“The Dress” # 2 in the series “Young Teachers of the Past”
I looked at the dress as it was displayed on a mannequin at the Olney Heritage Museum. I was fascinated with the style and beauty of the dress from the 1930s era, and the history connected to it. It was owned by Willie Ida Leberman Wainwright, mother of Carla Wainwright Perry.
When Willie’s baby daughter Alsa Lee died in 1931, she bought the dress to wear to the funeral. The dress, seldom worn, was stored and preserved to this present day. Looking like a fashion out of Vogue magazine, it will be worth your time to go view this beautiful 90-year-old dress as it reflects past history.
Willie Ida Leberman was born Sept. 27, 1897, to parents Bill and Annie Leberman. She attended and graduated from Olney High School in 1916. She did well in school and excelled in sports. Unlike most girls of her day, she attended and graduated from North Texas State Normal College in Denton in 1919. Travel in the early 1900s was difficult, so Willie rode the train back and forth to Denton. Because of this, trips to visit her family were rare.
After only three years of college, Willie graduated, earning her teaching certificate. She started teaching at
Henry Chapel, a small rural school southeast of Graham. As many young teachers in one or two-teacher schools, she had some students bigger than she was, making discipline a little difficult at times. Since Willie was 19 or 20 years old at the time, she was considered ‘an old maid schoolteacher’ by younger girls!
Since teachers were not allowed to teach when married, Willie had to give up her teaching career when she met and married William Carl Wainwright in the spring of 1920. Through the years, the Wainwright family grew to include nine children. Note: In the 1920s, Young County had 43 rural schools, plus Newcastle, Olney, and Graham. It was common in the rural areas for students to attend a school near their home. They carried their lunch to school, and in some schools, such as True school, lunches were available for a few cents.
THANK YOU, TEACHERS, FOR YOUR DEDICATED SERVICE TO OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS!