July 23, 2010

Great Aunt Virginia

I just learned that my great aunt Virginia died a few weeks ago. She was married to my grandfather’s brother, so my grandmother, Naomi, and Virginia were sister-in-laws. Yet Naomi always looked down on Virginia, because she thought she was low class. So I had no idea Virginia even existed until the year before my grandmother died. Virginia was the only member of the family still alive, besides a cousin and my mom and I, to visit Naomi before her death. There’s a lesson in that.

Virginia was an incredible woman and I’m glad I got to know her. She had more energy than almost any other person I have ever met. She ran her own farm, sewed uniforms for the local fire fighters, and baked for all the local charities–– and she was in her 80s at the time. I think she embodied the best aspects of the American pioneer spirit. The obit I linked to above shows this side of her. The thing it doesn’t capture is her humor. Virginia had an easy laugh and would actually slap her knee when she really got going. I didn’t know people actually did that.

Basically, Virginia represented a whole way of life for me. She inhabited a world similar to my grandmother’s: a mid-twentieth century, small town, midwestern world where everyone knew his or her neighbor and baked pies for Sunday church. But Virginia’s world was more rural. She lived on a farm which she ran herself, and concepts like “I can’t” or “I’m bored” never entered her consciousness. She just did what had to be done. And, unlike my grandmother (and perhaps myself), she never stopped to criticize what other people were doing or saying. There wasn’t time for that. Perhaps this means she lacked reflection, but it also means she lacked bitterness. I only wish I had got to know her better.

February 14, 2010

duotone Carnivale page 71

Inspiration for this from here. Caroline Shaffner was a friend of my grandmother’s. She helped to establish this museum before she died. If you are ever in Mount Pleasant, Iowa check it out.

October 11, 2009

comics as propaganda: “Pettigrew For President”

As the story about Wonder Woman and Marston shows, people have often used comics as a means to influence the minds of American youth. The idea that media influenced behavior was taken as a given by many. For me, this puts Wertham into context. His idea that comics were influential was not unique to him. What he added was a level of professional gravitas to the claim that comics were harmful.

But what I’m interested in is the strong belief in the influence. We still hear about it today when people blame teenage killings on video games or music, but you don’t hear it so much from the creators themselves. Marston believed that Wonder Woman could change the minds of young men and influence the hopes of young women. I think what is partially so fascinating for me is that he chose comics as the medium to do this. To me this shows how popular comics were at one time in U.S. history.

The fact that other people tried to use comics to influence youth supports this. Jack Chick is an obvious example. But I recently discovered a Catholic comic anthology that began publication in 1946: The Treasure Chest. True to its culture and time period “The Treasure Chest was intended as a remedy to the sensationalism of traditional comics: it contained educational features, narrated the lives of saints, and presented adventure stories featuring realistic characters with what were considered wholesome values, like patriotism, equality, faith, and anti-communism.”

Interestingly, especially today, in 1964 the comic began running a story called “Pettigrew For President.” This was during the midst of the Civil Rights Movement and after the assassination of President Kennedy. The story tried to deal with the turmoil of the times while advocating solutions based on Catholic values. Yet while the reader is shown Pettigrew’s race for president, he is never fully shown; his own “race” is hidden until the last panel. In the end, it is finally revealed that Pettigrew is black and becomes the first black president in 1976.

I haven’t read the entire story yet, so I don’t have much to say about it. Still, I find it interesting that a Catholic magazine in the 1960s published a story about an African-American man becoming president. You can download a pdf of the full story here.