A family document

Rochester Institute of Technology

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Thesis/Dissertation Collections

2-1-1982

A family document

Ronald Richardson

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A FAMILY DOCUMENT

by

Ronald Richardson

Submitted in

Partial

Fulfillment of the

Requirements

for

the Degree

MASTER OF FINE ARTS

MFA

PHOTO

GRAPHY

PROGRAM

SCHOOL OF

PHOTOGRAPHIC

ARTS AND SCIENCES

ROCHESTER

INSTITUTE

OF

TECHNOLO

GY

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

February,

1982

1P/fd;fJ:y/

J;

1

&!-Charles A

.

Arnold, Jr

.,

Chairperson

Professor

School of Photographic Arts

&

Sc

i

ences

Professor

/

David Robertson

School of Photographic Arts

&

Sciences

Joseph

Flaherty

Director

I,

Ronald

Richardson,

wish

to be

contacted

each

time a request for reproduction

of

my

thesis,

~

Family

Document,

is made.

I

can

be reached through the following address:

This

Work

Is

Dedicated

To

CONTENTS

-

I

-Thesis

Proposal

Background

of

the

Project

Preparation

and

Presentation

of

the

Material

and

Conclusion

Bibliography

-

II

-Selected

Visual

Resources

and

Text

THESIS

THESIS

PROPOSAL

for

the

Master

of

Fine Arts

Degree

Rochester

Institute

of

Technology

College

of

Graphic Arts

and

Photography

School

of

Photographic Arts

and

Sciences

title:

The

project

will

consist

of

books

with

various

titles.

purpose:

to

tell

a

story

about

my

youth

in

the

context

of

a

family

document

thesis

board:

chief

advisor

Charles A.

Arnold,

Jr.

Professor

Rochester

Institute

of

Technology

School

of

Photographic Arts

and

Sciences

associate

advisors

:

David

Robertson

Professor

Rochester

Institute

of

Technology

School

of

Photographic

Arts

and

Sciences

Joseph

Flaherty

Director

Writers

and

Books

scope

of

the

thesis:

My

thesis

is

generative,

but

I

would

not

generally

characterize

it

as

experimental.

More

significantly,

it

is

conservative

and

rather

a

culmination

of

the

photographic

image making I have

done for

the

last

twenty

years

and

extending

yet

from

there

back into

the

archives

of

my

family

and

forward

into

the

photographs

and

editorial

decisions

I

am

making

now.

In

producing

this

visual

document,

I

will

be

synthesizing

the

conservative

traditions

of

the

autobiography

and

the

family

album,

and

the

generative

traditions

of

the

contemporary

photographic

book

and

the

storybook.

procedures :

For

the

past

three

years,

both in

New

York

and

North

Carolina,

I

have been

making,

collecting,

copying,

and

sorting

thousands

of

images pertaining

to

me.

In

the

course

of

this

project

I

have,

in

the

manner

of

a

"private

eye,"

tracked

down many

people

in

search

of

their

documents

and

recollections,

and

taped

conversations,

read

letters,

and

tied

together

geneological

research

and

researchers.

The

mass

of

this

information has been

somewhat

overwhelming,

both emotionally

and

intellectually,

and

the

greatest

problem

thus

far has

been

to

define

the

objectives

of

the

thesis

project.

In

the

effort

to

be

comprehesive

I

have

opened

Pandora's

box.

The

wealth

of

material

and

ideas

here

suggests

a

lifetime

task

with

a

degree

granted

posthumously.

My

initial

premise

was

to

provide

as

accurately.

. .factually.

objectively.

. .as

possible,

an

autobiographical

document

of

I

now

propose

to

tell

a

story,

in book

form,

of

my

childhood,

based

on

fact.

Included

in

this

volume

(these

volumes)

will

be

a

"preface"

and

an

"afterword,"

and

the

combined

material

will

compose

a

family

document.

I

have had

several

experiences

working

with

the

book

form

prior

to

embarking

on

this

project,

producing

books

in

small

editions,

one

to

three

copies

each.

These

books

were

fabricated from both

silver

and

non-silver

photographic

images,

and

included

non-photographic

visual

material

and

assorted

words.

This

thesis

project

will

be

much

influenced

by

this

same

eclectic

style.

I

will

continue

to

work

on

this

project

through

the

facilities

available

to

me

in

the

Rochester

area.

A

final

thesis

report

will

be

submitted

in

accordance

with

the

Master

of

Fine Arts

Program

requirements

and

the

parameters

of

my

research

both

textual

and

personal

will

be

discussed extensively in

that

document

upon

To

Any

Reader

As

from

the

house

your

mother

sees

You playing

round

the

garden

trees,

So

you

may see,

if

you

will

look

Through

the

windows

of

this

book,

Another child,

far,

far

away,

And

in

another

garden,

play.

But

do

not

think

you

can

at

all,

By

knocking

on

that

window,

call

That

child

to

hear

you.

He

intent

Is

all

on

his

play-business

bent.

He

does

not

hear;

he

will

not

look,

Nor

yet

be

lured

out

of

this

book.

For,

long

ago,

the

truth

to

say,

He

has

grown

up

and

gone

away,

And

it

is

but

a

child

of

air

That

lingers

in

the

garden

there.

Robert

Louis

Stevenson

,

and

from

a

letter

to

R.I.T.

in June

of

1981...

"...and

reevaluated

the

whole

concept

of

a

book

format.

I

came

to

the

conclusion

that

the

immense

amount

and

variety

of

material

was

not

only unwieldy

for book form

(something

that

should

have been

more

obvious

to

me

in

the

confusion

and

frustration

of

my

years

of

work

on

the

project),

but

also

less

comprehensible

than

it

would

be

in

a

gallery

type

of

presentation.

I

am

planning

to

meet

with

my

board

next

week

to

discuss my

situation

and

deal

with

my final

plan

of

BACKGROUND

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While

still

enrolled

in

classes,

in

my

second

year

at

R.I. T.

,

I

began

to

uncover

and

catalogue

some

of

the

photographs

of

my

past.

At

first

this

was

mostly

an

effort

to

tidy

up

some

of

the

conglomeration

of

photo

graphic

materials

that

I

had

been

accumulating

since

I

had

received

a

camera

at

the

age

of

seven.

But

as

I

started

to

look

at

the

images

more

closely

I

became

more

interested

in

them

as

a

resource

from

which

to

draw

for

the

work

I

was

doing

as

a

graduate

student.

I

had,

by

this

time,

become

involved

in

making

small

editions

of

handmade

books

on

various

subjects.

One

such

book,

"Electronic

Flash

Photography,"

a

sequence

of

flash

photographs

of

my

sister's

family,

humorously

examined

some

of

the

conventional

pitfalls

of

flash

photography.

Another,

"Pezzi,"

drew

together

some

of

the

visual

bits

and

pieces

of

a

trip

I

had

made

to

Italy.

I

attended

a

workshop

in

bookmaking

at

Alfred,

New

York,

conducted

by

John

Wood,

and

found

myself

more

committed

to

the

book

form.

(It

may

be

interesting

to

note,

in

passing,

that

I

had

started

using

this

form

at

the

age

of

six,

making

small

coloring

books

for

friends

in

Germany,

using

a

typewriter

and

pictorial

rubber

stamps

my

father

would

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I

was

interested

in

using

some

of

these

rediscovered

photographs

of

my

past

in

my

work

with

books,

and

did

so

in

a

small

book

called

"Hemlock

Blues,"

which

consisted

of

hand-colored

cyanotype

pictures

of

people

and

scenes

from

my

childhood

home

in

Hemlock,

New

York.

I

was

also

beginning

to

discover

some

of

the

photo

graphic

materials

my

father

had

stored

away

for

many

years.

including

some

4x5"

negatives

of

portraits

he

had

made

in

Paris

in

the

19

20'

s.

With

some

of

these

I

printed

another

cyanotype

book

entitled,

"Blue

Eyes."

Increasingly,

as

I

used

these

materials,

I

was

becoming

interested

in

what

other

resources

from my

family's

past

were

available.

Together

with

my

parents

and

sister,

I

started

searching

for

what

photographs

and

other

memorabilia

existed,

and

by

the

time

I

finished

my

course

work

at

R.I.T.

it

was

clear

to

me

that

I

wanted

my

thesis

to

revolve

around

this

work.

Because

of

the

abundance

of

artifacts

I

was

finding

that

related

to

the

photographs,

it

occurred

to

me

that

perhaps

the

best

context

in

which

to

exhibit

the

material

would

be

in

a

space

that

created

an

atmosphere

of

the

past

and

that

I

should

include

in

this

space

some

of

those

artifacts.

For

example,

I

found

the

1949

television

set

in

our

barn

in

Hemlock,

still

operable,

which

had

':)

f

A

.

\

'*

j:-".i'l\4JJiL..':-lh-Charles McGregor

Executive Vice President

World-Wide Distribution

July

9

, 1

974

Dear Mr. Richardson

In reply to your letter of June 27 regarding the

SUPERMAN series, we regret that we have no

prints available

at

the present time.

We thank you for your interest, however

,

and

wish you success in

your

pr

ojec

t.

Sincerely,

Charles McGregor

~NERBROS.

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ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

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Subject ______________________________ _

Ronald Richardson, 080-36-0457, an MFA candidate in

Photo-graphy, has completed his class work and is now working on

his Thesis.

He needs an ID card to use the labs and an

R.I.T. parking sticker.

I

could

include

this

displaying

a

videotape

of

an

old

"Superman"

series

episode.

I

corresponded

with

Warner

Brothers.

I

arranged

for

access

to

the

top

floor

of

the

R.I.T.

building

at

50

West

Main

Street,

complete

with

its

broken

windows,

dead

pigeons,

and

deserted

department

store

fixtures.

I

was

given

the

key

and

provided

with

parking

and

made

frequent

trips

there

to

absorb

its

ambience

and

grapple

with

its

space.

I

addition

to

this

activity,

I

was

making

new

photographs

of

people

and

places

that

had

been

documented

by

the

old

photographs,

with

the

objective

of

possibly

juxtaposing

images

of

the

past

with

those

of

the

present...

photographs

of

my

sister

and

myself

...

photographs

of

my

mother

with

Buffalo

Bob.

..

photographs

of

Hemlock...

I

began

spending

more

and

more

time

around

Hemlock,

photographing,

digging

through

things

stored

in

the

barn,

and

reflecting.

The

house

had

been

sold

twice

and

was

deteriorating.

But

the

land, barn,

and

workshop

were

still

in

the

family,

virtually

untouched

for

twenty

years,

and

they

began

to

preoccupy

me.

I

enlisted

the

aid

of

an

architect

friend,

Robert

Frear,

and

my

father,

now

retired,

and

built

a

small

cottage

in

the

woods

above

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woodworking

skills

my

father

had

glearted

over

his

life.

And

over

this

time

I

continued

reading,

researching,

and

collecting

more

and

more

material.

I

travelled

with

my

parents

to

archives,

courthouses,

and

graveyards,

all

over

the

East.

We

visited

the

settings

of

various

family

activities

and

returned

to

the

sites

of

early

family

origins,

conversing

with,

and

collecting

and

recording

recollections

of

people

there.

The

papers,

tapes

and

photographs

were

accumulating

and

its

mass

was

overwhelming.

I

continued

to

be

dedicated

to

the

book

form,

and

had

decided

by

the

time

I

actually

submitted

my

thesis

proposal

that

that

form

would

be

a

more

realistic

approach

to

the

presentation

of

the

thesis

than

would

be

the

multimedia

extravaganza

I

had

earlier

envisioned.

I

had

concurrently

been

working

on

smaller

book

projects

such

as

one

entitled,

"Some

Picture

Spots

in

China,"

with

hand

colored

silver

prints

of

people

in

China

photographing

each

other.

As

I

worked

with

these

relatively

small

books,

it

became

increasingly

difficult

to

see

how

I

could

deal

with

such

a

vast

body

of

material

as

my

thesis

seemed

to

demand.

Finally,

in

February

of

19

81,

I

took

a

week

to

go

through

all

of

the

resources

I

had

acquired

and

work

I,

3>|

^

I

my

thesis

board,

"(I

had)

reevaluated

the

whole

concept

of

a

book

format.

I

came

to

the

conclusion

that

the

immense

amount

and

variety

of

material

was

not

only

unwieldy

for

book

form,

but

also

less

comprehensible

than

it

would

be

in

a

gallery

type

of

presentation."

My

thesis

board

met,

accepted

this

reasoning,

and

4

Vi

^v

PREPARATION

AND

P

RESENTAT

I

0

OF

THE

MATER

I AL

Once

the

basic

form

of

a

gallery

show

was

agreed

upon,

I

discussed

with

the

board

the

various

approaches

I

could

take

to

organize

the

material.

Among

others,

thematic

catagories

were

suggested

such

as

holidays,

fashions,

vacations,

and

so

forth.

But

ultimately

the

conclusion

I

came

to

was

that

the

most

natural

organ

ization

would

correspond

to

the

geneological

facet

of

the

project

and

that

a

chronological

development

of

the

images

would

provide

the

most

comprehensible

structure

for

presenting

my

family's

story.

We

all

agreed

that,

considering

the

volume

of

material,

it

would

be

necessary

to

arrange

it

in

the

form

of

panels

which

would

make

the

mounting

of

the

show

a

more

reasonable

proposition

at

the

time

I

would

have

scheduled

for

the

gallery.

I

had,

over

the

last

years,

been

making

hundreds

of

negatives,

copying

all

of

the

images

I

had

come

across

in

the

course

of

the

family

research.

Daguerreotypes,

ambrotypes,

tintypes,

paper

prints,

and

other

printed

materials,

as

well

as

many

dozens

of

transparencies,

I

had

copied

onto

35mm

Panatomic-X

film

and

some

onto

4x5

"

Plus-X

sheet

film.

These

were

all

contacted

printed

onto

Kodak

Azo

Paper

proof

sheets,

along

with

many

original

negatives

of

various

formats

that

I

had

located

!

0

I

again

sifted

through

these

images,

selecting

those

that

seemed

to

best

fit

the

presentation,

and

printed

them

onto

Kodak

Polycontrast

,

double

weight,

F

surface

paper,

cut

to

a

4x5"

format.

They

were

processed

archivally,

using

Kodak

Dektol

devoloper,

an

acetic

acid

stop

bath,

fixer,

and

washed

with

the

archival

Perma-Wash

process.

Duplicates

were

made

of

all

of

the

final

prints.

As

groupings

of

photographs

started

to

fit

together

I

made

some

8x10"

enlargements,

using

the

same

materials

and

methods,

of

those

images

which

I

wanted

to

highlight

a

theme

or

punctuate

a

group.

Finally

sorted

out

and

organized,

the

photographs

were

temporarily

mounted

for

the

show

on

a

white

backing

paper

behind

sheets

of

plexiglass.

There

were

six

of

these

panels

measuring

2x8'

and

two

of

them

measuring

2x4'.

The

various

other

materials,

ie

.

,

thesis

proposal.

written

text

sheets,

ancestral

charts,

and

an

afterword,

were

mounted

under

smaller

pieces

of

glass.

The

show

was

hung during

the

weekend

of

January

23,

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lllc

I

had

hoped,

with

the

individual

images

to

reveal

characteristics

of

personalities,

with

the

panels

to

weave

tapestries

of

various

periods

and

stages

of

my

family's

life,

and

with

the

sequence

of

panels

to

photo

graphically

illustrate,

with

as

little

interference

as

possible,

the

process

whereby

I

came

to

be,

and

how

I

came

to

be

who

I

am.

The

candor

with

which

I

tried

to

approach

this

display

of

my

self

was

often

uncomfortable,

but

I

genuinely

wanted

to

allow

things

to

be

revealed.

I

earnestly

attempted

to

use

the

medium

in

such

a

way

as

to

be

as

honest

as

possible

in

treating

my

subject,

without

dramatic

stylization

or

artificial

gestures.

The

reactions

were

mixed,

but

in

general

disappointing.

On

the

basis

of

my

thesis

sharing

and

individual

con

versations,

I

have

tried

to

determine

some

of

the

problems

of

the

show.

I

was

trying

to

reveal

myself

by

providing

raw,

unbiased

data,

selected

to

present

as

complete

a

body

of

evidence

as

the

viewer

would

need

to

make

their

own

conclusions

about

my

history

and

background.

But

in

my

effort

to

be

thorough

and

maintain

objective

distance,

I

had,

in

the

end

sanitized

the

work

to

an

extent

that

it

failed

to

draw

the

attention

of

a

lot

of

its

audience.

The

results

of

this

attempt

to

be

impartial

appeared

able

to

share

with

me

a

feeling

for

the

characters,

events,

and

processes

of

my

family.

One

unusually

dedicated

viewer,

Gerald

LaMarsh,

attended

the

thesis

sharing.

He

said

that

on

entering

the

exhibit

for

the

first

time

he

had

a

first

impression,

as

had

others,

that

here

was

a

myriad

of

fragments

of

family

memorabilia

which

would

be

difficult

to

assimilate,

After

scanning

the

material

the

first

time

and

having

a

little

time

to

digest

it,

he

found

himself

being

drawn

back

to

it

over

and

over

again,

with

each

successive

viewing

discovering

more

intimate

details

of

my

family

background.

The

characteristics

that

he

was

able

to

perceive,

from

what

turned

out

to

be

hours

of

study,

were

remarkable.

I

felt

in

talking

to

him

that

at

least

to

some

extent

I

had

successfully

revealed

to

an

audience

an

honest

and

comprehensible

portrait

of

myself.

For

my

family

the

experience

of

seeing

the

exhibit

was

dramatic.

They

described

to

me

the

emotions

they

had

felt,

walking

into

this

gallery

filled

with

faces

and

events

from

the

past

looking

back

at

them

from

the

walls,

and

the

sensation

of

seeing

the

photographic

evidence

of

their

lives

spread

out

before

them.

This

There

is

one

way,

certainly,

in

which

I

don't

regret

my

approach

to

the

thesis.

It

was,

at

least,

based

on

what

I

still

believe

to

be

a

well-founded

conviction,

that

a

thesis

for

the

M.F.A.

degree,

or

any

other

artistic

endeavor,

should

not

be

done

only

to

serve

a

temporal,

decorative,

stylistic

purpose,

but

should

be

based

on

an

effort

to

examine,

learn,

and

instruct.

My

thesis

board

was

persuaded

that,

in

spite

of

their

misgivings

as

to

the

exhibit,

the

work

had

merit.

They

decided

to

base

their

final

decision

on

approval

on

the

total

thesis,

including

this

report

and

the

documentation

found

in

the

section

entitled,

"Selected

Visual

Resources

and

Text."

It

was

here,

they

felt,

that

I

could

finally bring

together

in

a

rich,

engaging

manner,

some

of

the

materials

with

which

I

have

been

working

for

these

years.

I

looked

forward

to

this

opportunity,

and

am

pleased

with

the

results

as

I

think

it

serves

some

of

the

purposes

I

was

interested

in

There

is

one

way,

certainly,

in

which

I

don't

regret

my

approach

to

the

thesis.

It

was,

at

least,

based

on

what

I

still

believe

to

be

a

well-founded

conviction,

that

a

thesis

for

the

M.F.A.

degree,

or

any

other

artistic

endeavor,

should

not

be

done

only

to

serve

a

temporal,

decorative,

stylistic

purpose,

but

should

be

based

on

an

effort

to

examine,

learn,

and

instruct.

My

thesis

board

was

persuaded

that,

in

spite

of

their

misgivings

as

to

the

exhibit,

the

work

had

merit.

They

decided

to

base

their

final

decision

on

approval

on

the

total

thesis,

including

this

report

and

the

documentation

found

in

the

section

entitled,

"Selected

Visual

Resources

and

Text."

It

was

here,

they

felt,

that

I

could

finally bring

together

in

a

rich,

engaging

manner,

some

of

the

materials

with

which

I

have

been

working

for

these

years.

I

looked

forward

to

this

opportunity,

and

am

pleased

with

the

results

as

I

think

it

serves

some

of

the

purposes

I

was

interested

in

Brainard,

Joe.

I_

Remember.

New

York:

Full

Court

Press,

1975.

Frank,

Robert.

The

Lines

of

My

Hand

.

New

York:

Lustrum

Press,

19 72.

Goldsmith,

Barbara.

Little

Gloria.

. .

Happy

At

Last

.

New

York:

Alfred

A.

Knopf,

Inc.,

1980.

Gratwick,

William.

My

This

Must

Have

Been

A

Beautiful

Place

. . .When

It

Was

Kept

Up.

Pavilion,

New

York:

William

Gratwick,

196

5.

Gratwick,

William.

The

Truth,

Tall

Tales,

and

Blatant

Lies

.

Rochester:

Visual

Studies

Workshop Press,

1981.

Greene,

Graham.

A

Sort

of

Life

.

New

York:

Simon

and

Schuster,

1971.

Herron,

Gaylord

Oscar.

Vagabond.

Tulsa:

Penumbra

Projects

,

19

75

.

Lartigue,

Jacques

Henri.

Boyhood

Photos

of

J.

H.

Lartigue

. . .

The

Family

Album

of

a

Gilded

Age

.

Ami

Guichard,

1966.

Lartigue,

Jacques

Henri.

Diary

of

a

Century.

New

York:

Viking,

1970.

Seymour,

Daniel.

A

Loud

Song.

New

York:

Lustrum

Press,

1971.

Stevenson,

Robert

Louis.

A

Childs

Garden

of

Verses.

New

York:

Barse

and

Hopkins.

Watson,

Hildegarde

Lasell.

The

Edge

of

the

Woods

.

Rochester:

James

S.

Watson,

Jr.

,

1979.

White,

E.

B.

The

Letters

of

E.

B.

White.

New

York:

Harper

and

Row,

19 76.

/-SELECTED

VISUAL

RESOURCES

"And

the

motive

for

recording

these

scraps

of

the

past?

It

is...

a

desire

to

reduce

a

chaos

of

experience

to

some

sort

of

order,

and

a

hungry

curiosity."

Graham

Greene

please

note

the

ancestral

charts

and

color

code

My

father's

family

is

from

the

Northeast.

His

father

was

Harry

Ernest

Richardson,

and

much

of

his background

remains

cloudy.

He

came

from

Erieville,

New

York,

near

Morrisville.

Several

generations

of

his

family

had

lived

in

that

area

and

Erieville

is

named

after

Eri

Richardson.

Harry's

mother

ran

a

toll

booth

for

a

road

that

passed

thru

Morrisville,

and

picked

hops

in

season.

What

his

father,

Alfred Adelbert

Richardson

did is

unclear,

but

it

is

likely

that

the

family

was

primarily

involved

in

agriculture.

Harry

fought

in

the

Spanish-

American

war,

and

eventually became

a

printer.

Soon

after

the

turn

of

the

century

he

moved

to

Rochester

to

work

on

a

newspaper.

He

had

apparently

been

married

prior

to

this

move.

He

rented

a

room

in

a

house

on

i

I

!

!

1

!

j

i

\ ,

;

|

I

I I

!

I

I

I

I

THE F9VNDERS OF

ERIEVJLLE,

N. Y.

Was

Named

After

Erie

Richardson

Not

Robinson

I

0

J

U

Bin

Madison

County

(N.

Y.)

Leader

of

May

14,

1914

Of

course

the Madison

County

Leader is the best county

paper

In

this broad land

of

ours,

and all

thanks

to

it

for

what

it has

done

and

is

doing

for the prosperity

of

the

village

so

dear to

niany

who are

away,

from it.

But

why does

the

Leader copy the

errors

of

its

exchanges?

Is

not

the

editor

enough

of

a

Madison

County

historian

to( know

that

Erieville

was

named

for

Erie Richardson

and not

Eri Robin

son

if

such

an

individual

ever

existed

in

that

section?

Erie

Richardson

was

a

brother

of

my

great

grandfather,

Eldad.

There

were

five brothers,

who

came

to

Madison

County

in

1794

or

1796 from

the

border

of

Massashusetts

or

New

Hamp

shire.

I have

spent

several

most

interesting

hours

in

the

New

York

library

studying

that branch

of

the

family

tree.

As

old

as

the

family

is in

the country,

the

pioneers

did

not come

over

in

the

Mayflower,

as

many

believe,

but

waited

for

a

faster

ship

and

better

accommodations,

coming

to these

shores

in 1630,

when

the

three

brothers landed

at

Salem,

Mass.

The

first

in the line

of

the

Madison

County

Richardsons

was!

Samuel,

then

Stephen,

his

son,

and

the

latter

also

had

a

son,

Stephen,

and

his

son

was

Amos,

who

was

a

physician

of

con

siderable renown

in his day.

One

of

the

doctors'

sons was

Erie,

who

was

the father

of

the

five brothers

who went

into

the

wilds

of

Central New York State

to

settle.

Continuing

the

line,

Eldad*,

before

mentioned,

was

followed

by

George

Durant,

the

writer's

grandfather.

MINNIE

WILBUR KNIGHT,

Montclair,

N. J.

*Eldad

was

also

the father

of

Levi,

among

whose

five

children

was

Alfred

Adalbert,

who was

the

father

of

Harry

Ernest,

and

whose

son

is

Howard.

Eugene,

of

Rochester,

N. Y.

H. E.

RICHARDSON,

T

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fl

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J

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My

father's

mother

was

Alice

Marian

St.

John.

The branches

of

her

family,

extending

very

far

back,

were

located

in

the

Rochester

area.

Alice's

father,

Charles

St.

John,

was

for

most

of

his

life

a

carpenter

and

cabinet

maker,

as

his

father,

Alanson

St.

John,

had been before him.

Alice's

mother

was

Marian

Brown.

The

Browns

had

acquired

a

parcel

of

land

by

the

Erie

canal

in

Rochester,

and

they

developed it.

Many

of

the

houses

in

the

neighborhood

of

Broadway,

Pearl

Street

and

Griffith

Street

were

built

by

that

i

i

i

^"i i

i

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i

.

!

i

I

1 1

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9

i

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5

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a

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a

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as

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--4

Alice,

born

in

1872,

was

the

eldest

of

the

St.

John

daughters.

Her

sister,

Jennie,

was

about

a

year

younger,

and

a

third

sister,

Lela,

died

in

infancy.

Alice

and

Jennie

were

brought

up

in

one

of

the

houses

their

father built

on

Broadway.

They

were

constant

companions

and

eventually both

went

on

to

become

grammar

school

teachers

in

Rochester.

Alice

travelled

in

Europe,

but

essentially

life

was

centered

around

the

prosperous

and

secure

family

home.

On

July 25,

1906,

Alice

St.

John

married

Harry

Richardson.

For

a

short

while

they

set

up

housekeeping

in

another

of

the

St.

John

houses

on

Broadway.

Soon,

however, Harry

went

out

of

town,

to

New

Jersey

and

then

to

Chicago,

to

look

for

other

newspaper

work.

Alice

moved

back

to

her

family

home

which

had been

expanded

to

8#

ftrr*

I

,

i

XT

My father,

Howard Eugene

Richardson,

was

born

in

a

small

hospital

near

Highland

Bowl

in

Rochester,

on

May

4th,

1907.

He

lived

with

his

mother,

and

her

parents

and

sister,

on

Broadway.

He

was

the

center

of

attention.

Equipped

with

a

voracious

curiosity,

he

explored

and

studied

the

things

around

him both

when

at

home

and

on

the

annual

summer

vacation

at

"Uneeda

Rest",

a

cottage

on

Port

Bay

near

Wolcott.

Along

with

his

school

work

and

occasionally assisting his

grandfather

on

various

jobs,

he

took

on

a

number

of

other

activities.

He

collected

specimens

for

Ward's

Natural

Science

Establishment,

organized

a

radio

station

in

a

backyard

shed

that

a

newspaper

described

as

"one

of

the

best

wireless

sets

in

Rochester,"

participated

in

assorted

dramatic

productions,

wrote,

directed,

and

starred

in

his

own

rather

accomplished

films,

and

to

tie

these

all

together,

joined

the

Boy

Scouts

and

quickly

attained

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62

RHYTHMIC ACTION

PLAYS AND

DANCES

a-doodU-

Straighten

knee

straight

for

ward

slowly.

dool

Place

right

foot

forward

on

floor

and

raise

left

heel.

My

Bend

left knee.

dame has lost

Straighten left knee.

her

shoe,

Place left foot

forward

on

floor

and

raise right

heel.

THE

ROOSTER

RUN

My

master's

lost

his fiddle

stick

And don't know

what

to

do.

Run forward

on

toes,

beginning

with right

foot,

keeping

the knees

stiff

and

raising the

foot

high, taking long

steps.

The

arms

may

be

bent

and

elbows

moved

up

and

down

to imi

tate the

movement

of

wings.

To

vary

the monotony

of

the

words of

the

single

verse,

the

following

verses

may

be

used,

if

desired,

as

the

dance

is

repeated.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

What

is

my

dame

to

do?

Till

master

finds his fiddle

stick

She'll dance

without

her

shoe.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

My

dame

will

dance

with

you,

While

master

fiddles his

fiddling

stick

For

dame

and

doodle-doo.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

My

dame

has lost her

shoe

And

master's

found

his

fiddle

stick,

Sing

doodle-doodle-doo.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Dame has lost her

shoe,

Gone

to

be

bed,

cap

on

head,

And

can't

tell

what

to

do.

The

game

is

designed

to

give

control

of

the

legs

and

combine

the

previous

drill in

knee

action

with

a second

element,

the

run,

which

makes

this

a

two-part

dance

and

there

fore

a

progression

on

the preceding

rhythms.

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S

s.f

LJ

0'

STATE SCOUT

Howard Richardson

Appointed

Unofficial Purveyor

of

Flint

to the

Council..

CHAMPION

FIRE

LIGHTER

He

Also

Ranks

High

as a

"Go

Getter"

as

They

Can Tes

tify

in

Dover,

England.

(

Because

of certain

accomplish

ments

and

attributes

"

Howard

Richardson,

sixteen-year-old

mem

ber

of

Boy

Scout

Troop

16,

Central

Presbyterian

Church,

has

been

named

unofficial purveyor of

flint

to the

State Council

of

Scouting.

Howard's

accomplishments are

extraordinary

facility

in

lighting

fires

and .

proficiency

as a

radio

operator.

The

attribute

that

helped

to

make

him

flint

purveyor

is

that

of go-getter.

The

boy

has

just

returned

from

a

i

"jamboree"

in Binghamton

at

which

he

won

the

scout state champion

ship for fire lighting.

The

judges

of

the competition,

members of

the

State

Council,

marveled at

the

readiness with which

Howard

caused

flames

to

rise where

there

had

been

no

fire

and asked

him

where

he had

got

the

flint he

used.

The flint

came

from

Dover, Eng

land,

Howard told the

judges,

and

If

they

would

like

someof

the

same

kind he

thought he

would

be

able

to

get some

for them.

They

surely

wanted a

supply

of

that

flint, they

replied.

On

his

return

to

Rochester,

where

lie is

the

representative of

the In

ternational

Research

Bureau,

the

boy

started on

its

way to

Dover

a radio message

asking

whether

the

supply

of

flint there

was such

that

they

could spare a

few

pounds

for

scout work

in

America.

Three

hours

la.ter New

York

City

notified

Howard

the

message

had

|

been

received

there

and relayed

to

England,

and

that

a

reply

had

come

that

the

request -for

flint

would

be

granted

ati,

once and

the

consignmentwould

be

addressed

to

the

Rochester

scout.

A

score

of

Boy

Scouts

of various

troops

went

to Eastern

Widewaters

yesterday foropen-air cooking

tests,

despite the

wet

weather.

While

the

tests

were

called

off,

praotical

demonstrations

in

camp

work were

given

by

Richardson.

WINS

NEWEST

ADG

ENTOMOLOGY

Howard

Richardson,

Eagle

Scout

of

Roosevelt

Troop

16,

Adds Another

High:

Mark

to

His

Many

Accom

plishments.

Howard

Richardson,

Eagle

Scout,

and a member of

Roosevelt

Troop

16,

is the first

scout

in

Rochester

and

possibly in the

United

States to

win

the

most

recently issued

merit

badge,

entomology.

The

requirements

of

this

new

badge

j

.were published

only three

weeks ago and

due

to

the

amount of work re

quired

it

was not

thought

that

any

scout would win

the

badge

before

next summer.

However,

Howard

com pleted most of

the

questions while

in

the

employe

of

Ward's

Natural

Sci

ence

Museum

and after a

little

study

on some of

the

requirements

was able

to

gain

the

badge.

j

Eagle

Scout

Richardson

has

been

in

scouting

less than

two

years,

but!

in that time has

made quite a name:

for

himself

and

his

troop.

He has

won

over