An FSU Family While neither I nor any of my family was born in Tallahassee, we have had connections here for four generations. My maternal greatgrandparents moved to Vero Beach from Illinois around 1920 to farm in a more moderate climate. My grandfather’s sister, Frances Woodward (DuBose), graduated from Florida State College for Women (FSCW) in the early 1920’s.

My mother, Dorothy Woodward (Heald), graduated from FSCW in 1932 with a degree in Library Science. She lived in Broward Hall her first year, and roomed with Hope Anderson (Yeuell) and Josephine Herring (Jones), forming a lifelong friendship. Mother also lived in Reynolds Hall. She kept a small scrapbook in which she pasted pictures, concert programs, party invitations, notes and letters from boyfriends, report cards, and encouraging telegrams from her father in Miami. One of my favorite telegrams is “Don’t give up the ship. You’ll make it. Dad.” She even kept “notices,” small slips noting callers or messages.

A favorite weekend outing was Thomasville, Georgia, for dances at The New Russell Hotel. On Sundays, they would drive to the Herring’s house in Miccosukee for dinner. One “Excuse for Absence” note cites “due to conditions of roads” as an excuse for Monday, Oct. 8, 1928. Mother was an “Even,” meaning she would graduate in an even numbered year, and she kept a pamphlet called “Even Spirits,” containing songs and cheers for the “Green and Gold” of ‘30 and ‘32.

Social activities included movies like “The Jazz Singer,” starring Al Jolson. The Artists’ Series of 1929 included the Prague Teacher’s Chorus and Palmer Christian, Organist. Sketches on a scrap paper diagrammed football games (1929 — “Tech — Fla.”). Mrs. Luella Knott presented her with an autographed copy of her 4-H songbook for her participation.When Josephine played piano for the Woman’s Club, she went along.

My mother’s sister, Helen Woodward (Curry), only attended FSCW for a year, but she’s proud of her membership in the “F” club. Her son, Charles Curry, Jr., graduated in 1961 and married Patricia Schmidt in the Church of the Advent.

When I was young, we visited Tallahassee. We stayed in the Lake Ella Motel. Once my grandfather bought a cane pole to fish in Lake Ella. My father fished with shrimp in Miami, so I was not thrilled with using live worms!

Charles and Pat were active in the Episcopal Student group, and we went to the Episcopal camp ground at the beach. They loved to tell “ghost” stories about the pirates who still rolled casks up the beach at night in search of water.

I earned two graduate degrees, my first when the Library School was in the basement of Strozier Library. Studies in the new Louis Shores Building were aided by one of the first Macintosh computers, which quickly became the favorite! Hospitality students liked the graphics course because they could design fancy menus, and they brought goodies to the weekly social hour.

Four younger cousins followed and completed undergraduate degrees, giving the family a total of 10!

Submitted by: Donna Heald, P.O. Box 1074, Tallahassee, FL 32302, dhealdfl@aol.com