Person:Charlotte Woods (3)

Childhood memories of Charlotte

On the occasion of her death in 2010, her brother Bob wrote the following note to her children: "What we all leave behind are the memories of special occasions, and a few funny stories. Several occur to me, and I will repeat them on the chance that they are new to you.

"One summer we were at Burt Lake with Bommaw and Bompa with Dad in Evanston awaiting his vacation. On a hot day I decided to walk into Indian River and convinced Charlotte to go along, probably with the offer of an ice cream cone. It was a 6 or 7 mile round trip. Charlotte, who was 7 or 8, became exhausted on the return trip. I had her lie down beneath some pine trees until she recovered enough to continue. Apparently this was reported to headquarters, and I received a blistering letter from Dad.

"Burt Lake was the scene for many family dramas. I showed Charlotte some egg shaped green leaves and told her they were green eggs. Pretending to eat some, I passed them around and Charlotte ate a few.

"I also enjoyed picking up garter snakes and chasing anyone who would shriek loudly and run. This too was soon forbidden.

"At the farm in Iowa, things were a bit more restricted. Having learned to milk a cow, I do remember squirting Charlotte in the face, just as the hired hands had done to me. The surprise was Charlotte's getting to the barn, as Auntie did not consider it a place for girls.

"A favorite story of mine took place at Oberlin, Ohio where Mother and Dad had driven to see the Rochester-Oberlin game my junior year. They sat with Dick Secrest's parents, who had driven from their home somewhere in Ohio. Dick had told his parents of my academic record, and one of them said something complimentary to my mother. Mother looked out on the field and said, 'Oh, that's my dumb one.' Dick could hardly wait to relay the message to me with great laughter.... Much love, Uncle Bob"

Early career in New York

On the back of an invitation to her wedding, found among her personal effects, presumably written by her father:

"Institute of International Education, Inc., 1 E. 67th NYC. Title: Placement Associate - in Foreign Student Program (Associate in the Placement Coordination Division of the For. Stu. Program to place For. students in Amer. colleges. Char handles all the states west of the Mississippi - "I've sent lots of students to Iowa State & Iowa City - Calif., Wash., and Minn. -- Greeks, Egyptians who want to study soil mechanics or hydrology or flood control & Scandinavians for new methods of dairy."

"Institute founded in 1919 by Elihu Root, Nich. Murray Butler & Stephen Duggan - "Students come to us under Smith-Mundt Exch. Act. There are also reorientation programs for Japs, Germans, Austrians & Ryukuans - I have a say."

Charlotte organised an employee union during her time at the IIE. In a condolence card after her death, a co-worker, Sonja ("Sonny") Greenfield writes: "You're aware, of course, that she and Lula Farmer organised a union there, but you may not know that they did this in a very hostile environment. There were a lot of wealthy women working there - the salaries were low, so one either had to have an independent income, or be married to work there. Many people were horrified at the thought of having a union! I was so impressed with + admired her calm, thoughtful way of making the case for it in this atmosphere, without responding to the hostility of it, & in the end we won the vote by 2 to 1!"

Miscellaneous

Charlotte was active in the Brooklyn Heights branch of the League of Women Voters and made many close friends there.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line].
2. ↑ Obituary.

   https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9A06EEDE1F3AF93AA2575AC0A9669D8B63.html

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 .

   Postcard from Connie found among her effects

4. ↑ Diploma.

   Found among personal papers

5. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157385978/charlotte-elkind, in FindAGrave.
6. ↑ Book inscription.
7. ↑ Personal papers.