Education Week 2015

When I retired from my library and teaching career, one thing that I really looked forward to was BYU Education Week which happens each year the third week of August.  While teaching, that week would never work for me as I would be into a new school year and unable to travel.  I have been a regular ever since but the last two years I have felt a shift in my Education Week experience.

Our collection of Education Week badges over the years in the Provo garage.  It is tradition to hang them here as we return home on the final day of Education Week each year.

For almost two years now, Provo has become home.  Our church membership records have been changed, we have a Provo permanent address, and Glen is busy full time with his business here.  We are involved in our church and Provo community.  Provo is where we experience "real" life and not the place where we visit leaving our "real" life behind.  This year I registered for mornings only leaving my afternoons free for my other commitments.  It seemed just right this year and worked well.

This September will be the 100th anniversary of the publication of "Jesus the Christ" by James E.  Talmage.  There is a display outside the special collections area of the Harold B. Lee Library until the end of September including a first edition copy of "Jesus the Christ,"  Talmage's actual journals, timelines, and recordings and pictures of Talmage before he passed away in 1933.  

One of my Education Week classes included four different presentations on this important work taught by Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas A. Wayment who have recently authored a study guide for "Jesus the Christ." My other two classes were Thomas A. Wayment's on the Apostle Paul and a class on DNA as it relates to the Book of Mormon and family history by Dr. Ugo A. Perego.  The final day Dr. Perego gave a presentation on Science and Religion and how they can coexist.

Next to the Talmage exhibit by Special Collections was this exhibit in honor of Rose Marie Reid the famous swim suit designer.  When she left the Los Angeles area later in life she built a home in 1965 on the bench above the land which would eventually be the location of the Provo Temple.  The home was mostly of glass and had many modern angles.  My mother would point it out to us on our visits during the sixties.  The house is no longer as easy to see as is was back then now that the landscaping has matured for 50 years.

My mother really admired Rose Marie and enjoyed telling us about her.  I think she identified with her, not has a designer but as a single mom raising her children without support from a husband.  Both were using their unique talents to provide for their children.  Several hundred swim suits were donated to BYU Collections by Rose Marie's family.  Several of those are included in the exhibit along with the story of Rose Marie's life.  Those of you old enough to remember the Gidget movies will especially enjoy the music and movie screen in the background as one views the actual swimsuits worn by Gidget.  Did anyone in my family ever own a Rose Marie swimsuit?  Now they were pretty expensive but we wore suits inspired by Rose Marie's.