The Vassarion!

Katharine Place (married name Adams)
Born: October 3, 1893, New York, New York
Died: July 3, 1983, Albany, New York
Relation to Author: Great Grandmother In-Law
Mother of Jean Place Adams

I love doing genealogy research and writing. But I will admit, so far I am mostly using information that my uncles and my grandfather in-law have already found. Every once in a while though I find something that no one else seems to have found. And those are my favorite things to share.

So behold Katharine Place's Vassar yearbook: The Vassarion.

The yearbook is from 1916 and her address is listed as 268 West 77th Street in New York City (a mere 35 blocks from where I sit right now). I gather this is where she was living with her parents, Ira Place and Katherine Burritt Gauntlett (married name Place).

The most curious thing about the yearbook though is the text that accompanies the photos. Katharine's says: "K is the pink of perfection when it comes to neatness - but what will she do with the dirt of Pittsburgh and vicinity?"

I haven't the slightest idea what that means. Maybe she had plans to go to Pittsburgh after Vassar? If so, I have no evidence (yet) that she ever went there. She was born and raised in New York City. She want to Vassar in Poughkeepsie, New York. She married James Fairchild Adams in the fall of 1916 in New York City. And by 1920, she is settled in Albany with James.

My real question though is who wrote these strange little lines? The next person's doesn't seem very nice ("How to avoid academic work is an art with Babs"), which suggests the students were writing them for each other.

Anyway, it's a fun find, especially since it includes a picture. Enjoy!