Betsy Was a Junior and Betsy and Joe (43 page)

M
AUD'S SENIOR YEAR
in high school, fictionalized in
Betsy and Joe
, took place from September 1909 to June 1910. It was a time of great change for Maud, just as it is for her alter ego, Betsy, and it began with two of her best friends leaving Mankato.

At the beginning of the book, we learn that Betsy's sister Julia has departed Deep Valley for “the Great World” at last, to spend the summer traveling in Europe before settling down in Berlin to study opera. Readers will not be surprised to learn that Maud's older sister, Kathleen, also took part in a European tour. The June 30, 1909, issue of the
Mankato Free Press
reported: “Miss Kathleen Hart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Hart of this city, left this morning for Boston, Mass., from which city she will sail on Saturday for Europe. She will join a party going to Europe under the guidance of Rev. Willisford of this city. Miss Hart will make a three months' tour of that country [sic] and then go to Berlin, Germany, where she will receive instructions in vocal music for a year.”

Reading and re-reading Kathleen's letters was a big part of the Harts' home life during this period, just as it was for the Rays. And almost every time Betsy quotes passages from Julia's letters in the story, Maud is really quoting from Kathleen's. Kathleen was eventually offered a position at the Hamburg Opera, but, like Julia, she returned to America, having decided to pursue her career at home.

Maud is reading aloud front one of Kathleen's letters while her parents, little sister, Helen, and grandmother listen
.
Collection of Minnesota Valley Regional Library

In 1909, the Harts pasted a series of photos into a book as a Christmas gift for homesick Kathleen in Berlin. This photo shows Stella Hart weeping as the mailman walks away. The inscription reads, “No mail from Kathleen.”
Estate of Merian Kirchner

Maud's good friend Marion Willard (Carney) also left Mankato in 1909. But unlike Carney, Marion first spent a year at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, before being admitted to Vassar the following year as a freshman. It was probably simpler for fictional purposes to send Carney to Vassar in the fall of 1909, without the one-year detour to Carleton. Readers can follow Carney's story in
Carney's House Party
, one of the three Deep Valley books, which is set during the summer between her sophomore and junior years at Vassar and tells what happens when Larry Humphreys finally comes back into her life. And as in the Betsy-Tacy books, Maud based much of the story on real-life events, down to the smallest detail. While writing the book, Maud wrote to Marion: “I'll send you a copy of
Betsy and Joe
as soon as I can get my hands on one, or a set of galleys. For in that book Carney goes off to college, Vassar, in the clothes you described for me. Since I used them for fall of 1909…you'll have to tell me about some more clothes.”

Maud's friend Marion Willard (Carney) is shown here in her graduation photo
.
Blue Earth County Historical Society

Maud is wearing the necklace of Venetian beads from Kathleen in her graduation photo
.
Estate of Merian Kirchner

This cartoon of Maud pasted in her high school scrapbook is labeled, “Miss M. R. P. Hart in her senior year, her hair as curly as ever, still the object of devotion of all the H.S. boys.”
Blue Earth County Historical Society

In spite of these losses, Maud still managed to have a fun senior year. She and Midge Gerlach (Tib) were cast for a part in a show called
Up and Down Broadway
. Maud had a small part, but Midge did a dance number. The newspaper review of the show said Midge was “a bewitching little personage in her part, and her dancing brought forth a round of applause, which was well deserved.” However, neither Bick Kenney (Tacy) nor Mike Parker (Tony) took part in the show as their fictional counterparts did. Mike Parker left high school well before the end of the year, but he didn't go off to Broadway like Tony does. We don't know if Mike rivaled someone for Maud's affections during her senior year, though we do know it couldn't have been Delos (Joe), because they had not yet met.

This is the year that Betsy finally beats Joe and wins the essay contest. In reality, Maud's rivals in the essay contests, far from being Delos or any other boy, seem to have been other girls. Maud lost to fellow Crowd member Ruth Williams (Alice Morrison) in her junior year, and to a girl named Alice Alworth in her senior year. We don't know if Maud competed in her freshman or sophomore years because, contrary to the description of the yearly contest in the books, contestants were not selected from each high school class—they tended to be mostly seniors.

Maud graduated from high school on June 3, 1910. Just like Betsy, Maud gave an oration entitled “The Heroines of Shakespeare.” Bick Kenney (Tacy) sang a solo. The president of the school board spoke. And the chapter of Maud's school days in Mankato came to a close, leaving her looking forward to “the Great World.”

Betsy Ray: Maud Palmer Hart

Julia Ray: Kathleen Albertine Hart

Margaret Ray: Helen Hart

Bob Ray: Thomas Walden Hart

Jule Ray: Stella Palmer Hart

Tacy Kelly: Frances “Bick” Vivian Kenney

Tib Muller: Marjorie “Midge” Gerlach

Bonnie Andrews: Constance “Connie” Davis

Irma Biscay: Florence Mildred Oleson

Phil Brandish: Carl George Hoerr

Mamie Dodd: Mamie Skuse

Cab Edwards: Jabez “Jab” Alvin Lloyd

Dennie Farisy: Paul Gerald Ford

E. Lloyd Harrington: James H. Baker Jr.

Herbert Humphreys: Helmus Weddel Andrews

Larry Humphreys: Robert Burke Andrews

Dave Hunt: Robert William Hughes

Katie Kelly: Theresa “Tess” Catherine Kenney

Harry Kerr: Charles Eugene Kirch

Al Larson: Henry Orlando Lee

Tony Markham: Clarence “Mike” Lindon Parker

Stan Moore: Herman Hayward

Alice Morrison: Ruth Fallie Williams

Pin: Charles Ernest “Pin” Jones

Winona Root I: Beulah Ariel Hunt

Winona Root II: Mary Eleanor Johnson

Carney Sibley: Marion “Marney” Willard

Grandma Slade: Mary Warren Pitcher

Tom Slade: Thomas Warren Fox

Hazel Smith: Harriet Ahlers

Squirrelly: Earl Elmer King

(Aunt) Ruth Willard: Josephine Wheeler Lovelace

Joe Willard: Delos Wheeler Lovelace

Cover design by Robin Bilardello

Cover and spine illustrations by Vera Neville