Interview with Mary Munsey 1.2

Segment Synopsis: Mary's parents never went to dances, but they were popular in the community. They took place in the community hall, the Legion hall, and school halls. Dances happened almost every Saturday night. They did the jitterbug, waltzes, foxtrots, conga lines, square dances, two-steps, but it was mostly jitterbug. At the dances, there was always a piano and sometimes trumpet or trombone, drums, saxophone, accordions, or violins. The music played was whatever was popular and current.

There were plays. There was a group from New York that travelled across the US and Canada that would come through and do plays. A lot of the community plays came from the schools or churches. Every public institution (school grades) had a Christmas concert. Mary participated in the school concerts as they were compulsory. The concerts had little plays, and a Birth of Christ play. Mary usually had background roles. Sometimes, they had to recite poetry or sang songs. The children with the best voices were the ones that sang solos.

Segment Synopsis: Mary's first language was Ukrainian and that was the language spoken at home. English was spoken at school by both teacher and students. Mary took compulsory French lessons in high school.

Mary's neighbours across the street were a Czechoslovakian family. Next door, there was a Ukrainian family. There was another Ukrainian family also across the street. There was an English family, as well.

Mary names her best friends growing up. Together, they rode bicycles, played tennis, went skating, played ball, played tag, they made houses and cabins in the bush, went swimming, and they caught frogs.

Mary's parents' friends were their neighbours. Her father wasn't really friends with his coworkers.

As a family, they would go to sports days, listen to the radio, and played cards. They got the radio before Mary was born. The radio ran on batteries so it was only used sparingly. They listened to news and radio plays.

Segment Synopsis: Mary started school when she was 5 (almost 6) years old. The school was over a mile from Mary's home. They went to school from 9:00 till noon, then from 1:30 to 4:00, so it was 5 and a half hours per day. They had 2 recesses at school. Mary describes a typical day at school. The school was a 2 story building with a basement. The main floor was the junior grades, the 2nd floor was junior high, and the high school was in the basement. The rooms had desks in rows with the teacher's desk at the front. The school was heated via a central furnace which was fuelled by coal or wood. They had water in school, but not at first: they had to wait for the town to get plumbing. There were 18 to 20 kids in a class. Subjects taught in elementary school were reading, writing, arithmetic, language arts, social studies (history), physical education, music, and geography. Subjects taught in high school were home economics, the diversified sciences (physics, chemistry, biology), French, typing, music, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and language arts.

Parents supplied all the school supplies: school supplied nothing except for readers and textbooks. Mary doesn't know what the supplies cost.

There was no punishment for speaking a language other than English at school, but Mary is aware of other places that did punish students for speaking something besides English. Mary's siblings went to school before her, so it was not hard for her to pick up English.

Mary doesn't remember all of her teachers' names as there were many teachers. The teachers lived around Edson: they were responsible for their own accommodations. Mary wasn't always in the same grade as her friends. Mary played basketball, baseball, tennis, went skating, skiing, and curling with her friends.

Mary's classmates' backgrounds were varied. There were Irish, English, Ukrainian, Czechoslovakian, German, "the whole spectrum". She doesn't remember any problems.

Segment Synopsis: Mary always wanted to be a nurse when she grew up. Her dream came true. Mary's family wanted to finish high school and when Mary suggested nursing school, her family suggested she become a teacher. As long as she finished school, they were okay with Mary becoming a nurse.

Mary's sister in Salt Lake City has done some family history as she is a Mormon. Mary doesn't have any photographs of her life in the 30s.

Mary doesn't know anyone that can share insights into life before the 40s.