Those Places Thursday: Hiking the Massanutten 1924

Those Places is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that invites family historians to post photos and stories about places their ancestors lived. 

This is the second in a series based on my great-aunt Velma Davis Woodring’s scrapbook that she kept during her freshman year at Harrisonburg Teachers College (now James Madison University).  Click HERE to read the first one.

Probably the most recognizable physical feature of the Shenandoah Valley is Massanutten Mountain. My mother used to say it looks like an elephant’s head and trunk.  I think so too.  Can you see it?

from Google Images

Velma tells about a hike up the Massanutten one Saturday in October 1924.  She and her classmates were accompanied by the young college president, Samuel Duke. 

Samuel P. Duke, President from 1919-1949

Here is a transcription of her report along with the photos she took to remember that day. (I had to guess what Velma wrote in some places where the white ink has faded.  Impressions in the paper helped.)

One Saturday about 250 girls went to the station at H.T.C. and went to the foot of the Massanutten Peak on the train.  Here we all got off and started on our way up the mountain.  About every five minutes, when climbing the mountain, we would stop and rest. We got to the top about one thirty. We stopped and ate our lunch and walked over to the peak as we wanted to. 

Velma on the right.

 Then at three o’clock when everyone was tired of looking around at the beautiful Valley we started down the mountain. We got to the station about four o’clock and had to wait a while for the train. During the time we were waiting we found many ways to amuse ourselves. We got back to H.T.C. just in time for dinner.

She is not identified anywhere in the
scrapbook except in one photo
captioned "Bill." 

Oh how I wish Velma had revealed how they amused themselves. 

©2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.