Jump to content

We need more teachers like this!


mvmhm
 Share

Recommended Posts

This is an unusual Home Front group I received from the woman's grandson. Delilah Wikle was a long time teacher in a school one county over who made it a point to write as many of her former students as possible during WWII...rather than type everything out I'll post her bio that was sent with her address book and other things:

 

 

Mark sends

post-3423-0-69763800-1425741612.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here she not too long before she died, along with the address book, which is about an inch thick and jam-packed with names and addresses:

post-3423-0-76401000-1425741680.jpg

post-3423-0-58937600-1425741690.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She started to list the names of those Killed In Action...along with an Honor Roll that I think was copied from a school program....

post-3423-0-74848100-1425741775.jpg

post-3423-0-62368500-1425741784.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...some of the addresses have their picture, clipped from local papers...there's also a number of loose pieces....

post-3423-0-74558800-1425741932.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...in her later years she tried to send the cards and letters she got from her students back to them..here's the form letter she used.....

post-3423-0-80589800-1425742024.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...there were a number of cards and letters she still had when she died, as well as letters from parents of her students thanking her for what she was doing....

post-3423-0-82212800-1425742072.jpg

post-3423-0-31604900-1425742091.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

..one of her students sent her name to the Tom Breneman Breakfast in Hollywood program...he had a "Good Neighbor" award where he would talk about them on the radio and then send them an orchid.....they tried to make a movie about himn after the war which didn't do very well, although a lot of big names in Hollywood had been on his show...including frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole...here's a booklet from the movie, which was made in 1946.

post-3423-0-17969300-1425742377.jpg

post-3423-0-86431800-1425742383.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...after the war she was still getting letters from her former students...this one is from a man serving in Japan and Korea in 1952.

post-3423-0-52425000-1425742532.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WOW Just WOW! It always amazes me the lengths people of that era went too to treat our Service members well.

That is an incredible group.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brian Keith

Really a neat grouping, thanks for posting it. Few teachers rise to that level of passion in their work, and few people rise to that level of passion in their work.

 

BKW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The fact that her former students were still writing to her well after the end of the war is the best testament to the esteem she was held in......

 

Mark sends

Link to comment
Share on other sites

USCapturephotos

I LOVED this story. Thank you. I am a high school history teacher and this served as such an encouragement and inspiration to me. Thanks for sharing this wonderful teacher's story with the rest of us. Just today I was thinking about a much beloved middle school history teacher that inspired me back in the 80's. Sadly he passed away young before I could contact him again and tell him how much he meant. I regret that.

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...