"Women's Work"

“My mother used to act in some of the stage productions that were put on in the church basement . She was very tall so often had the role of a man.”

So writes Elna Gravelle from British Columbia. Elna attended Verdun United Sunday School in the 1940s and her mother, Margaret Christensen, was very involved in the Women’s Missionary Society at that time.

If you saw our historical exhibit before Christmas, you may recall seeing a table cloth embroidered with names. It was the handiwork of Margaret Christensen and had been sent to us by Elna. According to her, the over 100 names painstakingly stitched onto it represent the members of the Louise Young Auxiliary, one of several women’s groups operating at VUC at the time. According to the booklet produced for VUC’s 50th anniversary in 1949, “the Women’s Missionary Society consists of a small number of faithful members, but the ‘Louise Young’ , an auxiliary consisting mostly of young married women is most vigorous and has a membership that fills the Church Parlour.’”

Elna and I have exchanged a few e-mails. Recently I sent her a page from the aforementioned booklet giving the program for a Missionary Evening held during a week of festivities for the 50th anniversary. Mrs. Christensen was in charge of organizing that evening. She led prayers and co-directed (and probably appeared in) a Pantomime.

Elna is sure that somewhere there is a photo of her mother in which Margaret is wearing a man’s black jacket and a mustache. I thought it might have been from the Young Adult Group’s revues of the late 1950s, from which we have many photos, but it seems those are too late. Elna now thinks it may date from those 1949 festivities. She hasn’t been able to find that one yet, but she did send us a photo of the Sunday School - looks like the youngest group - taken on the steps of 650 Woodland in 1946.

A few of the names in the 1949 program overlap with those on the cloth, though the cloth is probably from several years later: Ruth Hayden, Hilda Mantle, Vivian Auld, and more. I was interested to see that there were at least two Japanese families in the congregation in 1949. A Miss Muriko Uyeda sang a solo, and Mrs. Shimotakahara is listed as co-leader of the Mission Band.

Elna remembers Mrs. Shimotakahara, and says she was a survivor of an internment camp during the war. Those painful memories would have still been fresh in 1949. I hope being part of a church community was a comfort to that family.

The Sunday School picture is below, with some notes from Elna. If you recognize anyone, as always, please let me know!

I have also provided a link to a list of all the names embroidered on Mrs. Christensen’s cloth.

Amy

Elna Gravelle writes, “I am the sombre little girl in front of the very tall lady” (at the right of the door in the back row). Elna says the lady at centre in the back with curly hair and white hat is Vivian Auld. She also mentions that, “in the top row of children, in front of the lady holding the little girl, is a tall blond girl with a Dutch-like hat on. Her name was Joan Bennett and she figure skated.”

CORRECTION: In last week’s newsletter I identified the “tall lady” in the above photograph as Margaret Christensen. Her daughter set me straight, and sent this photo of her mother, brother and herself taken in Verdun in 1945.

The letter from Elna Gravelle to Ed Chaffey, as well as the photo of Louise Young were included in the exhibit, 120 Years of History, in November 2019.