February 11, 1933 - Saturday

It was certainly a lovely formal tonight and George and I had such a good time. He sent me an orchid corsage!!  This morning and a good part of the afternoon I spent in the library. Beth’s sister is darling.

George's letter to his Dad:

Dear Dad,

You told me some time ago that you and Uncle Willis were trying to work up some type of business for both of you. I imagine that is why you went to Seattle, and I am just about as curious as I can be about the outcome of your talk. Don’t think me too inquisitive; I am merely interested in what you do.

Most of the boys here have their washing done by a woman who does the work much cheaper than the laundries do. She does very nice work, and I do not think it will be too expensive. I will conserve a little on my wash, and that will help a little too.

I am glad mother is going to Bend for a while. She needs a rest. The only trouble with going there is that she works about as hard as she does at home, in that she helps Grandmother so much. She likes to do it, though; and that is all that is really necessary.

I have finally broken through the age-old adage that the man must pay whenever he takes out a girl. Ann and I are now on the good old “Dutch treat” basis, and it will allow us to go many more places than we formerly could. A lot of the boys are doing that now, and I think that it is no more than right. This thing of preserving the femininity of women and looking at them as creatures that must be protected and placed on a basis of economic dependence is all poppycock.

I went up to the Registrar’s office today and had a long talk with Mr. Pallet. He is the registrar and quite a power in the University. He knows that I am going to be chairman for Junior Week End, and so he called me up there. He is a fine man, one that I should like to become further acquainted with. He outlined all the things I must do within the next few months, and it certainly is not going to be a soft job. I have to contact all the mother’s in the state, put on an entertainment that is to cost about $5,000, and all other responsible odds and ends. It will be good experience for me, though; and I certainly welcome the opportunity.

 I just finished my books for the month, and they look fine. Boy, I certainly had a time for a while. I dropped $2 somewhere in the mess, and it took me six hours to find the darn thing. After I completed them, Ann and I went to see a show. It was called “Farewell To Arms”, and it was terribly sad. Ann just sat there, crushed my hand until nearly all the blood ran out, and wept buckets of tears. AH ME, AH ME and AH ME.  Me, the great example of virile manhood, I just sat there without a drop of moisture in the old lamps. You hard hearted villain, you, Hibbard.

Tonight is the Alpha Phi Formal, and I must dress myself up in the “Soup and Fish”. I have bought Ann an Orchid for a corsage. There seems nothing on earth capable of thrilling a girl quiet so much as receiving an Orchid. I have only given her one, so you see there is no danger of her not getting just as big a thrill out of it again.

My schoolwork is coming along in fine shape. At mid term, I went down in one subject and up in another as compared to last term at the same time. That places me right in the same place, but I am going to try and bring that one up. In the military department, they gave us our last Typhoid inoculation yesterday, and it is not bothering me at all. I guess I will go to Military Camp the first four weeks of this summer, and after that I don’t know what I will do. It is quite imperative that I find something to do; maybe you can do a little something along that line.

News is out, Dad, unless I hear further from you, I will send my laundry out down here. Thank you so much for your two letters. I enjoyed them very much.

Love, George

P.S. I am enclosing a couple of editorials from our school paper, which I think will interest you.

Jane’s Notes: attached to this letter is the mentioned newspaper clipping. Dad has highlighted two areas. One that laments the loss of an outstanding educator who was lured away to another university by a higher salary and the problem of “state financing based upon the political whims of pork barrel legislation, can not always retain its better men.” This all has a very familiar ring too it as I write this now in 2015. Things never seem to change or get better. The second article highlighted is under the “Who’s Who” heading and reads “Seventeen members of the University of Oregon personnel are included in the latest edition of ‘Who’s Who in America.’ They are headed by William Jasper Kerr, chancellor of the state’s system of higher education.”