New – Where Something Happened

Where Something Happened, my new memoir, was inspired by responses to Grace. Whenever I gave a talk about Grace’s life, someone told me they wished they had recorded their mother’s stories. I decided to write and share my own autobiographical stories. As Canadian author Marina Endicott said, “Whatever a life ever means, in the end it’s a set of stories you tell yourself or whoever will listen.”

My stories begin in the 1940s and extend into the twenty-first century. They explore the extraordinary gifts that flow from a lifetime of experiences. They honour the sunshine I’ve shared – cross-cultural work, romance, love, motherhood, family, friendship – and the turbulent weather I somehow navigated. My stories illustrate how curiosity and risk-taking led to unexpected outcomes. They offer understandings of what is really important and reasons for hope and joy.

Where Something Happened – a memoir of small discoveries in a big world, is now available at Novel Idea in Kingston or by ordering from this website.
Price is $25.00.

A Victorian Lesson

As Miss Poole introduced herself to her class, she looked very much like a Victorian school marm – brown hair pulled back, wire-rimmed glassed, stern expression. She wore a maroon-coloured full-length skirt and long-sleeved, high-collared white blouse and she carried a thin cane, hooked at one end. In many Victorian schools, teachers used a cane like this to beat children who misbehaved. “This school was established by Dr. Barnardo who didn’t believe in beating children,” she said. “I won’t be hitting anyone.” The six and seven-year olds in front of her, a class from a nearby school, relaxed. Then she demonstrated how she would only wave her cane at them if they disobeyed the rules.
“Sit up straight. Put your hands in your lap. No talking or giggling. If I ask you a question, stand up straight beside your desk to answer it. You must use your right hand for writing,” she continued. “No left-hand writing is allowed.” The girls and boys were seated on opposite sides of the classroom in traditional wooden desks, two children in each desk. When one little boy squirmed, she walked toward him briskly and waved her cane. He froze. Other children did too.
I had received permission to observe Miss Poole take the children through brief lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The children used slate pencils to write words and numbers. As she taught, Miss Poole sprinkled her lesson with moral guidance from the Victorian era. More haste, less speed. Silence is golden. There is no fun like work. Miss Poole is in fact an actress, hired by the Ragged School Museum in East London, UK. The museum was established in 1990 in a warehouse that was previously used for Dr. Barnardo’s Copperfield Road Ragged School.
Today the Ragged School Museum is much like the one-room school museums in Ontario. It offers lessons to local school children. Their visit includes time in a Victorian kitchen with various items for children to test — a washing board, tub for bathing, and hand-operated meat grinder. It’s an experiential history lesson. I enjoyed it too.
Millie Morton

Ragged Schools

 

A hundred and fifty years ago, the adjective “ragged” was attached to schools providing free elementary education to poor children in England – “ragged” because of the children’s clothes and lack of shoes. Such schools were funded by wealthy philanthropists who wanted to give poor children a chance for a better life.

In the 1860s, poor children spent their days as street sellers or beggars, earning a bit to help feed their families. In East London, near the docks, many children were mudlarks – wading into the mud in their bare feet in search of bits of coal, copper, or any scrap they might sell. Most never learned to read or write.

Thomas Barnardo, (the same Barnardo later associated with Home Children emigrants to Canada), saw the need for free schooling and established the Copperfield Road Ragged School in a warehouse. The school opened in 1877 and operated until 1908, when public education became widely available in the area.

Similar “free schools” operated in Canada too. For example, Enoch Turner, a wealthy brewer and philanthropist donated funds for the first free school in Toronto. It opened in 1849, providing education to the children of poor immigrants from Ireland. Now it is a public museum and an events venue.

Millie Morton

Radio Interview Rebroadcast

On January 8, 2017, Radio station Northumberland 89.7 rebroadcast my interview with Word on the Hills. In the interview I explain how I came to write the book Grace and read two passages — the first on Grace’s haircut when she was a teenager, and the second on what she did to discipline a young student at a one-room school near Norwood. Both readings illustrate Grace’s determination and creativity. Listen at www.wordonthehills.com.

Grace: A teacher’s life, one-room schools, and a century of change in Ontario is available locally at Lighthouse Books in Brighton, Kerr’s Corner Books in Campbellford, and Books and Company in Picton. See the How to Order page for other bookstores in Ontario and how to order a copy by mail.
Millie Morton

School Days

Last month I had the pleasure of hearing school children singing “School Days,” the old song about “ reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic, taught to the tune of the hickory stick.” The Leeds and Thousand Islands Historical Society organized the event to unveil a plaque honouring schools of the past in the Landsdowne area, their teachers and students.
The plaque, made possible by a grant from the Retired Teachers of Ontario and the hard work of several historical society members, is located near a red maple in front of the Thousand Islands Elementary School. It depicts photos of education in the past. A bench under the tree offers a place to contemplate how education has changed since 1825 when settlers built the first one-room school in the area. Eventually there were nine one-room schools, and only one remains – Greenfield School, a frame building built in 1894.
The Leeds and Thousand Islands Historical Society has a project to restore this school. Eventually it may join the 41 one-room school museums in Ontario that help us remember our educational heritage.
Millie Morton

Radio Interview – listen in

Radio Interview – listen in
I’m delighted to share a small joy. Last month I was interviewed for a radio program – Word on the Hills (Northumberland 89.7) in Cobourg. Co-hosts Felicity Sidnell-Reid and Gwynn Scheltema asked the questions. I talked about my experiences in writing Grace and why I chose to feature a hibiscus in the story. In each of the two segments, I read a story from the book. The program was broadcast on Nov 22, 2015.
If you’d like to listen in, go to http://wordonthehills.com and click on Recent Programs. Scroll down to find my name. Then click again to listen through your computer.
Millie Morton

Sleeping in School

Schoolhouse near Beaverton

I slept in school – or, more accurately, I slept in a former school. The opportunity came when I was invited to speak to the Beaverton, Thorah, Eldon Historical Society. One of their members owns a renovated one-room school. She very kindly offered hospitality
When it was new in 1926, the school had many features considered modern at that time – separate entrances for boys and girls (still there – see photo), an office for the teacher, and a bell on the roof. A finished basement partitioned into two sections, each with its own chemical toilet, provided separate play areas for boys and girls. Until 1969, it was a school. Now it is a roomy home, with a modern kitchen, four bedrooms, and modern bathrooms.
Nearby in Beaverton, the Historical Society maintains a museum and archives. It includes an old stone jail, a log house (1850), and a storey-and-a-half brick home furnished to about 1900. On display were many household items mentioned in my book, including a butter churn and a treadle sewing machine.
I was pleased to discover the friendliness of the historical society’s members and their extensive efforts to preserve their heritage. As the noted scientist Carl Sagan said, “You have to know the past to understand the present.”
Millie Morton

Remembering Our Roots

1920s Schoolhouse at Moreston Heritage Village

In writing Grace, the story of a teacher’s life, I wanted to share what life was like in previous times and remember our roots.
The same motivation spurs the creation of Heritage Villages and museums. Last week I visited Moreston Heritage Village and the Grey Roots Museum on the outskirts of Owen Sound. Some of the buildings, including an 1853 log cabin, have been relocated from the former County of Grey. The schoolhouse was constructed as a close replica of S.S.#1 Derby, with modern amenities added. It’s a joint project of two retired teachers organizations (RTO and Grey County RWTO). Inside, it looks like a 1920s rural schoolroom. Retired teachers volunteer as interpreters for school children and adult visitors. Other museums celebrate Owen Sound’s marine and rail history and the works of Tom Thomson, a renowned Canadian artist and native son.
I went to Owen Sound to share stories from my book at a luncheon meeting of the Retired Women Teacher’s Organization. Through conversations and exhibits, I discovered a city that is connected to its past and proud of its heritage.
Millie Morton

From School Room to Tea Room

Millie with Ernie Pattison in The Old Ormsby Schoolhouse Tea Room

Imagine a large room with several dining room tables, large windows, and an old-fashioned wood stove. Add a Union Jack, a blackboard, a couple of wooden desks, books and artifacts. Clearly, this was a one-room school. Now it’s The Old Ormsby Schoolhouse Tea Room, near Bancroft, Ontario. The photo shows Ernie Pattison, owner of the tea room, welcoming me. Last month, while numerous patrons enjoyed a tasty lunch, I shared stories about Grace and one-room schools.
The old schoolhouse used to be S.S. #3 Limerick – that’s School Section number three in Limerick township of Hastings County. Nearby is the Old Hastings Mercantile and Gallery, an old house transformed into a shop and filled with gifts of every kind. Gary and Lillian Pattison run the gift shop. Ernie and Debbie Pattison operate the tea room. Both places are gems in the countryside – off the beaten path and well-worth a visit.
Millie Morton

Book Review – RTO magazine

Being an author brings many surprises. This week a friend sent me a copy of a book review that appears currently in Renaissance, the publication of the Retired Teachers of Ontario (RTO). I’m delighted to share it here, with the permission of the author and the RTO. (Click once on the image to enlarge for reading.)
Millie

 

 

What Readers Tell Me

Stories are memories that must be shared with the Universe  because if they aren’t  the Universe becomes a much smaller place
Drew Hayden Taylor, Canadian Ojibwa author and storyteller

In recent months I’ve received numerous letters from readers. A few were from Grace’s former students. Others appeared out of the blue from people who didn’t know Grace. All have added to my own joy in 2014.
I’ve shared a couple of reader comments below and added others to the What Readers Say page of this website. I appreciate all reader thoughts. Thanks to all of you and warm wishes for a happy holiday season.
Millie
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
After reading your delightful book Grace, I feel I must know you. I am a “little old lady” of 90 who attended a one-room school a long time ago. The school was startlingly like the school where Grace began her career – though mine was 25 miles from Brockville. I wish I could have known her. Your stories about teaching in a one-room school were so real and poignant to me.
Berna
Ottawa
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
When I was (Grace’s) pupil, she opened the door to learning for me. . . . Most days I couldn’t wait to go home and share what I had learned. Mrs. Morton was so passionate about teaching and life. I saw her strength and determination. She stood up for what she believed in.
As for the hibiscus, I have a large pink one too. I have had it for many years. It has become symbolic for me. . . . The delicate blooms remind me to be kind and compassionate to myself and others. The flowers don’t last – remind me how short life is.
Kim
Stratford, Ontario
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I have so enjoyed Grace. So much of her story was very similar to my own parents’ lives. Such strength of character, deep faith and love of humanity. How very fortunate we are to have had such wonderful examples to live up to. A favourite saying of my grandma was, “So many words, so many deeds, so many different creeds, when just the art of being kind is all this sad world needs.”
Brenda
South Cotswolds, England
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
For more reader comments see the website page entitled What Readers Say.

Guelph – Author Recognition

Last month the University of Guelph celebrated campus authors – faculty, staff, students, and alumni who had books published recently.  In the photo, Rebecca Graham, Chief Librarian, is presenting me with a plaque recognizing my book. The university library acquired a copy of Grace and gave it a special bookplate indicating this honour. Along with many other books, Grace is highlighted on the website of the Campus Author Recognition Program and available through the library’s online catalogue.
Given the long-standing connection of the University of Guelph with agriculture and small communities, I appreciate this opportunity to share Grace’s stories from rural Ontario and the book’s insights into how Ontario changed during her lifetime.
Millie Morton

Ontario and Iowa had Similar One-Room Schools

Readers sent many letters this summer, often with interesting comments on parallels between their own experience and Grace’s stories. Here’s one from Clyde Eastman in New Mexico.

“I had trouble putting your book down. It is so easy to read and so fascinating. Grace was a truly remarkable lady. The story transported me back to my own early experience, so different from life today.
I grew up in rural Iowa and graduated from eighth grade at a one-room school. I walked or rode a pony over the two miles of dirt road. My sister is eleven years younger and went to town. The rural schools in Iowa were consolidated in the 50’s. My teacher was a young woman who drove a Model A Ford over several miles of dirt road. She had little college if any. Rural teachers could do normal training in high school. Your rural schools were definitely more substantial brick structures than anything I ever saw in rural Iowa. Iowa’s were all white clapboard frame structures although similar inside. The school only got electricity after the war. It had a coal-burning stove which the teacher stoked each morning. There were two outdoor toilets. School was from 9-4 with one hour for lunch which we carried in a lunch pail (often a lard bucket). A flood of fond memories.”

Millie Morton

A Tin Cup Story from Manitoba

During the past few months I’ve given numerous talks around Ontario. While telling Grace’s stories, I usually see smiles and nods. Clearly, memories are being wakened.
In North Bay, Kathleen Dixon Merritt, a retired teacher, shared a story from her first school in rural Manitoba in the 1940s. Since the school had no well on the property, two students had to walk to a farm half a mile away to fill a pail with drinking water. On hot days, other students waited eagerly for their return and then lined up to get a drink. With only one tin cup and thirty children, it took a long time for everyone to get a drink.
Kathleen had an idea for speeding things up. She stopped at the local store, purchased another tin cup for about 25 cents, and charged it to the School Board. A couple of weeks later, the trustees invited her to a meeting and questioned her about her purchase. After lengthy deliberation, they decided the second cup was unnecessary. She had to pay for it herself.
In subsequent schools, Kathleen considered each item very carefully before adding it to a supplies list. Even in very generous schools, she never forgot the importance of thrift.
Millie Morton

April is Poetry Month

A century ago, poems appeared on the front page of many Ontario newspapers, sometimes with a bit of humour or a lesson embedded. When Grace was in high school, she clipped several newspaper poems and placed them in a scrapbook. The poet was often anonymous, in the same way home-made quilts were unsigned. To recognize April as Poetry Month, I offer a poem written anonymously and saved in Grace’s scrapbook. 

A Laugh
A laugh is just like sunshine,
      It freshens all the day,
It tips the peaks of life with light,
      And drives the clouds away;
And the thing that goes the farthest
      Toward making life worthwhile,
That costs the least and does the most,
      Is just a friendly smile.

 Millie Morton

A Surprise in North York

In North York (Toronto), recently, I was surprised to meet someone who was familiar with the geographical area around Wellman’s Corners. He chatted with me before my talk to the North York Historical Society, identifying himself as an antique car collector.
Some years ago, he happened to be in the general store at Wellman’s Corners and noticed a 1921 vehicle nearby. He chatted with its owner and ended up buying and restoring it. As he talked, I could visualize the setting in the 1950s and 1960s. Obviously, he knew it well and I was curious to learn whether he had a family connection to the community.
His answer was yes – through marriage. Though he lived in Toronto and met his wife there, his mother-in-law had lived near Sine, about four miles from Wellman’s. For many years, he visited the area frequently.
I asked if he could identify the car pictured in the photo (above) in my book. I had tried, unsuccessfully, to discover its make for the photo caption. After consulting with a colleague, he suggested it was a 1933 Chevy. The photo and the car are from Grace and Burton’s honeymoon in 1937.

Millie Morton

Getting Around Ontario

During a recent train trip between Kingston and Toronto, I thought about Grace and how she travelled almost a century ago. She said gShe said goodbye to her mother at Colborne train station in the fall of 1925, when she left home to attend Peterborough Normal School (Teachers’ College – see photo). It was her first train journey and she felt grown up and independent. Her mother Susan cried and waved until the train was out of sight, then drove three miles back to the farm in the horse and buggy. Susan knew she wouldn’t see her daughter for four months. Peterborough was about fifty miles (eighty kilometres) away – too far for a day trip.
In the first decades of the twentieth century, a network of train tracks crisscrossed southern Ontario.  Trains were often for both passengers and freight. Even very small communities could be reached by train. Wellman’s Corners, for example, had a flag station – a small shelter with a flag. Placing the red flag in a conspicuous holder gave the engineer a signal to stop. Grace came to that station in 1931 when she was invited to interview for the teaching position at Wellman’s one-room school. One of the trustees met her with his car and drove her to the school, two miles away. The train tracks crossed his land and he had the position of stationmaster.
Men from Stirling and other communities came by train to stops like this, carrying their fishing poles and their lunch. They’d spend the day beside a lake or stream, returning to the flag station in the afternoon with fish for their family’s dinner.
Nowadays, train routes link major cities. Rail lines to smaller communities have been torn  up to become trails for hiking and snowmobiling. A car is essential to visit Ontario’s small towns and fishing holes. This, we say, is progress.
Millie Morton

What did they know about Edward VIII?

Excitement in Kingston

Writing Grace was a surprising voyage through the twentieth century – an opportunity to learn more about my mother’s life and Ontario’s history too. Since the book’s publication, I’ve had many occasions to share Grace’s stories with others. Each event is exciting. I often hear new stories too.

Last week, in connection with a book talk at the Seniors Centre in Kingston, two local newspapers published articles. I’m proud to share them here. Peter Hendra wrote for The Kingston Whig. Julia McKay wrote for Kingston This Week. The publicity generated new interest in one-room schools and Grace’s stories; more invitations to give book talks, too. Her experiences illustrate how education and life have changed as Ontario industrialized and urbanized. They offer a fresh look at Ontario’s history.

It’s always exciting to hear from readers. Please let me know if the book brought back memories or offered surprises to you. Today I added a new comment to the What Readers Say page. I’ll continue to do this as I hear from readers.

Millie

Apples and Enoch Turner Schoolhouse

Having grown up on an apple farm, I love apples. We ate them whenever we wanted, at meals and in-between. So it was a very special treat to be presented with a fresh apple after my talk at Enoch Turner Schoolhouse in Toronto.
I enjoyed the evening, the beautiful setting, and the enthusiastic audience. Several people had attended one-room schools – some in Ontario, others as far away as New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and even Britain. I shared one of Grace’s poems –  Morton Apples. She wrote it for a booklet of apple recipes we gave to customers at the farm.
Though the apple farm is no longer in our family, new technologies enable apples to be available year-round. Grace’s poem remains a reminder of those carefree days when I often had an apple in my hand.
                        Millie Morton

Morton Apples

Morton apples, they are dandy
Always keep a basket handy;
You can make a pie or cake,
You can even apples bake!
Use in dumplings, cookies, crunch,
Have for breakfast, dinner, lunch;
Give as gifts when you’re a guest,
You will be forever blessed;
Let the children have a share
They’re good for skin and teeth and hair;
When you’re off your feet a bit
Dine on apples as you sit.
Morton apples, do you hear?
Are sold to cooks year after year.
We’ve Spy and McIntosh and Sweet
The Snow and Delicious can’t be beat.
So use these up and come for more,
We’d like to sell them by the score.
                        Grace Morton