It all began when librarian Clara Webber was working in Alliance, Ohio. She began corresponding with Laura Ingalls Wilder. She later moved to California and was hired as children’s librarian at the Pomona Public Library. At the time they were in a Carnegie building that was bursting at the seams. The children’s room was less than inviting and as one of her first projects she set out to change it, with paint, new furniture, and “storybook picture fabric.”
A Room of Her Own
Ms. Webber also asked Laura if it would be all right to name the room for her. Laura replied that she would be delighted. Laura sent them a letter (see photo by following link below), a handwritten manuscript of Little Town on the Prairie and typescript of By the Shores of Silver Lake. She also sent an autographed photo and an…
When I post my video diaries I always get comments about my Laura clothes. No, not my period dresses, but my Laura Ingalls Wilder t-shirts that I wear for travel and Laura trips. I thought everyone might enjoy a closer look at them. So enjoy our monthly series where we look at a Laura shirt.
Shirt of the Month
Here’s this month’s shirt:
Marshfield has long held an annual event where national speakers with family connections to history and classic TV shows and books come to speak. Rev. Nicholas W. Inman leads the event and now has taken over the directorship of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum so it was natural that they joined forces in 2019. Previously the museum had sessions/fundraiser tied into the event, but now they are a full fledge partner with a conjuction event. The participants traveled to Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Missouri, where they toured the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home at half-price and took part in a Scavenger Hunt in the Museum gallery.
After a very successful 2019 they are branching out on their own in 2020. They are going to be in the fall, specifically November 5-6, 2020, 9am to 3pm each day. It’s going to be a similar event this year. Author signing be will in the the community center in Mansfield – 205 N Missouri Ave, Mansfield, MO 65704.
They had some great stuff for merchandise including this great t-shirt. I think it’s one of the prettiest in my collection. Keep an eye out on their Facebook page for when they announce next year’s! Catch my unboxing video that features it.
Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, look at her photos, and find her on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn , SlideShare, and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.
September was a very Laura Ingalls Wilder themed month with two different Laura trips. Traditionally Laura Days in Pepin, Wisconsin, and Wilder Days in Mansfield, Missouri, are on consecutive weekends. That makes it hard to get the time to do both in a single year. This year I did get a unique chance to do both.
Normally when I make a Laura trip I like to call in and do a podcast every day so you can follow along. This year I didn’t get it done for either trip. In Pepin I had a technical issue and in Mansfield I got back so late each night I didn’t take time. I did do a couple of Facebook lives so you can find those back on my feed.
So I ended up doing one big roundup podcast episode for each. I hope you enjoy them. There are going to be video posts for both trips, too. Check out my YouTube and Vimeo channels every Friday.
Pepin
Sarah in my 1890s dress at Pepin
I was in town for Pepin’s Laura Days, September 13-15, 2019. I come in on Friday night, but honestly nothing is officially happening yet. It’s all set up. The biggest day of the event is Saturday which has my speech, the Little Miss Laura contest, the fiddle contest, and other assorted events. Sunday has several community events including a pancake breakfast and church service. The big event is the parade.
I was in town for Mansfield’s Wilder Days, September 19-22, 2019. Thursday I made a non-Laura related stop (look for the videos). Then I failed to get to stop and get a photo of Laura’s bust in the Missouri Hall of Fame in the state capitol. I stayed the night in Lebanon, Missouri which has grown a lot since the last time I stayed there as a kid. Friday I made it to Mansfield making a long stop at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Branch of the Wright County Library. I spent a lot of Friday afternoon at the Rock House and then back to museum for the VIP reception before the Wilder dinner at the high school gym. Saturday I heard Pa’s fiddle did Rocky Ridge and the museum and walked the path between the two houses. Saturday night I saw the pageant. Then Sunday morning I hit the stuff that I could get photos of when they were closed. Then I headed home.
Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, look at her photos, and find her on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn , SlideShare, and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.
Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, look at her photos, and find her on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn , SlideShare, and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.
The class I took this summer got to visit the Union Pacific Repair Center where we got the great experience to tour the VIP Coaches. These are classic coaches that have been restored and redesigned inside and out. These are gorgeous cars given incredible care. They can go up to 110 miles per hour. Their major competitor in Canada has cars that are restored inside, but can only go 30 miles an hour because they aren’t as solidly restored mechanically.
These special cars are for the use of Union Pacific executives and for special events. For example, they used these trains to create a temporary hotel for V.I.P.s at the Olympics in Salt Lake City (they built a temporary siding in a parking lot to park the train in) and to
Observation Car
create a special train ride for former President Bush’s 80th birthday celebration…
Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, look at her photos, and find her on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn , SlideShare, and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.
The Iowa City Public Library quoted in its annual report for patrons the first president of the Iowa City Public Library Association, Martin J. Wade. Wade made a speech at the dedication of the library. The library has come along way from those early days, but the words from Wade‘s speech still ring true. The library first was in the upstairs of several buildings around town, but eventually they landed in one of the most beautiful Carnegie libraries I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot) sadly a poorly designed addition in the 1970s made the building pretty unusable as a library. The library moved across the street in 1980 where they are on their second building in that location. The photo above is a recent one of the Carnegie building which was remodeled into apartments after public outcry prevented its demolition about 10 years ago.
Union Pacific Car Interior 
Observation Car 
