Chapter Eight
From the Memoirs of Grace Bailey -
Max, Mr. Lane, Rev. Clark Grange of the New Bedford United Church and I held one last meeting on the afternoon of Christmas Eve Day to finalize our plans to rally as much of New Bedford as we could to support the Republic. After less than thirty minutes, everything was in place for us to start after New Years as soon as Archie returned from his honeymoon. All of us were anxious about the possible consequences to ourselves and to the community of unleashing such a potent controversy. However, none of us could see an alternative. A Europe or, God forbid, a world dominated by Hitler and his fellow fascists was unthinkable. It felt strange to be preparing for war while the rest of New Bedford celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace.
From the Journal of Honey Sutton, December 25, 1936
May Bailey has never been a very demonstrative person, but lately, if you look closely, you can see a certain quiet joy in her. I think it means a great deal to her that Grace agreed to return home, even if only over the holidays. It was good of her to ask Hub to give the blessing before we sat down to Christmas dinner. The hope he expressed for the ending of strife and the healing of wounds was inspiring.
Grace was as excited as a little girl when Van called her from New York. She couldn't take hold of the receiver fast enough. Her smile as they talked was glowing. It took me back to my first days with Jack when there was nothing else in the world but the two of us and even the briefest separation was torture. Just to see him was to think, "here is the man I will love until I die."
Grace Mainwaring to Sally Henry December 26, 1936
I hope that you and Mark and the kids had a terrific Christmas. Rose and Eric are adorable in the latest pictures you sent me. I can't believe how fast they are growing, especially Rose. She looks more and more like you did when you were her age. I wonder if she'll try to dress her kitten in her old baby clothing like her mother once did? The way things are now, I hardly dare hope that someday I will be sending you pictures of my children and Van's.
From Van's letters and our meetings, I am sure that he wants to mend our marriage as much as I do. If only the fascists and their damned war hadn't come along. Still, it is a comfort and a blessing to have my loved ones with me. Ever since the preparation for Toppy and Archie's wedding, we have all worked hard to suspend our disagreements and resentments for the sake of the family.
. . . Before I went to bed on Christmas Eve, I prayed that the harmony and goodwill we were enjoying would survive the tempest I know is brewing in New Bedford over the coming effort to support the Republic in its struggle against fascism. I prayed that God would watch over Van and his friends through their coming ordeal, regardless of the fact that many of them are atheists.
PS Many thanks to you and Mark for the generous donation to the New Bedford Mobile Blood Transfusion Unit Fund. Between you and Bob and Mother, we are off to a good start even before the official opening of the campaign.
Vanaver Mainwaring to Grace Mainwaring December 28, 1936
. . . I have my new passport. I still find it hard to believe that Vanaver Mainwaring is now my legal name. I would say that I couldn't possibly make worse use of it than the person who had it last if I hadn't already done so. . .
From the Journal of Honey Sutton December 30, 1936
I don't know how I am supposed to hold my head up as a Catholic. It was bad enough that I got so many dirty looks at the ladies' sodality meeting today or that Maureen Corcoran made that snide remark afterwards about how difficult mixed marriages can be. Father Fitzroy paid us a visit this evening. He told Max that he respected his good work as a teacher and didn't doubt his devotion to our family. His care of the children while I was away at the sanatorium was exemplary.
However, he was setting a bad example as the father of a Catholic family by his support for the Spanish Republic, especially for Hub. Hub has a real vocation to become a priest and it doesn't help him to have a father who works with the Church's enemies in Spain. Fr. Fitzroy doesn't expect Max to support Franco who he admits leaves much to be desired as a champion of Christianity. Couldn't he at least consider withdrawing from Grace's fundraising efforts?
Max was polite and respectful in his refusal. He expressed his admiration for Fr. Fitzroy's work to feed and clothe the destitute during the worst days of the Depression. He even thanked him for the spiritual consolation he offered me when I learned after Zack's birth that I couldn't have any more children. However, he believes that someone like Franco, who corrupts the church from within by persuading it to support mass murder and oppression in common cause with dictators like Hitler and Mussolini, is a far worse enemy to it than any open persecutor. People like that have to be fought. He believed that when he went to war against the Kaiser and he believes it now.
Grace Mainwaring to Vanaver Mainwaring, December 31, 1936
. . . Your brother Lionel's gift was extravagant even coming from an antiques dealer. It caused quite a stir when I showed it to the rest of the family on Christmas Day. None of us had ever seen a real Empire clock outside of the movies. The bronze of Cupid crowning Psyche is too beautiful for words. It was sweet of him to write in the note that came with it, "I hope that you will see in this image of love triumphant my own wish for future happiness for you and my brother."
Grace Mainwaring to Sally Henry January 2, 1937
. . . At first, Mr. Cramp refused to run the advertisement for next Saturday's fundraising rally in the Chronicle or to print the flyers for it. He wasn't about to help distribute Bolshevik propaganda. I showed him the list of speakers. He conceded that none of them, especially my mother and Dr. Barlow, could be considered Communists. I mentioned that I could always use the mimeograph machine at the mine office to print the flyers. People would hear about the rally and attend anyway. Still, I admired his willingness to sacrifice perfectly good advertising revenue for the sake of principle. Not every newspaperman would have that kind of integrity.
I have to give him credit. I almost made it all the way out the door before he called me back. He explained that perhaps he was being a little hasty. Maybe there was something to be said for letting the good people of New Bedford hear all sides of such an important issue. We settled on a reasonable price and he promised that the flyers would be ready on Monday and the advertisement would be in Wednesday's paper.
From the Journal of Honey Sutton January 4, 1937
. . . It's bad enough that Grace's campaign on behalf of the Spanish Republic could cost Max his job as teacher and principal. Now she has Henry and Hub putting up flyers for her blasted rally. Arguing with Max about it didn't do any good. Normally, he's the most easygoing guy I know, but when he's convinced that he's doing the right thing, he can be even more stubborn than May Bailey.
The prospect of Max going before the school board has me terrified. It wouldn't be so bad if Iris Barlow were still a trustee, but Charlie Blaine has been Mr. Grady's fishing companion for years. Also Max and Joe Willis have never gotten along. I'm absolutely certain that they are going to fire Max. How are we going to support four children if that happens? If Max could sell his writing, our situation wouldn't be so bad, but his autobiographical play Miner's Son has already been rejected by five producers.
From the Memoirs of Grace Bailey -
I felt like a heel. It was easy for me to tell Honey that Max was an adult and that he decided for himself to help me raise money for the Republic. I wasn't the one who would have to support four kids on Honey's modest profits from her beauty parlor and Max's even more slender salary as mayor if the school board fired Max. Not to mention give up the correspondence courses Honey was taking.
That my own job at CRNB was secure in spite of Mrs. Cramps' grumbling because she didn't want to hire an inferior replacement or try to do her own announcing didn't ease my conscience at all. However, for Mr. Grady and his cronies to threaten Max's family with hardship in order to silence him was cowardly and dishonest. To have given in to them would have been to make freedom of speech in New Bedford a privilege for people of whom they approved.
Vanaver Mainwaring to Grace Mainwaring January 4, 1937
New York is behind us now. A half moon glows softly among the bright stars. Its beams turn the waters below to silver. I know it's corny, but I really do wish that I could give you the moon and all the stars wrapped together in brightly colored paper for a Christmas present. Maybe someday I'll find a way to do just that. . .
From the Journal of Honey Sutton January 5, 1937
Mother Bailey tells me that she has done her best to lobby the school board trustees to keep Max on. Mr. Grady gave her a nasty lecture on Max's "dangerous radical politics." The rest politely promised to give her appeals due consideration which could mean anything. I have asked some of the parents whose children Max teaches to speak to the trustees in Max's favor. So has Grace and most have promised to do so. I wish I could be sure that our efforts will be enough to crack what looks like a solid three vote majority for getting rid of Max.
May Bailey to Jessie Buchanan January 6, 1937
Juanita's worry that there was no way for me to get up the steps of City Hall to attend the New Bedford School Board meeting proved unfounded. Among the cross section of the townspeople Grace and Honey rounded up to speak for Max were several miners just getting off shift. They managed to lift my chair with me in it over the steps of the portico. I hoped that the fact that the School Board was inviting public comment was a good sign. Max stood his ground admirably. Mr. Grady chastised Max for working with Communists. "There is a reason," he pontificated, "that the Communist Party is effectively banned in Canada."
"Yes," Max shot back, "because Prime Minister Bennett needed a distraction from his failure to deal with the Depression. If you don't like what people who don't share your political views have to say, you argue against them. You don't use the law the way Hitler's storm troopers use their clubs."
"Do you imagine that Stalin would feel the same way about his political opponents?"
"No, which is one reason why I'm not a Communist. However, this is Canada. As a democracy, we should be better than that. If one of my teachers wanted to raise money for Franco on his own time the way some Catholics are doing in the United States, I might disagree with his actions, not to mention his politics. However, I wouldn't fire him. I don't think I'm being unreasonable in expecting the same tolerance for myself."
From the Journal of Honey Sutton January 6, 1937
. . . I knew Max was well liked, but I was still surprised at how many of our neighbors came forward to speak to the School Board. Max's defenders included merchants, miners, and professional men. Apparently Max is respected as a person and as a teacher by more people than I ever knew. Mr. Greely, the grocer, gave Max credit for inspiring his son Andy with a love of history that led him to teach the subject as an adult. Mrs. Macdonald was grateful to Max for the help he gave her daughter Joan when she was struggling in the same subject. Rev. Grange gave a glowing testimonial to Max's character.
Even Mrs. Whitney, Max's predecessor as principal, sent a statement from her sickbed urging the trustees to keep him on. That a woman who lost all three of her sons in the Great War is willing to accept Max supporting another war because of her respect for him as a colleague says a lot. I couldn't have been more proud of Max hearing about all the good he's done as a teacher and civic leader for this community and its children. I was glad to see that the trustees seemed impressed.
Grace Mainwaring to Sally Henry January 7, 1937
. . . We were all on pins and needles waiting for the trustees to make their decision. Poor Honey radiated tension. I felt that it was a good sign that the trustees were so attentive when Rev. Grange assured them that the rally this Saturday was for humanitarian purposes only. Still, we could only hope that all of the appeals on Max's behalf would be enough to break Mr. Grady's three vote majority. All eyes were on the trustees as they returned to the City Council chamber after retiring to discuss the issue. A vote was taken. A staggering weight lifted from my shoulders when School Superintendent LeClaire announced that the trustees had voted 3-2 not to dismiss Max. I can only imagine the kind of relief that Honey must have felt.
From the Journal of Honey Sutton January 6, 1937
. . . I wish I had been less grudging in thanking Grace for helping Max keep his job. However, I just couldn't forget that if she hadn't decided to raise the town in support of the Spanish Republic, it would never have been in jeopardy in the first place. I couldn't stop myself from scolding her. "Do you know what Henry told me the other day? He said he wished that he were old enough to join up and fight the fascists himself."
Grace's solemn reply sent a chill through the very center of my soul. "If Van and his comrades don't win in Spain, he may have to."
Next Post: Hub has troubles. Laura has questions. A torch is passed.