The Range Girl

Back in 1941 my grandfather was a senior at what was then called St. Cloud Teachers College (and is now St.Cloud State University). My grandmother was a sophomore. They were both music ed majors, but there the similarities ended. My grandfather was a BMOC: president of the senior class, popular, and a Good Middle Class Protestant Amercian Farm Boy from central Minnesota. My grandmother, on the other hand, was a CATHOLIC, Italian, poor, and from the Iron Range of Northern Minnesota. She was a Range Girl!! Evidently it was assumed that all Range Girls were sluts for some reason. Loose women. Dirty first-generation immigrants who worshiped the Pope. That sort of thing.

Well, my grandfather needed a pianist for his choir, and my grandmother was one of many that tried out for the job. She got it, and my grandfather was smitten. You know the old chestnut where a guy will claim that the first time he met his future wife he knew they'd marry? Well, this was the case here. Grandpa told one of his friends that first day that my grandmother would be his wife.

And it happened in the end, but not without a fight. From whom? Not their parents, who I guess where pretty enlightened. Neither really cared that their child would be marrying outside their faith, or outside their ethnic group (my grandfather's family were German). No, the family didn't care, but the school administration did care. Evidently the dean of students called my grandfather into his office one day and told him he had a promising career in front of him and thus why did he want to get involved with that Italian girl? I mean, heck, all her clothes were hand-made! He could do much better.

My grandfather still rants and raves about this to this day, and who can blame him.