THE BRAVERY OF HOME ECONOMICS TEACHERS IN THE 60s


 

The tremors in her hands were severe, yet our teacher, Mrs. Thompson, could thread a needle and use scissors to cut a straight line across cloth at record speed.  Watching her use the sewing machine was a sight to behold.  I’ve been around numerous people with tremors throughout my career in rehabilitation, yet she was a shining example of someone who overcame her disability.  I’m not sure an occupational therapist or a physician specializing in physical medicine could explain how she did it.  I had difficulty cutting cloth even if the pattern had straight lines.  It took me forever to sew, and I disliked every minute.

 

I didn’t care much for home economics even though all females in high school were required to take the course.  Heck, I still dislike cooking, sewing, and all the trappings of being a “homemaker.” Besides, I had already been cooking five days a week for our family of five while my mother worked. On the weekends, I had the chore of ironing clothes despite the not-yet-perfected invention of no-iron shirts in the 50s. I thought it was unfair that I was expected to do all the chores assigned to women in our culture. I would have enjoyed taking woodworking rather than home economics!

 

Miss Dines taught cooking, and the only thing good about the class was eating the dishes that weren’t a failure.  She was an interesting character at a time when people hid being gay.  Everyone knew Miss Dines lived with the school librarian, but no one made an issue of it.  She invited several of us to the home she shared with her partner to give us a tour.  Looking back on the scene almost six decades later, I suppose she was a bit of a maverick and wasn’t entirely in the closet. I don’t remember anyone making an issue of two women living together, but had it been men, it would have been a whole other thing! Being gay must have been a tough line to walk in a very conservative, small town, not only for her but for the young people growing up.

 

Looking back on that time, I now realize I was taught much more than how to cook and sew. I was taught tolerance and bravery by two women who, despite their challenges, learned to overcome them and teach young, impressionable girls in a small town in the middle of nowhere.

  

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