Week 21: #52 Ancestors – Yearbook
By Eilene Lyon
Family photos tend to introduce us to our ancestors in the context of relatives. The great thing about yearbooks is how they put people in the context of friends in one of the most formative of social institutions: schools.
I enjoyed finding my parents in their high school yearbooks on Ancestry. Then I discovered my Aunt Alice had yearbooks from Oregon State, providing a little later look into my parents’ early lives.
From their high school days (Mom in Portland; Dad in Corvallis, Oregon) you can see a couple activities that probably introduced them to one another and gave them a bond of common interests. (Click on images to enlarge – all from Ancestry.com)

In college, both Mom and Dad continued playing violin and roles in musical theater. (When I was a teen, they performed in “Oklahoma” in community theater.)
They both entered co-housing organizations, though Dad did not live in the men’s house. It was much more economical to live at home with his parents.
Mom was not officially part of a sorority, but The Pines house had some aspects of one. It was one of several homes belonging to Co-Resident Women, Inc. Dad belonged to Acacia, a fraternity established at University of Michigan in 1904.

My parents married just before they began their senior year at Oregon State. Mom got a little hazing from her house sisters. I expect it was a common occurrence in the days when it was easier to get an “MRS degree” than a professional career. Not surprisingly, Mom became a homemaker after graduation. Dad went straight into the U.S. Army.

Feature image: Mom and Dad enjoyed performing in musical theater. Here they are in costume for The Pirates of Penzance at Oregon State College (University).
Delightful glimpse into high school and college– back in the day. I adore the group photos, everyone looks perfect, preserved in a happy moment in time. Interesting engagement ritual
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I think the group shots aren’t that much different than what we might see today, but those photos of guys in my dad’s fraternity all look like middle-aged accountants!
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My dad told me I was going to college to get my MRS. degree and that was in the early 1980s. Your post reminded me of that!
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I hope he was only joking!
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He was not. He told my brother to study medicine. I was told to study whatever I wanted since I was going for my MRS degree.
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Ack. Women have been getting medical degrees since the 1800s.
A friend of mine told me that women weren’t as good at programming as men. I hoped she didn’t say that to her granddaughters! I said, “Women were the first computer programmers.” She said, “Oh it was easier back then.” !!!! No, dear, it was much harder – they INVENTED it! Now they have programming languages and build on existing code. Sheesh.
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I agree that yearbooks can give us a fascinating (albeit disconcerting) glimpe into their growing up and maturing years.
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It can be difficult to imagine our parents as teens and young adults, for sure. And disconcerting when they look like we did!
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That was a fun look back! I enjoyed seeing the clothing and hair styles.
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All pure 1950s!
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I wish I had this kind of resource for my parents! Wonderful snapshots into their teen lives.
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I like getting a feel for their lives in that period. It gives me new empathy.
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You’re right, they all look middle aged. But they were having fun, so that’s the main thing!
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I expect they knew how to party, no matter how straight-laced they appeared for their portraits.😉
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There was such a charming aspect to those old black and white photographs.
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As a kid I probably wondered if my ancestors actually lived in a black and white world.🤣
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Hahaha!
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💗💗💗
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I have always wondered why people looked so much older back then. Life was harder so it makes sense that adults would age more quickly but kids and teenagers should not. I do like how put together everyone seems. People today tend to look sloppy in comparison.
This is a lovely glimpse into your parents’ life before you knew them.
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Thanks, Brandi. It may just be the hair styles, glasses and suits. But I do think they had many more responsibilities in that era than today’s young adults.
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Good point!!
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Awwww, how fun!! I took up violin myself a few years back. I was starting to get quite good but I’ve been too busy to practice lately!
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I can’t seem to master instruments played with two hands. I’ve tried piano and mandolin. Trumpet and French horn worked well for me, but I don’t have any instruments now, aside from a small djembe drum.
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How nice to glimpse your parents’ college years with just a few mouse clicks. I had no idea that the Ancestry site also had pictures; I thought it just had genealogical info for tracing your tree. What a treasure trove of info for you to find Eilene!
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Yeah, the yearbooks are a great thing, but some people have sued about how companies are using the images.
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That makes sense – what if people didn’t want their image there? I never thought about that fact, just how nice the extra pictures are for those researching their ancestors.
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