When Ethel Warren Spruill married Stephen Spruill in 1933 and moved to Dunwoody, she became a member of the Dunwoody Home Demonstration Club. At the time, Katherine Strong Rudeseal was the Home Demonstration Agent for DeKalb County. (“Story of Dunwoody,” by Elizabeth L. Davis and Ethel W. Spruill)

Home Demonstration Agents traveled around their assigned county demonstrating methods of preserving food, such as canning or freezing. They sometimes shared other skills including sewing. Many counties in Georgia had agents, but not all.

Every now and then I open a book that once belonged to my mom and discover that she placed a note or a newspaper article inside. That was something she did whenever she read an article in the newspaper that related to one of her books. I love to find these hidden treasures.

I still purchase paper books occasionally, but I also have many books on my Kindle. How can I place a relevant newspaper article inside a Kindle book?

I opened mom’s copy of “Every Child Should Have a Chance” (1971), by Leila Daughtry-Denmark, M. D. and found a newspaper clipping. Mom spoke often of Dr. Denmark.

Yolande Gwin was a popular reporter and columnist for the Atlanta Constitution and Atlanta Journal newspapers. She often wrote for the society pages, but also covered other stories and wrote advice columns. She started out writing for the Atlanta Georgian newspaper in 1927, then for the Atlanta Constitution from 1934 until 1961. It was interesting to me to discover that she lived in Brookhaven for many years.

Narvie Jordan Harris supervised all Black schools in DeKalb County beginning in 1944 as Jeanes Supervisor for the county. She continued in this role until desegregation in 1968. The Jeanes Supervisor program was initially funded by a one-million-dollar donation of Philadelphia Quaker Anna Jeanes in 1907. Jeanes Supervisors were Black educators hired to oversee Black schools across the United States.

World War I training camp Camp Gordon was established in 1917 in Chamblee, Georgia. Boykin recruited women volunteers to welcome soldiers to the YMCA Hostess House and make them feel at home. She also organized entertainment activities each week for the soldiers, sometimes up to 25 activities in a week. Her volunteers were part of the Woman’s Division of the Young Man’s Christian Association and the Overseas Canteen Service.

Beginning in 1923, Annie Houze Cook taught first grade at Hammond Elementary School in Sandy Springs and continued until Fulton County said she had to retire in 1948. When she retired, she immediately announced the opening of her kindergarten. Classes were held at what was then known as Providence Baptist Church.

In early 1943, 500 WAVES were brought to Atlanta, first training downtown and staying at the Biltmore Hotel while barracks were built to house them at Naval Air Station Atlanta. The station was not physically located in Atlanta, but in Chamblee, Georgia. It was on land that is now DeKalb Peachtree Airport. (Atlanta Constitution, January 31, 1943, “WAVES Begin Trainer School Tomorrow with Class of 500”)

I came across an Atlanta Constitution article from 1942 that announced women working as Link flight trainer instructors, teaching pilots blind flying using the Link trainer machine. The instructors also taught women who were part of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), who in turn were sent across the country to be instructors.

This article is the second in a series about the owners of Donaldson-Bannister Farm, as we celebrate one hundred fifty years for the farm.  Last time, I shared history of the Donaldson family.  The next owner is Bannister, Lois Pattillo Bannister.