Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Two Places That Matter to Me

This week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings asks:

What geographic and community places matter to you?

When I first read this question, my immediate thought was Dodge City, Kansas. Even though I've lived in Seneca, Kansas, for most of my life, I still often consider Dodge City my hometown.

However, as I thought about the question, I realized there was another place that deserved consideration: Nemaha Valley High School. After all, I spent 40 years of my life working in that building!

Thus, instead of choosing just one place, I'm going to share two places that have played important roles in my life.

Dodge City, Kansas — My Hometown

Why do I consider Dodge City my hometown when I've spent most of my adult life in northeastern Kansas?

Part of the answer lies in my childhood memories. However, an even larger part comes from the generations of my family who called Dodge City home.

My family's connections to Dodge City began in 1878 when James H. Crawford, the older brother of my second great-grandfather, Washington Marion Crawford, moved his family to the area.

About 1885, Washington Marion Crawford followed his brother to Dodge City.

Around 1886, another branch of my family arrived in the area. Josie Hammond, who would become the wife of my great-grandfather Judson Crawford, moved to the Dodge City area with her parents and siblings.

Then, around 1918, my grandmother, Winnie Letha Currey, moved to Dodge City to help her sister during her first pregnancy.

Thus, by the time I was born, Dodge City had been part of my family's history for several generations.

My Childhood in Dodge City

My father left Dodge City to serve in the military and attend college. However, when I was about four years old, our family moved back to Dodge City.

I attended Northwest Elementary School from kindergarten through sixth grade and then attended Dodge City Junior High School for seventh grade.

Those years helped establish my sense of Dodge City as home.

One photograph that captures my childhood connection to Dodge City shows our family gathered on the front porch of my grandparents' home around 1960.

Family gathered on the front porch of my grandparents' Dodge City home, about 1960. My maternal grandmother, Pauline Briles, is also in the photograph.

This photograph is especially meaningful because it represents the family connections that made Dodge City important to me. My maternal grandmother, Pauline Briles, was also present, bringing together members of different branches of my family.

Although that house was an important part of my childhood memories, it did not remain in the family. It was sold shortly before my grandfather's death.

Where My Genealogy Journey Began

After my marriage, I frequently traveled to Dodge City to visit my grandmother, Winnie Letha Currey.

By that time, she was living in an apartment rather than the house pictured above.

Those visits became especially meaningful because they marked the beginning of my genealogy journey.

What began as visits with Grandma gradually became opportunities to learn about our family's past. Through our conversations, I developed an interest in discovering more about the people who came before me.

That interest eventually grew into decades of family history research.

Today, when I research my Crawford ancestors, I frequently find myself returning to Dodge City through newspaper articles, land records, obituaries, cemetery records, and other historical documents.

In fact, many of my Friday Find posts feature records from Dodge City newspapers.

Although I haven't lived in Dodge City for many years, the community continues to play an important role in my genealogy research.

For me, Dodge City isn't simply the place where I attended elementary school. It is where generations of my family lived, where I developed childhood memories, and where my interest in genealogy began.

Dodge City will always feel like home.

Nemaha Valley High School — Forty Years in One Building

While Dodge City was my first thought when considering this week's challenge, another place has occupied an even larger portion of my life.

That place is Nemaha Valley High School in Seneca, Kansas.

When Mike and I graduated from college in 1974, we were beginning our teaching careers. We certainly had no idea how much of our lives would eventually revolve around one school building.

Mike and Marcia Philbrick — from our college graduation in 1974 to our retirement in 2016.

In the fall of 1976, I began teaching biology at Nemaha Valley High School. Mike also joined the faculty, teaching chemistry and physics.

Neither of us imagined that we would spend the next 40 years working in that same building!

From Biology Teacher to Librarian to Technology Coordinator

My career changed considerably during those four decades.

I began as a biology teacher, spending my days teaching science. In 1985, my responsibilities changed when I became the school librarian.

Then came the computer revolution.

As computers were introduced into the building, I gradually took on additional responsibilities. What started with helping teachers and students use computers expanded into maintaining computers, managing servers, supporting the school network, and troubleshooting technology problems.

Eventually, I was responsible for much of the technology infrastructure that supported teaching and learning in the high school.

When I started teaching in 1976, computers were not part of our everyday classroom routines. By the time I retired, computers, networks, email, and digital resources had become essential parts of education.

Looking back, it is remarkable how much technology changed during those 40 years.

And I had the opportunity to experience many of those changes firsthand!

More Than a Workplace

Of course, Nemaha Valley High School was much more than a place where I taught biology, managed a library, or maintained computers.

It was a community.

Over those 40 years, I worked with generations of students, teachers, administrators, and staff members.

I watched students enter high school, graduate, and move on with their lives. I worked alongside colleagues as we adapted to changing educational expectations and new technologies.

Mike and I also shared the experience of working in the same building throughout those years.

When I think about Nemaha Valley High School, I don't simply remember the classrooms, library shelves, computers, or servers.

I remember the people.

I remember the challenges, accomplishments, friendships, and experiences that were part of our daily lives.

For four decades, that building was where we spent much of our time.

Finally Graduating from High School!

In 2016, Mike and I retired from Nemaha Central High School, formerly Nemaha Valley High School.

Our retirement was celebrated with photographs that captured both the end of our careers and the excitement of beginning a new chapter.

One of my favorite photographs shows us jumping into the air outside the school beneath a sign that reads:

"After 40 Years, Mike & Marcia Philbrick Finally 'Graduate' from High School!"

After 40 years, Mike and Marcia Philbrick finally "graduate" from high school! Celebrating our retirement from Nemaha Central High School in 2016.

I love the humor in that photograph.

After spending 40 years walking through those doors as teachers and staff members, it was finally our turn to graduate!

But the photograph also represents something more meaningful.

It marks the end of a 40-year chapter in our lives, a chapter filled with students, colleagues, changing technology, and countless memories.

Although we retired in 2016, the building and the people associated with it will always be an important part of our story.

Two Places — Two Different Connections

At first glance, Dodge City and Nemaha Valley High School might seem like very different answers to this week's genealogy challenge.

One is a community in western Kansas. The other is a school building in northeastern Kansas.

Yet both represent important parts of who I am.

Dodge City connects me to my roots. It is where multiple generations of my family lived, where I spent much of my childhood, and where visits with my grandmother sparked my interest in genealogy.

Nemaha Valley High School connects me to my adult life. It is where Mike and I spent 40 years of our professional careers, where we developed friendships, and where we witnessed generations of students preparing for their futures.

One place helped connect me to the past.

The other was where I spent much of my adult life helping prepare young people for the future.

Perhaps that is what makes places important to us. It isn't necessarily the geography or the buildings themselves. Instead, it is the people, experiences, and memories we associate with those places.

The house where my grandparents lived is no longer part of our family, but the memories remain.

Mike and I no longer walk through the doors of Nemaha Valley High School every morning, but the experiences and relationships from those 40 years remain part of our lives.

Places matter because of the stories connected to them.

And isn't preserving those stories what genealogy is all about?

What About You?

What geographic or community places matter most to you?

Is it the town where you grew up? A school where you spent much of your life? A church, library, or other community gathering place? Or perhaps a place connected to generations of your ancestors?

For me, Dodge City and Nemaha Valley High School both deserve a place on that list.

One represents my roots. The other represents much of the life I've built.

Both will always be important places in my story.