Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

AUNT DOROTHY'S PLAYHOUSE, "NANCY"

Date

1964

Materials

FELT, DYE, THREAD

No. Pieces

1

Height

10.2

Length

9.5

Width

0.6

Description

FELT PATCH, LIGHT BLUE, EDGES CUT WITH PINKING SHEARS. LIGHT PINK FELT HOUSE EMBROIDERED WITH GREY FELT SMOKE FROM CHIMNEY AND GREEN FELT ROOF AND LAWN. BLACK TEXT EMBROIDERED ON HOUSE READS, “AUNT DOROTHY’S PLAYHOUSE.” GOLD TEXT EMBROIDERED ON LAWN READS, “NANCY D ’64.” REVERSE OF PATCH HAS TWO SAFETY PINS. CREAM COLOURED FABRIC ON REVERSE HAS WRITTEN IN PENCIL, “NANCY D.”

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

EDUCATION

History

AT THE TIME OF DONATION, GALT STAFF CONDUCTED AN INTERVIEW WITH DONOR IRMA DOGTEROM. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS EXTRACTED FROM A LONGER TRANSCRIPTION. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE BADGE, DOGTEROM SAID, “THAT’S [MY DAUGHTER] NANCY’S. SEE ON THE BACK, NANCY; HER NAME IS THERE, AND IT WAS IN ’64. [NANCY IS] OUR DAUGHTER, THE YOUNGEST ONE. SO THIS MUST HAVE BEEN THE YEAR BEFORE SHE STARTED SCHOOL. SHE WOULD HAVE STARTED IN LATE ’64, BECAUSE THIS WAS THE SPRING OF ‘64. AUNT DOROTHY’S PLAYHOUSE WAS WHAT THEY CALLED IT AND IT WAS WELL KNOWN ALL OVER CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES, AND I HAVE GIVEN THEM A PICTURE OF THIS CLASS TO THE ARCHIVES. I PROBABLY WROTE THE STORY ABOUT IT AT THAT TIME. NANCY HAD A PROBLEM WITH LEARNING. SOME COUNSELOR OR SOMETHING SUGGESTED THAT, INSTEAD OF SENDING HER TO GRADE 1, WHEN SHE WAS SIX, SEND HER TO AUNT DOROTHY’S PLAYHOUSE, AND IT DID MAKE A WONDERFUL DIFFERENCE TO HER. THAT WAS THE YEAR AUNT DOROTHY WASN’T THERE VERY MUCH, BECAUSE HER DAUGHTER HAD BEEN INJURED IN A CAR – TRUCK ACCIDENT DOWN IN EASTERN CANADA.” WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF NANCY HAVING A LEARNING DISABILITY, DOGTEROM RESPONDED BY SAYING, “WE HAD VARIOUS DEFINITIONS OF WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS, AND I HAVE SEEN OTHER KIDS SINCE THEN WITH MORE OR LESS SIMILAR PROBLEMS, AND IF THEIR PARENTS HANDLED THEM IN CERTAIN WAYS, THEY COULD COME A LONG WAY, BUT I GUESS I WASN’T THAT SMART.” EXPLAINING WHO AUNT DOROTHY’S PLAYHOUSE IS NAMED AFTER, DOGTEROM REPLIED, “DOROTHY GENTLEMAN - THERE IS A STREET NAMED FOR HER IN LEGACY RIDGE. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HER BACKGROUND WAS BUT AUNT DOROTHY’S PLAYHOUSE WAS JUST IN HER HOUSE, AND SHE OBVIOUSLY COULD HANDLE CHILDREN VERY WELL, BECAUSE SHE DIDN’T SPANK OR SLAP, BUT CHILDREN ENJOYED GOING THERE BUT THEY LEARNED THINGS. ONE THING NANCY DIDN’T LIKE WAS A SQUEAKY TOY. IF THERE WAS A SQUEAKY TOY ON THE FLOOR OVER THERE AND SHE WAS IN THE DOORWAY AND I WAS SITTING HERE, SHE WOULDN’T COME. SHE WOULDN’T PASS IT. AUNT DOROTHY HAD HER PICKING THOSE SQUEAKY TOYS UP AND GIVING THEM TO HER, AND THEN THE OTHER KIDS COULDN’T HAVE THEM AND SQUEAK THEM. I MEAN I HAD NO IDEA WHO SHE WAS AT ALL, BUT SHE DID DO A VERY GOOD JOB. IT WAS A BIG TWO STORY HOUSE AND SHE DID NOT LIKE ANYBODY TO BE LATE PICKING UP THEIR CHILDREN. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE AT SUCH AND SUCH A TIME. YOU BETTER BE THERE, OR THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, SHE WOULD REFUSE TO TAKE THE CHILD. AND I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT BECAUSE, IF SHE HAS A SCHEDULE TO KEEP, SHE CAN’T BE JUMPING AROUND FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL PARENT, AND YOU COULD TALK TO HER AND SET UP WHEN WAS THE BEST TIME FOR YOU, BEFORE YOU EVER LEFT THEM THERE, SO THEN YOU WERE TIED INTO THAT TIME SLOT. ACTUALLY SHE WORE THIS AND SHE HAD A UNIFORM AND ALL THE LITTLE GIRLS HAD UNIFORMS AND SHE GAVE YOU THE UNIFORM FOR YOU TO SEW, AND IT WAS ALREADY CUT OUT, AND YOU WERE TOLD HOW FAR OFF THE GROUND TO HEM IT, [THE EMBROIDERY ON THE BADGE] WAS ALL DONE BY AUNT DOROTHY’S PLAYHOUSE. I CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT I DID WITH UNIFORM, WHETHER OR NOT I GAVE IT TO ANOTHER CHILD, OR WHETHER IT CAME TO THE MUSEUM. PROBABLY NOT. IT WAS A LITTLE CORDUROY ONE, BLUE CORDUROY SO. [NANCY WAS THERE] JUST ONE [YEAR,] BUT WHEN SHE CAME OUT OF THAT AUNT DOROTHY’S PLAYHOUSE SHE WENT TO GRADE ONE THE NEXT YEAR AND MANAGED QUITE WELL. I TELL YOU IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT THING IN NANCY’S LIFE AND THAT MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD WHEN SHE HAD THAT LADY AS A TEACHER, BECAUSE, AS I SAY, SHE WOULD NOT COME PAST A SQUEAKY TOY TO COME TO ME, BUT, BY THE TIME AUNT DOROTHY GOT THROUGH WITH HER, SHE WOULD LET HER GO UPSTAIRS FIRST, AND PICK UP ANY SQUEAKY TOYS AND BRING THEM TO HER, AND SHE WOULD PUT THEM AWAY IN A DRAWER. THAT’S A KID THAT WOULDN’T PASS ONE, PICKING THEM ALL UP." THE FOLLOWING IS FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ISSUE PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 3, 1980."DOROTHY GENTLEMAN, WHO TO MANY GENERATIONS OF LETHBRIDGE CHILDREN WAS KNOWN SIMPLY AS AUNT DOROTHY, DIED WEDNESDAY AT THE AGE OF 75. IN 1948, GENTLEMAN OPENED AUNT DOROTHY'S PLAYHOUSE, A KINDERGARTEN IN HER HOME AT 635 8TH ST. S. AFTER GAINING AN INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION, THE PLAYHOUSE WAS CLOSED IN 1973, WHEN SHE RETIRED. IN 1961, GENTLEMAN WAS NAMED CANADA'S MOTHER OF THE YEAR. SHE WAS ALSO AN OBSERVER-CONSULTANT WITH THE UNITED STATES HEADSTART MOVEMENT IN ITS FORMATIVE YEARS. ORIGINALLY FROM ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND, SHE MOVED TO ALIX WITH HER PARENTS IN 1922. IN 1928, SHE MARRIED WILLIAM DONALD GENTLEMAN. SHE AND HER HUSBAND CAME TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1943." FOR MORE INFORMATION, , INCLUDING A BIO EXCERPT ON GENTLEMAN FROM THE MATHESIS BOOK “ONE HUNDRED WOMEN IN ONE HUNDRED YEARS”, PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE. FOR PERSONAL HISTORY OF IRMA DOGTEROM & TRANSCRIPTS, PLEASE SEE P20120004004.

Catalogue Number

P20120004006

Acquisition Date

2012-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail