Letters from Gerald A. Cole ("Jerry") to xxxxx"Gabby"), June, 1939 - January, 1942 The two men attended Middlebury College in Vermont. Class of 1939. They seem to have been fratemity brothers (Delta Upsilon), and one comment suggests that they may have been roommates al point (perhaps senior year). The correspondence began the summer following graduatiol continued until early 1942. It ended, almost certainly because of both men's service in the military durig World War I and their constantly changing addresses. The bulk of these letters would have been sent to Gabbie in New Concord, Ohio (Jerrv makes several references to him being in the Midwest.) This reguires a brief explanation. Gabbie was born in Kochester, NY in 1916. He was the youngest of five children in a family that was not well-to-do. His father died when he was two years old, and his mother did not have the wherewithal to support five kids. So, Gabbie spent much of his youth in foster homes or other institutions. And, apparently, he began getting in trouble In 1928 (age 12) he was made a ward of the court and sent to the state's Berkshire Industrial Farm in rural Canaan, NY Gust across the state line from Pittsfield, MA). The superintendent of this institution lor problem boys" was Rev. Harry Graham. All the boys were assigned jobs, and Gabbie became a "houseboy" for the Graham family. Rev. Graham and his wife (Bryson) clearly had an enormously positive influence on him, really turning his life around. Rev Graham saw academic potential beyona what his own institution could provide. so arranged for Gabbie to attend his freshman year of high school in Pittsfield. And then he secured external funds/partial scholarships that permitted Gabbie to attend Mount Hermon prep school (1932-1935) and Middlebury College (1935-1939). Rev. Graham died of a staph infection in 1937. A friend from his seminary days in Pittsburgh was nOW president of Muskingum College in New Concord, OH. He offered Bryson a position in the dean's office at Muskingum, which she accepted. Gabbie and Bryson kept in touch, and he decided to go to Muskingum for the Fall 1939 semester to pick up one or two education courses. (He had been a political science major in college, and he may this is a guess have been thinking of prep school teaching as a possible career.) He roomed in Mrs. Graham's house (he is listed as a "lodger" in the 1940 census), quite possibly rent free. This, I suspect, is the basis for Jerry's reference in his 9/1/39 letter to Gabbie having a "patron-lady." Soon after he finished end-of-semester exams in January 1940, a position became available at Muskingum for a "field representative"- that is, high school recruiter. He applied and got the job. He continued doing that work until September 1941, when he returned to Middlebury as assistant dean of admissions something Jerry did not learn about immediately. That position was short-lived, however. He had registered with the local draft board while living in Ohio and in Spring 1942 they ordered him to report for induction, which he did in May. He served in the Army Air Force until Fall, 1945. . (While on leave in June 1944 he married Frances, a 1943 Muskingum graduate who he had met while working there. Indeed, Mrs. Graham introduced them.) He returned to his prewar position at Middlebury for several months, then worked for the VA regional office in Rutland, VI. In Fall 1947 he began a graduate program in clinical psychology at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, completing the doctorate in 1952. He worked three years at a VA hospital near Cleveland, three years for the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Toronto, and in 1958 accepted a position with the Indiana Department of Mental Health in Indianapolis. He died in October 1962 at age 46 after suffering a fatal heart attack. 

Bob


Dad's Letter Dec 23, 1937.jpeg

Dear Tom Cole:

     I'm aware that you retired from Arizona State some years ago, but I'm hopeful that the @asu email address is still good.

     This will be a completely unexpected message, a real "bolt from the blue." Indeed, I decided not to send it yesterday so you would not dismiss it as an April Fool's Day prank. In brief, I am in possession of about 25 letters your father wrote to my father, 1939-1942.

    Some quick background:  My father, xxxxxs, was a 1939 graduate of Middlebury College. Starting in the Fall of '39 he spent about two years at Muskingum College in Ohio (one semester as a student, approx. 18 months as a field representative). Then he returned to Middlebury as assistant director of admissions until he was drafted in May 1942. Following military service, he returned briefly to his old position at Middlebury, and then worked as a counselor at the VA regional office in Rutland, VT (where I was born in November 1946). He then began graduate study in clinical psychology at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, completing a doctorate in 1952. He worked at a VA hospital near Cleveland for a few years, then took a position with the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Toronto where he implemented a nationwide testing program. In 1958 he accepted a position with the Indiana Department of Mental Health and the family moved to Indianapolis.  He died, quite unexpectedly, in 1962 after suffering a heart attack at his desk.

     My mother remained in Indianapolis. Except for military service (1969-71) and graduate school, so have I. Over the years, as Mom moved from a two-story house, to a small condo, to assisted living, to a nursing home, more and more boxes of "stuff" came to reside with me. Mostly they went into basement or closet storage without being thoroughly examined. Following Mom's death in early 2020 I have been (slowly) working my way through these boxes, several of which I would describe as "family memorabilia."

    Recently, I began going through a box that I had very cursorily examined 20+ years ago when I was moving from one house to another. Among other things, it contained a large stack of neatly folded letters. I pulled one off the top of the stack that appeared to be WWII-era correspondence. I made a mental note to return to them sometime. That "sometime" has been the past month or so. It turns out that most of the letters in that stack were written by my father to a man who had been a mentor to him. The mentor saved the letters and at some point his widow apparently returned them to Dad. But also in that stack were about 25 letters written to my father by someone who was obviously a college classmate (and perhaps a fraternity brother?) and signed himself "Jerry."

     I had no idea at first who "Jerry" might be. But in one of the letters he mentioned that his parents were building a new house and joked that it might be dubbed "Cole Mansion." So, Jerry Cole.  And then I found a letter on college stationery that listed the members of the "1939 Junior Week Committee," including one Gerald Cole. Bingo!  A little on-line sleuthing (which eventually brought up your fascinating website) led me to Gerald Ainsworth Cole, Middlebury College A.B. '39, St. Lawrence University M.S., 1941, University of Minnesota Ph.D., 1949, zoology educator.

     The letters begin in June 1939 and run through early 1942 when Dad was drafted. No doubt their constant moves during the war years ended the correspondence. Your father talks about his work as a summer camp counselor, his going--briefly, I gather--to what was then Massachusetts State University ("Appleknocker U.),  and his transfer to St. Lawrence U. There's lots about his social life, which seems to have been robust and included frequent trips back to Middlebury or visits with Middlebury friends who were still in the general vicinity.  Many of the letters were written when Dad was in Ohio, so there lots of sports score updates and gossip about who's getting married, who's broken up, etc.  There's the occasional comment that would be considered racially insensitive or misogynistic today (keeping in mind he was 22-23 years old and this was 80+ years ago).

    I've read the letters and found them interesting but have no further use for them. But the historian in me (Ph.D. and 28 years teaching history at the Indianapolis campus of Indiana University) makes me reluctant to consign them to the trash or the recycling bin. So, if you would like to have them, I'd be happy to send them along. Just send me your snail mail address and I'll make it happen.

Regards,

Robert

Dear Robert,

Thanks so much for contacting me and yes I would very much like to have the letters. Usually people contact me saying how much they liked the letters and photos they find on my 30,000-file website. A kid from Botswana found his dad’s pictures and many letters on my site, the grandson of a forest ranger at Montezuma Well found all my writings about his grandad, and the cousin of Buddy Rovit, Hemingway scholar and novelist contacted me about the letters he and I wrote a few years back as I knew him in Kentucky but only when I was about five years old. 

I feel that one must never throw anything out as whenever I have I have sorely regretted it.  

With regard to racially insensitive language, my parents were quite progressive with regard to race. I remember my mom was on a bus in Louisville when I was a child and a woman leaned over and said, "There are some negroes on the bus." To which my mom said, "What of it? Some of my best friends are negroes!" To which she later added to me: "Which really wasn't true." I remember my dad saying in WWII he had a black friend who had to leave for the front on a different bus from the white soldiers. But the language back then was careless and insensitive. People didn't know any better I think.

Anyhow, thanks so much. My address is...


April 3, 2024

Tom--

   Great. I was pretty sure you would be interested, given the amount of family history material on your website. 

    I'm going to read through the letters one more time and annotate some things where I understand a reference being made but no one else would. So, hope to get them in the mail to you sometime next week. I'll shoot you an email when they are on the way.

Best,

Bob

Tom--

   The letters are on the way. USPS flat rate box.  Expected delivery date is Friday, April 12. I have a tracking number so if they have not shown up by early next week let me know and I'll see what I can figure out from this end.

Bob B.

Robert, 

I’ve got ‘em and I’m reading them and making copies that I’ll put online for my family to read. I’ll send you the link when I’m finished. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness in not letting these historical family documents go to waste.

Thanks so much!

Tom


Oh, I am creating a page that’s accessed only by password. No html or image file titles will contain the B family name and no text on the page will either, so Google has nothing to find in a search.

CLICK A LETTER TO READ

CLICK BACK BUTTON TO RETURN

CONTINUED FROM LEFT COLUMN FROM EARLIEST TO NEWEST:


IMG_5458 Dad's Letter September 20, 1940.jpeg

IMG_5459 Dad's Letter September 20, 1940.jpeg

IMG_5460 Dad's Letter September 20, 1940.jpeg

IMG_5461 Dad's Letter September 20, 1940.jpeg

IMG_5462 Dad's Letter October 11, 1940.jpeg

IMG_5463 Dad's Letter October 11, 1940.jpeg

IMG_5464 Dad's Letter October 11, 1940.jpeg

IMG_5465 Dad's Letter October 11, 1940.jpeg

IMG_5466  Dad's Letter January 8, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5467  Dad's Letter January 8, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5468  Dad's Letter January 8, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5469  Dad's Letter January 8, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5470  Dad's Letter February 18, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5471  Dad's Letter February 18, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5472  Dad's Letter February 18, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5473  Dad's Letter February 18, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5474  Dad's Letter April 25, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5475  Dad's Letter April 25, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5476  Dad's Letter April 25, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5477  Dad's Letter April 25, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5478  Dad's Letter April 25, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5479  Dad's Letter April 25, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5480  Dad's Letter April 25, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5481  Dad's Letter May 18, 1941.jpeg


IMG_5527 Dad's Letter September 27, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5528 Dad's Letter September 27, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5529 Dad's Letter September 27, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5530 Dad's Letter September 27, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5531Dad's Letter September 27, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5532 Dad's Letter September 27, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5533Dad's Letter September 27, 1941.jpeg
   

IMG_5533.5 Dad's Letter September 27, 1941.jpeg
IMG_5534 Dad's Letter October 11, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5535 Dad's Letter October 11, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5536 Dad's Letter October 11, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5537 Dad's Letter October 11, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5538 Dad's Letter October 11, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5539 Dad's Letter October 11, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5540 Dad's Letter October 11, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5541 Dad's Letter October 11, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5542 Dad's Letter October 11, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5543 Dad's Letter October 11, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5544 Dad's Letter November 7, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5545 Dad's Letter November 7, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5546 Dad's Letter November 7, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5547 Dad's Letter November 7, 1941.jpeg

IMG_5548 Dad's Letter January 29, 1942.jpeg

IMG_5549 Dad's Letter January 29, 1942.jpeg

IMG_5550 Dad's Letter January 29, 1942.jpeg

IMG_5551 Dad's Letter January 29, 1942.jpeg

IMG_5552 Dad's Letter January 29, 1942.jpeg

IMG_5553  Dad's Letter January 29, 1942.jpeg