"I think of everything in school a boy has to do..." This is the opening line to a delightful warped history spoof poem written by Winifred Sackville Stoner. I would like the complete text if you would share it with me.
To date Donna Lee and Frank have provided some of the verses. Does anyone have verses to share?
Searching
There's a little bit of information about the poet at
[www.evansville.net] />
and more at
[search.ancestry.com] />
She's represented among "leapified" writers (born on Feb 29th) here:
[www.leapzine.com] />
I haven't found your poem, but I did find out that Winifred Sackville Stoner published as
Winifred Gillis
Winifred Sackville Stoner Jr.
Winifred de Bruche
Winifred Hyman
Winifred Harrison
AND ... Diane Seddon
So ... happy hunting!
Here is more than you ever wanted to know about two women named Winifred Stoner, and the poem one of them wrote:
"Winifred Sackville Stoner (ca 1870-1931) and her daughter Winifred Sackville Stoner Jr. (born 1902) lived in Evansville from 1905 to 1910. The younger Stoner was a child prodigy, who at six was speaking six languages and using the typewriter. A good deal of her prowess seemed to be due to the way she was trained by her mother. A major tenet of the elder Stoner's system was that learning should be fun and exciting and should appeal to all the senses. At this time Mrs. Stoner was publishing books of verse and local histories. She was an advocate of Esperanto, the universal language that had been developed in 1897; in 1910 at the age of eight the daughter produced a translation of Mother Goose into Esperanto."
. . . . "Mother and daughter continued to publish works during the 1920s, including a monthly pamphlet, Mother Stoner's Bulletin, which discussed the Stoner philosophy of education. Both women were clearly very bright, and the mother was an adept practitioner of publicity."
found at [www.indianahistory.org] />
I emailed a question to the site and got a long reply from a librarian at the Indiana Historical Society. (Librarians rule!!!) She consulted a BIBLIOGRAPHY of the works of both Winifreds and wrote:
"... there is mention of a poem titled, 'The History of the U.S.' in the book, YANKEE DOODLES, edited by Ted Malone and published by Whittlesey House of New York in 1943. The comments state the poem was originally written by Winifred Sackville Jr. in 1919. The rhyme consists of a history of the United States from 1492 when Columbus landed until 1918 when peace was achieved after World War One. The comments go on to state that Winifred Jr. was brought up learning rhymes to help her remember facts and dates. She used her talents in this poem to relay facts and dates to other children. Winifred dropped the Jr. following her name after publishing this poem."
===============
I'll check the NY Public Library for YANKEE DOODLES. There are copies for sale on AbeBooks, too.
The younger Stoner was a child prodigy, who at six was speaking six
languages and using the typewriter.
Yeah, right. Took me until 7 1/2 to do that. Can a daughter be a 'junior'?
In Cheaper By The Dozen, (the book, not the recent movie) there's a section on the children being taught to type the touch system when it was first developed. I don't have a copy handy, but it seems that the kids' ages ranged from 6-14. I'll see if I can look it up at home.
I don't see why a daughter can't be a junior. I think naming boys after parents is the tradition.
pam
I do have my copy handy.
Chapter six. Touch system.
.............."By the end of the two weeks, all the children over six years old and Mother knew the touch system reasonably well."
That's the problem with eMuling at work- I'm away from my reference library. I also recall that Dad had not learned.
By the way, I've just become addicted to the Swallows and Amazons series. I don't know how I missed them growing up.
pam
Welcome to the club. See if you can get hold of Christina Hardyment's "Arthur Ransome and Capt. Flint's Trunk" Jonathan Cape, 1984. But only after you've read Ransome. Its an account of her quest to find the real places that inspired the books.
Did you know that Ransome married Trotsky's secretary? And that Roger grew up to invent the asthma inhaler?
I knew about the inhaler (having already discovered the Ransome website), but hadn't heard about the secretary. I did know he'd gone to Russia as a journalist.
I'm about halfway through the series, and will be making my local bookstore happy this weekend when I pick up the rest!
Off to Abebooks for Capt. Flint's Trunk!
pam
My grandfather called my mother "Junior." They did not have similar names; it was just an endearment. But it was especially sweet because she was adopted (at age nine) and it was such a FAMILY thing to do.