Posted on 10/10/2008 7:46:18 AM PDT by Protect the Bill of Rights
Local News | Memories of Obama's mother | Seattle Times Newspaper
Memories of Obama's Mother Nicole Brodeur Tuesday, February 5, 2008 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
Box called her friend "Stannie," a nickname for Stanley. She was named for her father, who wanted a boy and the girl knew it. As a result, their relationship was strained.
"He was hard on her, in that he picked on her," Box said of Stanley Dunham, a furniture salesman in downtown Seattle.
"He had a sarcastic humor," Box said, "and she could give it back."
Dunham's mother, Madelyn, a bank employee, was "very quiet and serious" and often protected her daughter from her husband's sarcasm, Box said. (She is still alive, but the Obama campaign has not made her available for interviews).
(snip)
Box last saw her friend in 1961, when she visited Seattle on her way from Honolulu to Massachusetts, where her then-husband was attending Harvard.
"She seemed very happy and very proud," she said. "She had this beautiful, healthy baby. I can see them right now."
(end excerpt)
Politics | Obama's mother known here as "uncommon" | Seattle Times Newspaper
Obama's mother known here as "uncommon" By Jonathan Martin Tuesday, April 8, 2008 - Page updated at 12:50 PM
One respite was found in a wing of Mercer Island High called "anarchy alley." Jim Wichterman taught a wide-open philosophy course that included Karl Marx. Next door, Val Foubert taught a rigorous dose of literature, including Margaret Mead's writings on homosexuality.
Those classes prompted what Wichterman, now 80 and retired in Ellensburg, called "mothers' marches" of parents outraged at the curriculum.
Dunham thrived in the environment, Wichterman said.
"As much as a high-school student can, she'd question anything: What's so good about democracy? What's so good about capitalism? What's wrong with communism? What's good about communism?" Wichterman said. "She had what I call an inquiring mind."
She also showed her politics, wearing a campaign button for Adlai Stevenson. And despite flirting with atheism, she went to services at East Shore Unitarian church, a left-leaning congregation in Bellevue.
(snip)
The marriage was brief. By 1962, Dunham had returned to Seattle as a single mother, enrolling in the UW for spring quarter and living in an apartment on Capitol Hill. But friends said she got overwhelmed and returned to her family in Hawaii, and formally divorced Obama Sr. in 1964.
Over the next three decades, she became a well-traveled anthropologist, working in Indonesia, Pakistan and elsewhere.
(End excerpt)
In 1986 Ann Dunham worked on a developmental project in Pakistan. Later that year Ann and her daughter traveled the Silk Road in China. In 1992 she earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Hawaii. Her dissertation, "Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia: Surviving and Thriving Against All Odds," was 1067 pages long. She worked for the Ford Foundation and promoted Microlending.
BARACK OBAMA: His mother Stanley Ann Dunham -- chicagotribune.com
But consistent with the 1950s, there were undercurrents of turmoil. In 1955, the chairman of the Mercer Island school board, John Stenhouse, testified before the House Un-American Activities Subcommittee that he had been a member of the Communist Party.
At Mercer High School, two teachers -- Val Foubert and Jim Wichterman -- generated regular parental thunderstorms by teaching their students to challenge societal norms and question all manner of authority. Foubert, who died recently, taught English. His texts were cutting edge: "Atlas Shrugged," "The Organization Man," "The Hidden Persuaders," "1984" and the acerbic writings of H.L. Mencken.
Wichterman taught philosophy. The hallway between the two classes was known as "anarchy alley," and students pondered the challenging notions of Wichterman's teachings, including such philosophers as Sartre and Kierkegaard. He also touched the societal third rail of the 1950s: He questioned the existence of God. And he didn't stop there.
"I had them read 'The Communist Manifesto,' and the parents went nuts," said Wichterman, adding that parents also didn't want any discussions about "anything to do with sex," religion and theology. The parental protests were known as "mothers' marches
(bold mine)
Thanks for the ping. :)
Great scott man, that’s allot of stuff. :)
$100 million dollars from Annenberg for his Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Who in their right mind would fund this guy in and why do they get away with it?
And the CPEF is putting ‘special’ principles and teachers into schools. No wonder children hate school so much these days. http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/printarticle.asp?article=1481
It looks all nice and happy and ‘see we’re helping the children’, until you find out the Ayers family is running it.
Well, it connects Obama, Bill Ayers, "Black Liberation"(Rev Wright's AND the Weather Underground's thing) and the 'reeducation' programs Ayers and Obama have been involved together in Chicago.
Indeed it does. I will be checking your about page often...
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