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Monday, November 1, 2010

Mysterious Monday

A while back, I started using this Monday theme on my blog, but I didn't keep up with it.  Anyway, I'm going to give it another try!  Mysterious Monday (for me) will involve posting pictures that I have questions about and/or writing posts about my "mystery" ancestors, whom I can't seem to find any (or enough) information about!

Today, I'm sharing two pictures.  The first is of my dad, Arthur P. Yarborough, Sr., with an athletic team at Nash County Training School, where he attended high school.  My dad had left Louisburg and moved to Nash county to live with his uncle, Dr. William Lawrence Green.  From what I can gather, young Arthur may have been starting to get a little too rambunctious for his widowed mother to handle alone, so she sent him off to live with her brother and his family, where he would be under the hand (probably literally) of a man. :)


I've grown up seeing this picture all my life, but never asked about it.  I've always assumed it to be a basketball team, but recently, upon inspecting the photo more carefully, I took note of the fact that all of the guys, except for my dad (#10), were wearing knee pads.  Also, there are only four on the team (if this is a complete picture),and the guys' shorts have belt-loops on them.  All of this has led me to wonder if perhaps this might've been another type of team, and not basketball, as I'd been thinking.  My guess is that it could have been a wrestling team.  I don't recall ever hearing my dad talk of wrestling, but then again, he never really talked about his high school years at all.  I do know that my second-oldest brother, Henry, wrestled in high school, and my dad was really "into" it, so....


The second picture is of my mom Maryanne, and two other women, apparently about to enjoy a holiday meal together. (My mom is on the right.) I don't know where this was taken, nor who the other women are, and when I asked my mother about it, she couldn't remember.  (This is the first time she has not been able to tell me about  a picture.)  My guess is that the picture was probably taken in either Germany (most likely) or Ohio, while my mom was a young Army wife.  I'm thinking that maybe these three women had prepared the meal together, since they were away from their families.  If the picture was taken in Germany, it would have been Bremerhaven, between 1957-1961.  If it's Ohio, it would have been Cleveland, between 1961-1963.  I do know that this is not our dining room furniture, so it is definitely at the home of one of the other women. Also, even though I'm calling it a "meal", I really only see finger-type foods that I can identify, so perhaps this could have even been for some kind of club meeting or something.  I just don't know...

If anyone has ideas about either of these pictures, feel free to comment.  I imagine the first one will be easier for me to find out about than the second, if I can ever get hold of a yearbook from my dad's alma mater.  Thanks for reading!

Renate

5 comments:

  1. Sorry, Renate, cannot help, but, had to say, they are both fascinating photos! Good luck!

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  2. who is the woman with the team? she looks like you!

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  3. Renate,
    The one of your Mom... She may have been a member of the wives' club. Most military facilities have an officers wives' club and an NCO wives' club. Even possible (and I am thinking Bremerhaven would be one of the larger army facilities) Bremerhaven wives' club might have a historian. If I remember correctly, seeing on another occasion that your father was a major. Nothing against NCO wives, but the officer's wives would have been more into the 'social' thing.

    Another avenue you may try that right now slips my memory, but I have seen the Stars & Stripes (newspaper) online for free. One more is that the base newspaper also published activities such as these. No promises, but I will at least try to recall where I saw the Stars & Stripes and get back to you.

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  4. Me again, trying to remember... I believe it was Footnote, but I also remember it was not indexed. In the meantime, I googled S&S and got to the S&S archive. It is indexed. I narrowed a search for you on their site and got to the 'pay me' page. It did tell me that there are 94 results for Yarborough 1957-1961 but zero results for exact phrase "Arthur Yarborough" and zero results for exact phrase "Maryanne Yarborough". Methinks with that kind of result, it may still be worth 7.95 or for sure 4.95 to take a look. Their rates are annual subscription/membership 3.95/month billed annually, 7.95/month billed monthly or one day pass 4.95. If I happen to find anything else with more positive results, I'll get back to you.

    Even though it may be worth 4.95, I wouldn't do it yet. Google the wives club, google the base newspaper. If the base wives club has a historian, THAT would be your jackpot!

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  5. @Kristin - Are you serious?!? LOL... I don't know who she is, but I'm assuming she must have been the sponsor or the coach - another reason why I suspect this may not have been basketball.

    @Darlene, thanks for that suggestion! I didn't know anything about the Wives' Clubs! I will put this on my "to-do" list. Also, I already have a footnote.com subscription. I got it recently for half-off with my AAGHS membership! :) Thanks, again!

    Renate

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