Thank you for joining me for the Episode 10 write-up of my 2021 YouTube project: Another Thousand Letters. Here, I connect my love of taking the road less traveled with Helen’s 1930 trip from New York to New Mexico. This episode along with Episode 11 invites you to join us on each stop through letters and pictures from our family’s storage unit as well as my research.
If you prefer video, enjoy Episode 10 – Longcut.
Longcut
An ex-boyfriend once teased me for driving Marshall Road back to Boulder instead of taking the usually-faster highway 36. I had been excited to share my “shortcut” with him. It only took a few extra minutes to take a different kind of pretty back to Boulder – the kind of pretty that evokes good memories. He dismissed my route calling it a ‘Longcut’ and didn’t see what I saw. It was the first of many signs I wish I had seen sooner.
But sometimes, we don’t see. Regardless, my Longcut prevailed.
My Longcut Shortcut
Open space land hugs both sides of Marshall Road. Cruising along my drive, the grazing cattle often remind me of the drive over the Grant Bridge from Ohio to South Shore, Kentucky, as I anticipated our arrival at the Dillow’s commercial tomato farm. Except for the summer weeks with Helen, it seemed I roamed this farm every weekend of my childhood.
Those weekends disappeared in what seemed seconds with siblings from another mother: Shawn, Jill, and later, Brent. I loved running barefoot along a silty soft dirt road to the creek (what we called “crick”). A water hole of July relief awaited my fearless cannonball kersplashing my scrawny 10-year-old self into it. It was just deep enough not to hit bottom. Hours after squishing mud between my toes until I was sunburnt, the charcoal grill beckoned us back along a narrow path edged with corn, green beans, and tomatoes from Sharon’s garden.
Upon arriving at the cinder block house painted the blue of a Scandinavian coastal cottage, Sharon handed me a plate of hamburgers patted into rounds. My job was to give them to Dad and Rick for grilling. I rarely made it back to the house with the plate of charred burgers without licking the juice off one.
Longcuts, however, short, always reminded me of things like this. Along my Marshall Road Longcut, the foothills always grow too fast. I slow preparing for a right turn into a 25 mph neighborhood. It would be faster to turn left and take Highway 93 for the final miles home. Instead, I continue to lose myself in memories and dreams while slowing for children, runners, bikes, and rabbits.
Longcuts have become my tool to drop into a creative flow, so when Helen began one, I dropped in with her.
Helen’s 1930 Summer
Helen’s eight 1930 letters documented her longcut from New York to New Mexico as the first year of the Great Depression followed her across the country. In her first letter on August 12, she asked her mother, Katherine, and Aunt Erne (Ernestine):
Mother darling, and Erne too, will you please save my letters? I am going to try to write a story about it all and may need my letters for reference.
August 12, 1930 Letter from Helen Hemlin (later Cooke) to her Mother, Katherine, and Aunt Erne (Ernestine)
If Helen wrote the story, I haven’t found it. Since my Great Aunt Erne and Great Grandmother Katherine saved her letters, I’ll do my best to tell the story for her.
Longcut Stop #1 of 6: Niagara Falls
Helen first stopped at Niagara Falls with a man named Paul, who appeared out of nowhere and disappeared just as fast. She and Paul toured Niagara Falls from every possible viewpoint except a plane. She regretted not trying the plane because she thought she would never have a chance to do it again.
…On the Canadian side Paul and I hired a rubber coat hat and boots and went clear under the Falls through the tunnel under the rock and came out at every opening – five I think. At one or two of the openings we couldn’t see a thing for the water was pouring down into our faces so much we couldn’t open our eyes. On the others we were between the rock and Falls and the water was shooting out over us.
…Then they have the cable cars that go across the Falls…we went on that too, and it was a wonderful sensation being suspended in mid-air above the stormy rapids…
After that Paul begged me to fly across the Falls in an airplane, and I hesitated. I remembered what some of the aviators said about the barnstorming planes and I thought if something went wrong…it would just be too bad.
August 12, 1930 Letter from Helen Hemlin (later Cooke) to her Mother, Katherine and Aunt Erne.
I wondered if she was remembering this February 4, 1923, picture of her standing in front of one of the barnstorming planes to which she referred.
Helen Hemlin Cooke, with small plane, Labeled: Albuquerque, 2/4/1923
Niagara Falls Daredevils
Going over the Falls in a barrel was also not safe and arguably questionable.
At 2:30 P.M., on July 5, 1930, daredevil, George Stathakis, began floating toward Niagara Falls in a barrel with his pet turtle, Sonny. Stathakis had hired Red Hill Senior, an experienced Falls daredevil, to retrieve his barrel. Although he had room in the barrel, Stathakis had refused to take more than 3 hours of oxygen. The next day, the barrel appeared below the Falls. Reports stated the barrel became lodged in rocks behind the Falls and that Stathakis suffocated. (References: George Stathakis – Niagara Falls and Imax Niagara, Daredevils of Niagara.)
After officials retrieved Stathakis’ body and sent it to the morgue, Hill set up a tent in his front yard and charged 10 cents (about $1.50 in 2021 dollars) to tourists who wanted to see the barrel. Working backwards from dated letters, Helen would have been in Niagara Falls a few weeks after Stathakis died.
She reported:
We also saw a huge barrel in which another man tried to go over the Falls and was killed. The barrel is about 10 feet long and the man took with him a small pump of oxygen to last three hours and a turtle, which, he said, would be able to describe the plight, should he be killed. The man … suffocated, and in his agony, tore his clothes to shreds and pieces of his clothing are still hanging from some of the nails in the barrel. In the meantime, water seeped through the hole and filled up so that after the man had suffocated, he had also been drowned. The turtle is still living and we saw it resting in the barrel. Thusfar, it has not told the tale of the plight.
August 12, 1930 Letter from Helen Hemlin (later Cooke) to her Mother, Katherine, and Aunt Erne (Ernestine)
Is Sonny Alive?
I read mixed reports with some stating the barrel flooded and others that didn’t mention flooding. If the barrel was indeed flooded before the barrel surfaced, the turtle may have drowned as well. While turtles can stay underwater for various amounts of time, no article I read indicated a turtle could stay submerged without oxygen for as long as the barrel was allegedly submerged. And, if the barrel was full of water continuously, it would have sunk. (Reference: Heavy Heavy Water, Science Blogs.) My best guess with all the evidence I had was that there was enough of an air pocket or the barrel somehow drained after Stathakis died to give the turtle enough oxygen to survive.
I also read that turtles can live 100 years or more. I added attempting to interview, Sonny, the Niagara Falls Turtle, to my “For Later” list. Maybe Sonny was ready to talk to the granddaughter of Helen Hemlin, with whom he was not ready to talk in 1930.
Who could blame the poor turtle?
I suspected I’d never get to this item.
Longcut Stop #2 of 6: Detroit, MI
After the day at the Falls, Helen and Paul boarded a boat whose destination was Detroit. It appeared the relationship was platonic, but I suspected Helen hoped for more.
Our boat sailed from Buffalo at 6 o’clock Sunday evening. Paul and I had a stateroom right next door to each other, so we could tap on the wall and send messages when we needed to…We slept until nine o’clock and then dressed…and had dinner and danced…until about eleven o’clock. It was a very romantic setting, and Paul and I sat on deck until almost four in the morning…He is quite afraid of having a girl take him too seriously, but it really was a wonderful night and we sealed a friendship that I probably never will be able to make with anyone else.
August 12, 1930, 2nd Letter from Helen Hemlin (later Cooke) to her Mother, Katherine
The next morning, they arrived at Paul’s final stop. He hired a taxi and gave Helen a tour of Detroit. Finally, he accompanied her to the train station to see her off on the rest of her trip during which she would travel alone.
Longcut Stop #3 of 6: Mount St. Joseph, Ohio
Helen arrived near Cincinnati, Ohio, too late that evening to visit with another woman also named Helen. She found a last minute place to have a bath, wash her hair, and have a long sleep. The next morning she suffered life without mobile, phone-enabled car services. She hired an expensive taxi to drive her five miles to Mount Saint Joseph to see Helen.
Helen was sitting on the porch waiting for me. That sure is a pretty place situated on a hill overlooking the Ohio River. The scenery is perfectly beautiful but they haven’t had rain in so long that everything is burnt up, even the grass.
August 12, 1930, 2nd Letter from Helen Hemlin (later Cooke) to her Mother, Katherine
Helen Hemlin was likely visiting the 2nd Helen at the Sisters of Charity, Mount St. Joseph, near Cincinnati, Ohio. I added contacting the archivist at the Sisters of Charity to my For Later List. Perhaps they had a record of people who stayed there. Or, perhaps the 2nd Helen was a teacher at the school there. It was unclear why the 2nd Helen was there and why Helen Hemlin visited her. But it was clear that it was not the first time Helen and Helen had visited.
Helen looked so much better this time, but her disposition is just the same. I believe she has decided to stay in permanently for she figures that others are no better off than she is and she’d probably have a hard time finding a man who could really support her. She says she doesn’t get much freedom and that is probably is a good thing for if she got a little she would probably want more and then want to get out entirely.
August 12, 1930, 2nd Letter from Helen Hemlin (later Cooke) to her Mother, Katherine
Perhaps the second Helen was becoming a nun? We might never know.
Social Media Posts in 1930
The next afternoon, Helen sent the equivalent of today’s social media post, a telegram, to Mae Broome. (Mae went by “Burmay” and “Burmae.”)
A newspaper clipping announced: Miss Helen Hemlin of New York City is visiting Mrs. M.B. Broome 1467 McLemore Avenue, en route to Santa Fe, N.M.
Helen included the clipping of Burmay’s announcement, perhaps to help her Mother understand why she stayed so long. Helen anticipated she’d be in and out of Memphis in 24 hours, just like her Ohio visit. But Burmay had other plans.
I told her her I thought I’d leave again that evening, but she wouldn’t hear of it. I had to stay and that was all there was to it. Burmae is the type that becomes friendly immediately. She doesn’t have to thaw out and we got awfully chummy. I … think she is wonderful. In between the different engagements Burmae made for me, she and I would have a real visit. She told me all about everything that had taken place since Cathrene died and she was just crushed that she had to part with the babies [Gloria and Junie]. But feels that they should be with Charles.
August 24, 1930, Letter from Helen Hemlin (later Cooke) to her Mother, Katherine
I wouldn’t have questioned Helen’s stop in Memphis if Gloria and Junie had been there with their grandmother. But, Helen’s nieces had already returned to their father, Charles Broome, in Santa Fe. So why did Helen stop?
Short answer: family dynamics.
Who was Helen #3?
Recall that Charles Broome was married to Cathrene (nickname for Catherine), Helen’s older sister. And, Cathrene died suddenly in July 1929, two months after giving birth to her second daughter, Junie. (See Episode 8 Blog or Video). After the funeral Charles’ mother, Burmay, temporarily took Gloria and Junie to her home and family in Memphis giving Charles time to grieve.
Burmay shared the girls’ Memphis activities in a Christmas 1929 letter to Helen and her mother. And, two 1930 letters to Helen from Gloria also shared reports of all the things she and Junie did in Memphis. But never had a third Helen been mentioned.
As I continued through Helen’s 1930’s letters, her Memphis agenda emerged: aligning family interests.
[Burmay] wanted me to do just one thing – get Charles to promise that if anything happened to him, the children not go to Helen, but stay in the family, which is what we want too. Burmay and I just absolutely fell in with each other. Her ideas are just like mine and we should all stick together. That’s what you want too. So my trip was extremely successful and every cent I spent in the interest of the family was worth it, to me anyway, and I know to you too. So I am awfully happy about it all.
August 24, 1930, letter from Helen Hemlin (later Cooke) to her Mother, Katherine
During the production of Episode 10, I had no idea who Helen #3 was. But, I remembered a telegram that reminded me of concern for the children.
Family Dynamics of Grief – 1929
While researching prior episodes, I had set an August 7, 1929, telegram from Charles to Helen aside because I hadn’t understood the context.
VERY MUCH DISCOURAGED BECAUSE OF ATTITUDE YOUR MOTHER [Katherine Hemlin] TAKES ABOUT ADOPTION OF GLORIA[.] MY MOTHER [Burmay Broome] PLANS TO GO HOME FIRST SEPTEMBER[.] NECESSARY WE HAVE THINGS SETTLED BEFORE THEN[.] PLEASE YOU TALK WITH HER AT ONCE = CHARLES..
August 7, 1929 Western Union Telegram from Charles Broome in Santa Fe to Helen Hemlin (later Cooke) in Pawling, New York
For some reason, both families were concerned about the girls’ custody should something happen to their father, Charles. Perhaps Charles was so grief stricken after Cathrene’s death they thought he might die too. Whether the concern was valid, we may also never know.
I learned after the production of “Episode 12 – Helen Broome, Guardian Angel,” that Charles did eventually adopt Gloria.
I also learned after the production of “Episode 12 – Helen Broome, Guardian Angel,” that Charles married Helen Louden Ricker on May 30, 1930. But, I found it unlikely to suspect that Charles Broome was already dating Helen Ricker at the time of the telegram, only a week after Cathrene’s death on July 27, 1929.
SHTF: AKA Bargaining – 1929
Helen’s experience with Cathrene had been sudden over a period of a week via telegrams. (See Episode 8). Even I, almost 100 years later, both denied and was angry over Cathrene’s sudden illness and death. It blindsided me. I had fallen in love with her after just four 1929 letters to Helen. The telegrams reminded me of my sister’s call and words with no warning: Wen, Dad died this morning. I could only imagine how heartbroken the families were.
But, why were the families concerned that the children not go to Helen Broome?
Cathrene had married, had one child with, and divorced Julian Chavez before marrying Charles Broome. The telegram could have implied that the families were concerned Chavez could and would take Gloria from Helen if Charles died, or even if he didn’t. Could that concern have triggered their concerns for Helen #3, who they didn’t know, having custody of Cathrene’s children? Possibly, but, Chavez was not mentioned in any letter I’d read.
When I read Helen’s letter with concern for her nieces’ custody and her brother-in-law’s longevity, I imagined complicated scenarios similar to those I had experienced after Dad, Arlene, and Marcy’s deaths. Were these signs of the families’ grieving processes? Would their concerns bring them together? Push them apart? Or, something in between? Was Helen’s trip a means for her to move through her grief for Cathrene?
Reading the 1930s letters also had me wondering: Does shit hit the fan (SHTF) in every family after a sudden death? After an unscientific poll of friends and my experiences, I believe it probably does to some degree. I’d noticed, after three sudden deaths, that shit hit the fan after Elisabeth Kübler Ross‘ anger phase of grief and before depression set it. It is the phase she called “bargaining.” Was the issue with the children a symptom of bargaining? A way to address the lingering energy of anger and avoid depression?
Longcut Stop #4 of 6: Houston, Texas
After a five-day visit in Memphis, Helen wrote another long letter to her Mother postmarked August 25, 1930. Perhaps her form of bargaining was focusing on her social life and writing.
In Memphis all Burmay’s friends called on me and took me out and at night my time was spent with the Doctor. Burmay was with us most of the time. She is such a good sport and so much fun everybody wants her around. I was on the go morning, noon and night and finally left on Sunday. In that interval the doctor fell in love with me and proposed. Don’t write anything to Burmay about this for she doesn’t know. Anyway, nothing has come of it for it was much too short a time. I am writing a story about it though for the whole thing was very unusual. I have it two-thirds finished and will let you read it when I get back.
August 25, 1930 Letter from Helen Hemlin (later Cooke) to her Mother, Katherine
I’ve also not found this story and suspect it was consumed by the mice in Dad and Arlene’s barn. Instead, I followed Helen to Houston, where “due to a change in train schedules, [she] had to spend a night at a hotel.” The next day at Noon she boarded a train to Albuquerque and suffered “the hottest part of the trip.”
Imagine an August train trip from Houston to Albuquerque in 1930s traveling clothes and no air conditioning. That could not have been fun.
I hope you enjoy Episode 10.
