| People |
Frank, A. G.; Frank, Mary; Frank, Paul; Frank, Robert; Frank, Serena Neilson, 1872-1967; Harbach, Otto, 1873-1963; Morgan, Dick D.; Morgan, Mary Frank, b. 1910; Neilson, Serena. SEE Frank, Serena Neilson |
| OCR Text |
Show In this photograph are six individuals, three young men and three young women, who are all very well dressed and wearing corsages. Each is holding a rolled parchment with what appears to be a while ribbon and are all looking to the right, except for one young man seated at the left who is looking directly at the camera. Seated in the front row are two men on either side of a woman with all three are wearing dark colors. The young man at the left has a chain across his shirt and is sitting by a basket, though not much of the basket can be seen. The woman in the center has flowers all down her front and is also holding what appears to be a white feather within her gloved hands. The man at the right is sitting by an arranged basket with flowers climbing up the handle. Standing behind the woman in the center are two young ladies wearing light colors, and directly behind her a young man in a dark suit. Both of the women standing are wearing gloves and the one at the left has a necklace. All three of the women have their hair tied back in some form or fashion. The backdrop resembles a room with a picture frame on the wall and tall plants beneath it, and at the right having shelves of plates, napkins, photographs and so forth. The backdrop image is artistically done, making the group appear as if they were inside a painting, though at the bottom the backdrop becomes a little wrinkled.<br><br> |
| Further Information |
The wooden frame is embellished with a silver coating and an intricate design of ovals and flowers, and has an inner frame of a blue fabric just bordering the picture. The main frame is loosing its coating and is 12X14 inches wide and 2 inches thick. The fabric border is a little less than an inch thick, adding to the weight of the border. This is the original frame the image was placed in. The border is emphasized by the quarter of an inch margin around the photograph itself. On the back, a wire is tied across the center of the horizontal plane, and at the bottom of the light cardboard backing is written in blue pen, "Upper right (in white with hair ribbon!) is SERENA NEILSON - One of the young men is OTTO HARBACH who became a famous Broadway composer (‘Rose Marie' - operetta - ‘Smoke gets in your eyes'[.] This picture (in its original frame) is presented to Westminster College archives in May 1990 on the 99th anniversary of this class graduation by MARY FRANK Morgan - daughter of Serena Neilson FRANK." The capitalization and notes are true to what is written, and the only things added on this page are the periods. It appears the note was first written in pencil, and then traced over in pen. NOTES: The following is from a typewritten paper attached to the photograph, with several corrections having been made in pen: "This is a ‘LINK TO THE PAST THANK YOU, LORD!' greeting to all those attending PRESBYTERIAN GENERAL ASSEMBLY in Salt Lake City…" In pen is written, "Harold Kurtz[;] Pby. ___ Fellowship" and then the letter continues, "It was ninety-nine years ago when, in May 1891, 19 year old Serena Neilson, who had just graduated from the Presbyterian Academy in Salt Lake City, journeyed by train with her wo[men] Mission school teachers to General Assembly in Portland, Oregon, to speak at the pre-Assembly Women's Day as ‘a product of Presbyterian missions in Utah.' To those dedicated women she told the story of how her parents had come as converts to Mormonism (her father from Norway and her mother from Denmark) ‘to join the Saints in Zion' in the 1860s. It was a dramatic story. Her mother had walked beside an oxcart the last part of the journey, from Omaha to Salt Lake City. And it included the traumatic events that led to her parents disillusionment and their courage to leave the Mormon church when it was very dangerous to do so..and their courage to send their young daughter, Serena, (born in 1872) to one of the earliest Presbyterian mission schools, in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. She lived with those committed no-nonsense wo[men] teachers, who shared their strong faith with her, and taught her well. After she finished eighth grade, there being no high school, Serena's teachers found a place for her to work for her room and board in the home of a doctor's family in Salt Lake City, and attend the Academy (which later became Westminster College). There was lots of hard work to do..up at crack of dawn to fire up the kitchen range, and cook and clean up before hurrying off to school…and more of the same when she returned. But Serena was never afraid of hard work and was a diligent student, always eager to learn and graduated with honors in a class of six in 1891. After she gave ‘her witness' soon after, at the General Assembly Women's Day, Serena Neilson taught three years in one room ___ Presbyterian mission schools in tiny Utah towns and then attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She took care of her ill and dying mother for two years and finally graduated in the class of ‘Naughty Naught' (1900). After a year of traveling and studying in Europe (all properly chaperoned, of course) Serena was asked to do ‘itinerating' for Presbyterian Women's Board for a year: that is, telling ‘the Story' of Mormon mission work in many Presbyterian churches in the East, which, to them was a big challenge in an unusual situation. She enjoyed speaking and being hosted in the homes of many special Presbyterians. In 1902 Serena returned to Wasatch Academy (now a [high] school) to teach Latin and English. She loved Latin, and as for teaching English, she was always a stickler for correct spelling and grammar, diagramming sentences etc. She always expected students to do their best, which she had always tried to do. In 1906 came the just-graduated-from seminary young minister, A. G. Frank, to be the pastor of the nearby Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian church. Most Amazingly, A. G. FRANK, who was 25, ‘wooed and won Serena's heart and hand in marriage' (after much soul-searching since she was a 34 year old spinster school teacher!) They were married in that little church on May 13, 1907 and left by train for Columbus, Ohio where Serena was again to speak for General Assembly Woman's Day. After a year's pastorate in Texas they returned to Utah as Presbyterian Missionaries till 1922: in Brigham City (where Mary, Paul and Robert were born, [then?] Kaysville) and one year in Green River in the unique ‘Live among the Mormons as a witness' ministry when there were only a handful of Gentiles for a ‘church.' Then followed a 15 year ‘blue collar' ministry in Topeka, Kansas, and Sunday School missionary work in Western Kansas during the 1930s ‘dust bowl' years. They finished their ministry on the Olympic peninsula in Washington state after 50 years of ministry together. Serena lived to be 95, still staunch in her faith learned at the knees of those dedicated early-day missionarie[s] in Utah. Now, on this my 80th birthday (5/28/90) I, Mary Frank Morgan, who have served 55 years in Presbyterian ministry with my husband, Dick D. Morgan, in 9 small-town churches in Oregon [and we] are still on staff here in Hillsbao, Oregon, do hereby say THANKS BE TO GOD for this heritage of Presbyterian mission work in Utah. Yes, who could have dreamed 99 years ago that the PRESBYTERIAN GENERAL ASSEMBLY WOULD ACTUALLY be meeting in Zion City in 1990!" |
