these included a candy and cigar store, barber shop and bookstore operated by Jess Filby. In addition to rent collection, her job as landlord also involved maintaining the properties, including painting, roofing and repairs to the boiler, all of which had to be figured into the library’s annual budget.
One of her most frequent and most famous patrons was Stanley Pennell, author of the best seller, The History of Rome Hanks and Kindred Matters. Pennell visited the library daily, where Thelma helped him with the research and editing of his first novel. She also acted as his literary agent by finding a publisher for the work, a task he had already failed at several times. Nearly every library book on the Civil War was on loan to him as likely was Baker’s heart. However, soon after the novel was published, Pennell married another and moved to Oregon.
After seven years with the Lawrence Public Library, Thelma Baker returned home to Second Street. She died in the hospital on August 11, 1965.
“A Nostalgic View Of Childhood From An Adult Perspective
Miss Ethlyn Alsop grew up in the Wakefield community and after schooling at Kansas State Teacher’s College in Emporia taught at the old Junction City High School, which is now the Geary County Historical Society Museum. Miss Alsop taught Social Science, Civics and Constitution courses. She is remembered by her students, especially those of the class of 1928, whom she daringly accompanied on the first Senior Sneak Day ever attempted at JCHS.
Ethlyn wrote four blank verse poems, which she then assembled into one poetic essay describing her childhood in the 1890s and then the impact of the man-made Milford Lake/Dam on her as an adult. This is some of that work:
“You ask me child, how could we live those days without the things we take for granted now; those days of rag dolls, dolls with china heads; of mittens, hayrides, taffy-pulls, and sleighs; and miles of river skating on moonlit nights. Listen, my child, my story tells you how.
New-born calves, colts, lambs in meadows played and rollick with me still in reveries. Where are they now when April comes around? All, all are within my memories.
We walked two miles through pastures to our school; through sunshine, snowdrifts, rain, sleet, fog, and cold; had contests every Friday afternoon and memorized each week some rhyme or prose. Forty some made up our country school, and ages varied five to twenty-two. Those were the days they used the hickory stick.
My brother, Jack and I went up today and stood where once the village store had been. Looked out over miles and miles of lake and watched the sailboats go floating by. Out there one time were barns, sheds, fields and homes where people worked, played, walked to country school. Out there somewhere there was a place called home. Without a word we gazed and thought again of all those happy days that once had been. We looked far out to where the lake meets sky and then without a word we turned aside.
Beneath that lake there is a marker spot, a concrete slab on which the henhouse stood, where once we set the hens and watched to see the little chicks break through and come to life. No more do rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks play, for now a dam is built and all is lake.
Ah yes, beneath the lake there is a mark, a concrete slab on which the henhouse stood. The buildings were torn down and hauled away, and now a dam is built and all is lake.”