Mansfield College as my Plumfield

We've already established that I have this delusional fantasy that I am--in some way--Josephine March.  Anyone who knows the plot of Little Women knows the basic outline: father's off at war, mother at home, three sisters.  Jo yearns for adventure and to travela and write great books. She's proposed to by her best friend, falls in love with a German professor in New York, and loses her sister.  Her Aunt March is the wealthy spinster living in Plumfield.  Aunt March leaves the estate to Jo; it's enormous, and would make the perfect school.  That has always sounded glorious to me.  I am enamored of old buildings (I broke down crying at an empty church in Nice that had built in the 1300s simply because I was so moved by its age and history) and I love learning about what has happened in them.  (I had a quasi-creepy obsession with Parkland Hospital before its renovation, and I am so envious of Ronnie Claire's house--which was a 1903 church--that I can't explain it to you.)  Anyway, I've obviously been spending a great deal of time at Grandmama's lately.  In a way I can't really explain, it's been fun.  (I feel a tangent coming on, so prepare yourselves.) 

Maybe you've discerned this by now, but we have an exceptionally close family.  As my mother and I were discussing tonight, losing Grandmama is really like losing a parent.  It's not just the fact that she's Grandmama and she's magical and easily the best human being I've known--it's that she helped raise me and my sister, and that I've spent more time with her than some immediate family.  Abby and I have spent an inordinate amount of time with her and almost viewed her as a second magical mother--one who only had the fun tasks and none of the disciplining.  It's a hard thing to part from.  My mother provided the discipline; Grandmama provided the conscience.

At any rate, just as Grandmama no doubt planned, this unfortunate event has spawned incessant family time.  And in a weird way, it's like some awful holiday that brought us all together.  There's constantly company, family, and food.  And she's just daintily slumbering in her room as the festivities continue.  And you almost think that nothing's wrong as everyone's sharing stories and reminscing, watching movies, and eating.  (Lots of eating.  Seriously.  As a poor/constantly ravenously hungry college student, I'm not complaining.)

The only time we all start losing is talking about a particularly touching memory--or even moreso--when company comes by and mentions an inevitably glorious memory of Grandmama and what she's meant to them.  It's incredibly touching.  People who have had minimal contact with her have had stories to share. It's a remarkable testament to how many people she's touched and the legacy she has left.

At any rate, in the midst of my afternoon of family-time, Kara, Ab, and I were snuggled up on the couch (well, let's be honest...I don't snuggle. Just comfy? Whatever.) chatting away about old memories and somehow I started inquiring about Grandmama and her mother--their difference.  This led to discussions of Aunt Margaret (Granny--Grandmama's mother's) sister.  Abby is convinced that I am Aunt Margaret--who never married and became a teacher, had a stroke and then remained in a vegetative state for nearly 15 years.  I sincerely hope this is not my fate, though I have no doubt she was a lovely lady.

Anyway, we started talking about the Calhouns and Gladwater and Mansfield and I was reminded of REALLY early memories from Mansfield.  I have a remarkably cool family.  The Keouns had a piano shop (I seriously need to research/ask for more stories about this) and Reimer and Hope Calhoun owned/lived in Mansfield College.  I have some relatively faint memories there and I have always been fascinated by it's history.  Kara reminded me that it had been a College (and there were classrooms upstairs) and was a hospital during the Civil War (seriously. coolest. thing. ever.) and then went back to being a college and then became Hope and Reimer's house.  Reimer was also a Louisiana Senator.  (Yeah, definitely didn't know that information as a child.)

Here's the blurb I found on the Mansfield website about it:

Mansfield Female College oldest women's college west of the Mississippi River. Mansfield Female College was founded by the Methodists here in the 1800's. Mansfield Female College operated for 80 years, but it closed in 1930, merging with Centenary College in Shreveport. The first graduating class was in 1856 under the direction of Dr. Henry Coleman Thweatt. Behind the College, still standing in tact, is the Lyceum. This was the gym and dining area downstairs and upstairs was the Auditorium with a stage. Reimer Calhoun Sr. bought the building in 1940. The two top floors were removed from the College when he purchased it as he made it into his family residence. This museum was added to the Secretary of State's Museums Program during the 2003 legislative session.

And you know the film The Great Debaters  with Denzel Washington from 2007? Filmed there.  How crazy is that? 

Anyways this absolutely completed my fantasy of having an Aunt with this fantastic old house from the Civil War (seriously!) with all this history.  I desperately want to make a pilgrimage down to see it--although it's sadly not owned by Hope anymore.  Can't blame her though--awfully huge undertaking for an older woman.  Still, pretty incredible.  Makes me want to write a story...Historical fiction based on family history, perhaps?....Hmmmm...I like it!