At the New Deal Festival with Eleanor Roosevelt, AKA Patty Cooper

Years ago I wrote a picture book about the community built in Arthurdale, West Virginia by Eleanor Roosevelt, her friends, and the U.S. Government as part of the New Deal.  The book didn’t sell because its narrative arc wasn’t quite right. Editors were fascinated by the time period and the history, but my protagonist’s story was not compelling enough. So I am now expanding that shorter work into a chapter book. Why waste all that good research? Why not share a story that has not yet been told?

Recently, I traveled to Arthurdale for their New Deal Festival. I’ve been there before to do research, but this quick trip was to specifically be present at a time when many people who grew up in Arthurdale would return for special activities. Thanks to helpful people at the Arthurdale Heritage Association, I was able to make contacts that would ensure interaction and interviews with the people who, had my fictional character been real, would have grown up with her, attended the same school, lived in the same unique neighborhood.

I flew to Pittsburgh, then drove through beautiful Pennsylvania and West Virginia hills to Arthurdale, population 700. My first event was “Tea With Eleanor,” a lovely event with character actress, and history alive presenter Patty Cooper, portraying Eleanor Roosevelt. Before and after the lunch, I met numerous septuagenarians and octogenarians who had been children in Arthurdale. Several of them began to tell me their memories of life in the 1930s.

For dinner that night I was privileged to attend the Arthurdale Reunion with 150 people, most of whom had graduated from Arthurdale High School between 1935 and 1956 when the school closed. I found it quite moving to see the members of “the class of 19__” stand together. As one man said to me, “I made my best friends here in Arthurdale in second grade, and they are still my best friends.” There was a memorial to those who died in the past year, then I got teary again when everyone stood and sang a rousing round of the Arthurdale School Cheer. I had so much “book learning” about this project, but it was real-life people who touched my heart.

The following day, hundreds of people thronged Arthurdale center for the New Deal Festival.  I was kept busy the entire day interviewing the “former Arthurdale kids.” I’d worried that there wouldn’t be many individuals who would want to take time away from the festivities to talk to a stranger, but I hardly had a break. People sought me out, ready to talk about their childhood experiences. I learned what childhood games they played, how they interacted with Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, what school was like, and more. The details they shared will make my book more true even though I won’t use anyone’s experiences verbatim. My guess is that as hard as I’ll try to disguise individual experiences, there was enough commonality in growing up in Arthurdale as part of a New Deal project during the Depression, everyone I spoke with will recognize something of their own story.

And when it was time to leave, one woman asked, “Will you come back every year?” I probably looked surprised since I’d already felt as if I might be horning in on their special time together. Imagine how my face changed, then when she added, “Because you’re one of us now.”