Writing Her Own Life: Imogene Welch, Western Rural Schoolteacher (Literature of the American West, V. 14)

269 Pages·2004·1.13 MB·English

by  Mary Clearman Blew, Imogene Welch

Writing Her Own Life
Literature of the American West
William Kittredge,General Editor
Other books by Mary Clearman Blew
Lambing Out and Other Stories(Columbia,1977;paperback,Norman,2001)
All but the Waltz:Essays on a Montana Family (New York,1991;paperback,
Norman,2001)
Balsamroot:A Memoir(New York,1994;paperback,Norman,2001)
Runaway(Lewiston,Idaho,1990)
Bone Deep in Landscape:Writing,Reading,and Place(Norman,1999)
Sister Coyote(New York,2000)
(ed.) When Montana and I WereY oung,by Margaret Bell (Lincoln,2002)
(ed.) Circle of Women:An Anthology of Contemporary Western Women Writers,with
Kim Barnes (New York,1994;paperback,Norman,2001)
(ed.) Written on Water:Essays on Idaho Rivers(New York,2000)
Writing Her Own Life
Imogene Welch,
Western Rural Schoolteacher
Mar y Clear man Blew
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS : NORMAN
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Blew,Mary Clearman,1939–
Writing her own life :Imogene Welch,Western rural schoolteacher / Mary
Clearman Blew.
p. cm.— (Literature of the American West ;v.14)
A narrative built around entries from the diaries of Imogene Welch.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN0-8061-3581-6 (alk.paper)
1.Welch,Imogene. 2.Teachers—West (U.S.)—Biography. 3.Women
teachers—West (U.S.)—Biography. 4.Autobiography—Women authors.
5.World War,1939–1945—Social aspects—West (U.S.) I.Welch,Imogene.
II.Title III.Series
LA2317.W373B54 2004
371.1’0092—dc22
[B]
2003060169
Writing Her Own Life:Imogene Welch,Western Rural Schoolteacheris Volume 14 in the
Literature of the American West series.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources,Inc.∞
Copyright © 2004 by the University of Oklahoma Press,Norman,Publishing Divi-
sion of the University.All rights reserved.Manufactured in the U.S.A.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
For
Doris,my mother
Sylva,my aunt
and Florence,my aunt by marriage
This page intentionally left blank
C O N T E N T S
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
Part 1.The Montana Years:September 1940–August 1942 13
Part 2.The Washington Years:August 1942–January 1945 77
Conclusion 240
Notes 255
vii
I L L U S T R AT I O N S
following page 136
Imogene as a toddler
At the Montana homestead,circa 1917
Imogene,age thirteen
Imogene,age fifteen
High school graduation portrait
Riding Paulie,circa 1930
Imogene,age twenty
With her colt,early 1930s
With Kristie Lee,1943
Imogene,when she began teaching in Tenino
Christmas program,1950
Imogene Welch,age seventy-eight
Photographs are from Mary Clearman Blew’s family collection
AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S
I have many to thank for their assistance:my daughter Rachel Blew,who
traveled with me along Imogene’s route through Washington State and then
spent a summer cooking and keeping house to free me for writing;Susanne
George Bloomfield for her friendship and the hours we’ve spent together,
discussing writing;Yvonne Demestre of the Tenino,Washington,branch of the
Timberland Regional Library;Steve Fisher ofTimberland Virtual Reference;
Melody Graulich for her helpful suggestions at a late stage in the manuscript;
Bill Lang,for sharing his encyclopedic knowledge of southwest Washington
history;Sylva Noel for all the years she has loved and encouraged me;Barb
Rieger of the Tenino Independent;Ann Ronald,for twice reading drafts of the
manuscript with sympathy and helpful criticism;Daniel Simon,formerly of
the University of Oklahoma Press,for his enthusiasm for this book;James R.
Warren,for his insights into the war years in Washington State;Florence
Welch for her long and generous letters of reminiscence;Imogene Welch for
the amazing legacy of her life;and Karen Wieder of the University of Okla-
homa Press,who has guided the book at last to completion.
ix