All of us of a “certain age” have heard of Laura Ingalls Wilder. We know her via her books, or the television series based on her books.  My introduction to Laura Ingalls Wilder occurred in elementary school. We only had one TV in our home, and it only had two channels, ruled by my father.  (We lived in the country and only had a TV antenna.) Therefore, if we didn’t want to watch what was decided by our father, we read. Also, I could be a little talkative in school (go figure), and the teachers soon learned that I always finished my work early and was tempted to talk. The surest way to keep me occupied was to let me read my library book.  In the fourth grade, the teacher and I had a kind of “telepathic” system. I would look up after I finished my work, catch her eye, and she would nod. Leaving the room with my library book from the day before, I would go across the hall, turn it in and pick out another. After returning to the classroom, I would immediately become engrossed in my new book.  I usually went through a book a day.  I read most of the history-oriented novels in the library. Thus, my love for history and reading kept me out of trouble at school and introduced me to Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Of course, I read all her books and I read them all before the fourth grade.

Laura Ingalls Wilder had one child, a daughter – Rose Wilder Lane.  I remember reading a small book she had written about her mother, but I just thought she was “riding on her mother’s coat-tails” so to speak.  When we visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home in Mansfield, MO, I found out I was so wrong about Rose.  In fact, Rose became well-known / famous before her mother started writing her books and it was Rose that encouraged her mother to write down the stories from her childhood.

            An interesting note, Rose Wilder finished her high school education while staying with her aunt – Eliza Jane Wilder in Crowley, Louisiana in 1904.  She was able to learn three years of Latin in one year and graduated at the top of her class of seven students. Due to her parents’ financial situation, Rose Wilder was not able to attend college. She did work as a telegraph operator in Mansfield, MO, Sedalia, MO, Kansas City, Indiana, and California.  While in California, she married Claire Gillette Lane and became pregnant. However, the baby boy was a stillborn and she was unable to have any more children.  While living a nomadic lifestyle with her husband, Rose was a voracious reader and taught herself several languages. In 1908, she began her writing career by writing occasional freelance newspaper jobs to earn extra money. In 1915, Rose served as an editorial assistant for the San Francisco Bulletin. However, her talents were not limited to editing and she began writing and had her photo and byline writing romantic serials that were published for weeks at a time. Rose even wrote firsthand accounts about the lives of Herbert Hoover, Henry Ford, Jack London, and Charlie Chaplin that were published. While her new career was flourishing, Rose and her husband amicably divorced in 1918.

            By the late 1920s, Rose Wilder Lane was “reputed to be one of the highest-paid female writers in America.” She also had a growing interest in world history and politics.  Rose easily found work as a “silent’ editor or “ghostwriter” for other writers in order to earn extra money. She was known for being generous with her friends and family building a new home for her parents. Today, known as the “Rock House,” it started out as a mail-order Sears & Roebuck house, but she had it customized and added electricity.  One series of articles she sold paid for the house and its customization. She even bought a car for her parents and taught her mother to drive it. She went on to modernize her parents’ farmhouse for her own use.  When you visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder home, you will see the farmhouse and the home that Rose had built for her parents.

            After WWI, Rose Wilder Lane worked as a traveling war correspondent and worked with the American Red Cross through 1965. She wrote for The Pittsburgh Courier, the most widely read black newspaper of the time from 1942-1948. She advocated anti-racism and laissez faire politics which lead to her being influential in the libertarian movement. In fact, Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Patterson, and Ayn Rand have been called the “founding mothers” of the American Libertarian Movement. Rose returned to commercial writing when she reported from Vietnam for Woman’s Day magazine at the age of 78. 

While I made the visit to learn more about Laura Ingalls Wilder, I realized I already knew so much about her due to her books.  It was Rose Wilder Lane that caught my attention and piqued my interest.  It was through her connections that Laura Ingalls Wilder was published, which inspired many young girls through the years in her books, and even more in the TV series inspired by the books.  I do believe that I will be adding Rose Wilder Lane’s writings to my list of “to read.” I hope you will check out the Laura Ingalls Wilder home in Mansfield, Missouri and that you will learn more about her daughter – Rose Wilder Lane.

Until next time,

Beth Cervenka

Come Explore with Us!

Branson, Missouri has become a destination for many people in the last several decades and we wanted to check it out. When we first arrived, all the signage for the attractions and concert venues struck us as very touristy and a little bit like Vegas (minus the casinos 😊). Unfortunately, there were no “big” names preforming when we were there and just lots of “tributes” to various bands and performers, which was disappointing. However, we did want to check out some attractions and the Titanic Museum was on the top of the list. (They did not allow photography inside the museum, so those photos come from their website.)

           One of the first attractions that is hard to miss in Branson, is the Titanic Museum, which is done in the shape of the ship and even has an “iceberg” along the side.  This attraction was certainly on our list of must-sees, and it did not disappoint. I did wonder why there was a Titanic Museum in Branson, which is landlocked. According to their website, “The Branson Titanic Museum is one of two Titanic-themed museums owned by John Joslyn, who was part of a 1987 undersea expedition to explore the ship’s remains. While the ship-shaped museum seems huge, the exterior is built to half-scale of the actual Titanic.”  Due to the pandemic, we purchased our tickets online and received our “boarding time.” As we were “boarding” we were each handed a card with a person’s name, his / her biography, and if the person was a first-, second-, or third-class passenger.  We were instructed to keep our eyes open as we toured the museum to find out the fate of our characters.  Frank’s card was for the ship’s barber, who was a part of the crew. My card indicated I was a first-class passenger – a lady of means.  I was pretty sure “my” character would survive but was a little worried about Frank’s character. 

            We were also given audio “wands” and told that whenever we encountered a number along the way, we were to key the number into the wand to hear more information about what we were seeing.  Youth and children had different numbers for their audio tour at times.  I thought that was a neat idea to have special audio aspects for them to keep them interested.

            Seeing the grand staircase was impressive but what I found eye-opening was the floor in the area before the grand staircase was the most expensive material at the time. No, it wasn’t marble or granite or any kind of stone. It was linoleum square tiles.  What?  Yes, the linoleum tiles that everyone had in their homes, schools, and stores at one time and are now considered so cheap that no one wants them, was the most expensive flooring material at the time the Titanic was built in 1911 and 1912.  Go figure. 

  Personal effects of passengers and passengers’ biographies where interesting. There was an entire room devoted to the musicians and we learned there was more than one band on board, so when “the band played on”, they aren’t exactly sure which musicians those were.  There was an area for various crew members and there we found Frank’s character – Gus, the barber.  I was relieved to learn he would survive the voyage and continue his career as a ship’s barber.  Whew! 

            In one part they show angled “decks” to show what the pitch of the deck would be like at various times as the ship went down.  Some kids loved trying those out, but I really had to hold on to the rails to try to even take a step or two up the inclines and that was with rails on both sides that I could reach.  Imagine with only one rail or if I had no access to the rails at all.  I believe I would have been sliding back and into the water as the ship went down.

            The museum picks a different group each year to focus on for special exhibits and this year they featured the Jewish passengers and crew.  There was even a kosher kitchen and chef on board. An odd little connection is that Anne Frank’s father – Otto Frank – had gone to college in Heidelberg with Nathan Straus Jr. (whose friends called him “Charley”), the son of the founder of Macy’s department stores. (Straus’ parents famously went down with the Titanic when his mother refused to leave his father behind.) They became good friends and remained in contact.  Otto Frank enlisted Straus’ help in trying to leave Europe for America, but the destruction of the American Embassy in the Netherlands and the U.S. entering the war thwarted those efforts.

            As I had assumed, my character did make it off the ship and survived.  We spent about two hours going through the Titanic Museum and we recommend it. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes because you will be standing and strolling the entire time. While it did have audio wands and some exhibits that would appeal to children, I would not take young children or any child that wasn’t really fascinated by the Titanic.  My grandson, who is 10 is fascinated by the Titanic, so I would have taken him. Be sure to check out the Titanic Museum in Branson!

Until next time,

Beth

Come Explore with Us!