A few years before Wilson was born
It has been ten years this month that my father-in-law, Wilson Slater, passed away. A orphan at an early age, later a scholar at Stanford University, an athlete, an airman in the Second World War, and later a successful school administrator for over two decades, he was a remarkable man in my book. (and Wilson and his wife June raised a remarkable daughter as well, my wife Shirley. )
Life had treated him badly early on. By age 14 he had lost both parents and was living on-and-off with realtives who had to turn him out because there were too many mouths to feed. He finally found some stability from this Dickensian existence with his maternal grandmother in Stockton California.
Of course, I knew him much later in life--and not long enough in my view. Far from being a bitter man, my father-in-law was a friendly and humorous guy who was as comfortable talking about local sports as he was discussing the "Commentaries of Caesar". I'd like to take you thru his life in two parts, the first being his 28 years when circumstance put him, like millions of others, into war. I will tell of the excelent family man Wilson Slater was in a later edition.
A great old picture of Red Bluff in 1914.
ReplyDeleteThe total absence of traffic is the thing that first strikes me, so why were the streets so wide. Must have been a premonition of the town planners of things to come, I can't think of any other reason?
A great old picture of Red Bluff, I imagine from the late 19th or early 20th centuries. The total absence of traffic is the thing that first strikes me, so why were the streets so wide? Must have been a premonition of the town planners of things to come, I can't think of any other reason?
ReplyDeleteNobody ever smiles in these old photos, watch the birdie and look grim seems to have been the order of the day
ReplyDeleteA fascinating glimpse into history. This is a great old photograph of a happier time before tragedy struck the family. It is great that you have posted this picture rather than leaving it buried in the family album Doug.
ReplyDeleteA wonderfully natural shot of the boys, truly a moment frozen in time.
ReplyDeleteAnother very natural looking photo. A tragic story of a young woman overcome by grief and loss who chose to end her life rather than struggle on in despair. These are the things history is made of thanks for posting this Doug
ReplyDeleteYes a very moving testament Doug.
ReplyDeleteAn amazing action shot, an incredible picture
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazing character Doug. How time robs us of such people. This is something I find hard to come to terms with. So many questions not asked in a lifetime, seem to come rushing in when it is all too late and are left unanswered.
ReplyDeleteThese are truly lovely photos and wonderful to have. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Cassandra
Looking for some brownie points there my friend? From thepicture he looks like he lead an interesting life
ReplyDeleteHis studies of ancient Rome and Greece must have influenced the way he saw the war and the clashes of empires I imagine. An interesting man indeed Doug.
ReplyDeleteIt hasn't changed much since then, but that is pretty well what the rest of Europe must have looked like in 1945
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew the answer, AA. Interstingly, unlike many California towns of this period , Red Bluff is still a town and not a city. The expansion of the computer and military industries that built up other areas for some reason have passed it by.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you feel that way, AA. Besides being relevant to this story, the small town barber shop is an important part of Americana. In a period when only a local newspaper and a few distant radio (wireless) stations could be heard, the barber shop was often a important place for discourse. This tradition carried on longer in the African-American communities
ReplyDeleteI cannot agree more. These stories--tragic or happier, taken in a collective, put flesh on the history of "great events" and the oversized personalities of a few in the public spotlight.
ReplyDeleteWhat unnerved me when I first saw this photograph was how much it reminds me of my wife, Shirley, and how that must have affected my father-in-law over the years. His father's death was perhaps unavoidable, but this was a casee where there just wasn't anyone in the family who could take the time to help her. I'm shouldn't point fingers, either, but sufice to say with the economy of "ordinary" families in a panic and with a the lack of support for mental health care att this time, I'm sad to think how many other sensative souls such as Irene could have been spared with less social stigmas about mental illness and/or suffering.
I like it and the story behind it makes it even more amazing. A young man's life changed here.
ReplyDeleteYou put that feeling very well, Cassandra. I find I have that desire for questions a lot lately due to my parents' loss this year and the fact that my "second father", Mr. Slater, passed away ten years ago this month. I take some solace in the fact that all three survived into retirement, to see some respite from the toils of life.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I imagine it looked that way when Edward Gibbon saw it by moonlight one evening and was inspired for his great mul;ti-volume work on the Decline and Fall of the Roman world.
ReplyDeleteAnd, ironically and sadly, Wilson saw this place at a time when no European had to travel far to see more recent ruins--including, sadly, their own homes or what was left of them.
We got me there, Fred. :-) But I could hardly talk about my father-in-law's life and leave out Shirley, could I? Actually I did leave out Shirley's older sister, Carol, who is also a neat person.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I can imagine how hard that must be, with a recent bereavement, Doug. What a comfort photos and memories are. I remember a ninety years young, professor of mine, when talking about death, saying, "the world that I knew and loved has gone, what's to come isn't that difficult to face".
ReplyDeleteYou have many happy photos to look at. I do love black/white and sepia photography.
His was a sad truth about life I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing we can be sure of, sometimes, is change and that often isn't for the better. You're right Cassandra about photos--especially albums of family members and friends and the like--they bind us across the decades in ways I couldn't appreciate fully until lately.