Oral History Program Chloe Merrill Interviewed by Kandice Harris 18 July 2019 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Chloe Merrill Interviewed by Kandice Harris 18 July 2019 Copyright © 2022 by Weber State University, Stewart Library iii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description The Beyond Suffrage Project was initiated to examine the impact women have had on northern Utah. Weber State University explored and documented women past and present who have influenced the history of the community, the development of education, and are bringing the area forward for the next generation. The project looked at how the 19th Amendment gave women a voice and representation, and was the catalyst for the way women became involved in the progress of the local area. The project examines the 50 years (1870-1920) before the amendment, the decades to follow and how women are making history today. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Merrill, Chloe, an oral history by Kandice Harris, 18 July 2019, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. Chloe Merrill 18 July 2019 1 Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Dr. Chloe Merrill, conducted on July 18, 2019, by Kandice Harris. Chloe discusses her life, her memories at Weber State University, and the impact of the 19th Amendment. Alexis Stokes, the video technician, is also present during this interview. KH: Today is July 18, 2019, we are with Dr. Chloe Merrill. Kandice Harris is doing the interview and Alexis Stokes is filming. When and where were you born? CM: I actually was born in Price, Carbon County, Utah, on January 15, 1956. KH: Would you talk a little bit about your early life and some historical background? CM: I have a different childhood than most people did. Carbon County is known for the farming and coal, and I actually grew up at 7,200 feet in a small town called Hiawatha, Utah; and it was a coal camp. My father was a medical doctor, my mom was a nurse. And I actually grew up in a four bed hospital. The home was “U” shaped. So this part of the “U” [motioning to one arm of the U] was our home and this part of the “U”, was the hospital [motioning to other arm and bottom of the U]. And numerous stories to tell. It was really fun, it was owned by King Coal at the time. They would take so much out of every person’s paycheck and so the town came together on Fridays and Saturdays, we had roller skating, movies, potlucks, games, everything. But it was different in the fact, the people in the mine all work together, but when they went home, Hiawatha was kind of built into enclaves. Where the Chinese individuals lived down from us. The Italians lived in an area that you 2 came in that we called String Town. Up in the corner, was Greek town. And so all of the different nationalities and there were all of them—African-American, Italian, Greek, Korean, everything—came together to work and to play, but then they went home to their cultures, their little areas. My father believed from the time we were very young, and so did my mother, that if we were going to live in that hospital area, that we needed to at least learn and be exposed. So I remember seeing kittens and doggies born first. Then the birth of a baby, as I was a little older mine accidents. We had a crank phone. I was raised in this time period when Little House on the Prairie, Mrs. Olsen listening in on everything, was actually there. Because in our home, we had the regular roto dial phone, but you had to go through an operator for everything. And the operators would stay on the line and then unplug. But, the mine phone, one ring was mine one. Two rings was mine two. There were multiple mines and so as they rang, you knew which mine and so it would connect and we had a certain way to answer it. And then we all went into action. My very first job was to open this gate because our house was here [indicating that the house was at the end of a long driveway] and for the ambulance to come in, was our driveway. And then our play area and garden and that was all here. Well my job was to open the gate. And so we had this swing gate that was double car driveway. And I would jump on it and ride the gate. Yeah, you’re not supposed to do that. On those old gates it breaks the springs. So my dad was constantly replacing them, but it was fun because I got to do that. And then we had a dog and a cat and my job was to be sure that they 3 were out of the way. And I was very small when I remember being taught to do that. The pharmacy was in our hospital. So prescribing drugs and my dad was one who believed only prescribing what people need so that they didn’t build up the resistance to antibiotics which were new, and this was in the 50’s and 60’s. And so I remember filling sugar caplets or salt with sugar making, anything harmless, my dad would come up. Because the King Coal said, “What you do for one person, you have to do for another.” And my dad said, “That’s not how medicine is done.” And so he would give everybody prescription because he wrote his own prescription—circled them. But they would all get a prescription. And it just might be a placebo. A couple of the biggest memories, I remember the polio vaccine coming in. They came into the X-Ray room and got checked off because the whole community had to have it. They came down the hall and got their sugar cube and then before they left, they had to show the sugar cube—opened their mouth and then got checked off. I got to sit with my father and drop the red drop of polio vaccine onto the sugar cube. And that’s one of the biggest memories I have because polio was so devastating to so many people. And so I’ve often remembered that. But I remember my father and my mother being always there. My dad would come in and tell my mom to go see patients. And if there was a problem to come in and he would start and cook dinner. And so I just remember these little things. My dad was 56 when they had me and my mother was 42. I was a, “You’re not supposed to pregnant baby.” You know? Whoops. And so I 4 was just blessed with parents that were good that were older. My dad had been married before, I had two older half-brothers older than my sister and I. I had a sister five and half years older than me. And he just spent time with us, but remembering Hiawatha I remember playing—I went to school in a two room school house. Well no, it wasn’t. It was a huge school that had been from first grade to high school at one time. But by the time I came along, there were two rooms that were used. There were first, second, and third in Mrs. Parmley’s and fourth, fifth, and sixth in Mrs. Carvers. And Mrs. Carver was also the principal. And Mrs. Nixon was the cook, homemade meals every day. Rolls to die for. But we learned curriculum. I used to get in trouble in first grade because I was more interested in what the third graders were learning than what I was learning. She would separate us at times and she’d teach the first graders and give us something to do, go to the second graders, then when that was over, check on us and give us some more. And then check on them and then go to the third grade. And so I would get my work done and I’d turn in my seat and watch. And at that point in time, you could stand in the corner with a dunce hat on, you could get your hand slapped with a ruler. And it was legal at that time. But one time I did go home with welts on my hand. There was another two nurses who used to work for us. And I went in and asked Marin Prince for some ointment to put on it before mom and dad saw. My dad saw. My mom was always the one who defused and off she went. That was it. My dad was slower. Oh, I’ve never seen my father so angry and he went over to school. That never happened again. Yeah, I’ve never 5 quite seen my dad like that. My dad did pass away when I was 10. And we stayed in the house until I was 14. My mom kind of kept it over and open as an emergency thing. By then, it was an office and we had shipped everybody out to Carbon County Hospital. But my mom worked as a head of nursing at the Emery County Nursing Home. My sister was older and my sister got married at 18. So I would go over with my mom and I would help the people in the nursing home. And I remember my mom said one day, “Go in and talk to this lady.” So I went in and talked to her and she was ornery with everybody, she wouldn’t get out of bed, she wouldn’t do anything; but by the time I finished with her, she had her shoes on, she was up and dressed, she was in a wheel chair. And I got permission from another nurse while my mom was off someplace, and I was out walking her around outside. Well, it started just a repertoire with me and some of the other patients so I really decided I wanted to be a medical doctor. So going from there, grew up, graduated from Carbon High School—10th in my class out of 294 or something like that. And the ones ahead of me were all male. One male is now president of BYU. One has been head of Huntsman DNA research, he’s now at UVU trying to rest. One is a top notch accountant, multiple attorneys in the group. So it’s kind of fun. There were a couple of girls that went on for higher education. But went to the College of Eastern Utah, which is now Utah State Eastern? KH: I think so, yeah. CM: Yeah. I had fun there. Was in plays, I played a musical instrument all through school. So I played in music there, I thought I wanted to be a musician—no, still 6 stayed with the doctor. I had to take all of these chemistry class, physiology classes, everything. And I was in the class and they gave us a live frog. And we had to kill and dissect it. And I thought, “I can do this. Yeah.” That was probably the hardest thing I did in my life. I had seen death, but to actually do that and dissect it—and I did, I got an A. But I thought, “I can’t do this.” Well I also had had a boyfriend since 9th grade and thought, “Oh, we’ll get married someday.” And I took a clothing class to sew because it was a challenge from his brother’s girlfriend. Because in junior high, when you are in 9th grade you’re supposed to take a yearlong of home economics at that time. No, no, no. Seventh grade half a semester was all that I could handle and so I went to the P.E. teacher in 9th grade and said, “Can I be your assistant?” “Sure.” So instead of home economics, I got to be an assistant in P.E. So, high school, not a thing in home economics. So I’m taking this clothing class because she said, “You don’t know how to sew and you don’t even know how to cook.” I said, “Anybody can cook, just read a recipe. And I can thread a needle.” Well I didn’t really, more than threading a needle, I knew basic suture stitches. So I took a clothing class and when I decided I couldn’t handle at the age of 18, killing—or somebody died on me. Even seven years from then and I just couldn’t imagine this. Because I wanted to help people. So I thought, “Well, let’s see what it takes for this.” Because I decided against music. And at that time, home economics needed three chem’s, two physiologies, two… I mean everything I had taken. So I transferred over to home economics. A big leap. But I finished my degree, I got my associate 7 degree there, broke up with the boy, and had a full-ride to BYU—a presidential scholar. Had had an experience at Weber State when I was in 9th grade of coming to the math program. We hit a deer coming up, we came up, it was so disorganized, the campus was not friendly or anything. I swore I’d never come to Weber State. So I got three quarter tuition at Utah State. And I decided that BYU was too close to home. I mean, five semester, full-ride scholarship I gave up and went to Utah State. And finished in a year, three quarters. But I still had my student teaching, so there was student teaching here in Ogden. So I did it during the summer at Ben Lomond High and Mount Fort Junior High and got a knife pulled on me at Ben Lomond because I gave the girlfriend a “D”. And he pulled a knife on me and I said, “Let me explain why I gave a ‘D’ and then if you still want to kill me, go ahead.” Not smart, not what you are taught. And the police are standing down there. I said, “Just… just.” So I explained and he just turned to his girlfriend and said, “That was really stupid.” So actually what the funny thing is, is we talked a lot, he went into the juvenile system, he came out and then he moved to Florida. And he actually became a senator for Florida, and he and I stayed friends. He wrote to me, apologized, everything. So one time when I was in Washington D.C., an officer of an organization. We were on the Hill. So I walked into his office and said, “Hi, so and so, do you remember?” And he just got up, gave me this huge bear hug— he was a huge man. And met his wife and we stayed in contact until he was no longer a senator, and he’s passed now. But we finally got to a point where we could joke about how stupid he was pulling a knife on a teacher. In today’s age, 8 it wouldn’t… that would be the end of it. But, this was 1977. And so I finished my student teaching and decided I hated Ogden. I’m never going to live in Ogden, worst place, I couldn’t stand it. My mother got cancer that summer also, and so she was in the hospital for seven weeks in Salt Lake. So I stayed with friends and then when I took her home finally, I thought, “Okay, I’ll get a job at a bank or some place and look at my career later.” Because teachers were all hired. And about the second day I was down there, I was getting ready to go out job hunting and it was a Thursday, and a lady by the name of Marie Krueger, she was from Brigham City, but she was the head of home economics at Utah State at that time. Called and said, “Do you want a master’s degree?” And I said, “Yes.” And she said, “I have a teaching assistant opening, but it means that you have to come up here by tomorrow, you have to take the GMAT, and the Millers Analogy Test, and be interviewed. Can you be here by 8 a.m.?” “Sure, no problem.” Hung up and thought about, “How am I going to tell my mom I’m not going to be here.” So I went in and told her that Marie had called and that this was an opportunity. She said, “You better go. Stay at the Paul Motel. And wake up refreshed. Get packed and get on the way.” So I went up and the next morning, took the Miller’s Analogy Exam. I had no idea what it was. Computers, we didn’t have then. And it’s where dog is to cat as blank is to blank, okay? And then I took the GMAT and I don’t know why they had me take that one. I was interviewed, found out I passed both of these. My interview was great and by two o’clock I was hired. I had to be back the next Wednesday. So I went to my 9 old apartment, because it had a, “For Rent” sign on. Called the people and asked if I could move back in and they said, “Yes.” Got that all situated and headed back for Price. And so that’s how I ended up getting my master’s. I did it in one year except for my thesis because at the end of the year, I got hired by Weber High School to come back to Ogden. Never say never, it comes back to bite you. So I came back and part of my responsibilities were to do the Warriorette Drill Team. Okay? They had lost four advisors in five months. KH: Were they that bad? CM: No, it’s just the girls wanted to run it their way versus what high school and Weber School District policies were. And I’m pretty big on policy and procedure manuals. You can bend to certain things but there are things that you don’t. And they had a constitution. I was sure that they all understood it and everything. So I would go at six o’clock every morning and then I’d teach my six classes, have my one prep period. Stay after school with them, every single event, everything. But I stayed by their constitution and the rules of the school. Which meant if girls violated it, they couldn’t march, they couldn’t perform. If I found out that they were pregnant, they were off the team. So I didn’t have a great reputation when I kicked a couple of kids off the team. But, today, those young women at that time are older. Actually one’s married to a very good friend of mine who teaches at BYU-Idaho and she thanks me all of the time because it taught her responsibility and lessons. But then I was engaged to be married. So I got married in June, a job came open here at Weber State and Marie Krueger again called me and said, “You need to apply for 10 this.” And she said, “It’s in the clothing and textiles area.” And I said, “I know very little about that because I had focused on the chemistry side of textiles.” What went into it, like I would have been ideal working at Monsanto Carpet Division or a Fabric Division or something like that. She said, “Just try it.” So I interviewed. I remember Bob Arrway was the department chair. But he was stepping down and Jean Coones was going in. And I got notified about four weeks after I interviewed that I got the job. I came home from my honeymoon and went right to the job interview. I didn’t think I had it. So I took the Warriorettes through the 4th, through the 24th, through all of that. And actually I think my contract says I started here August 2nd. Now we automatically start July 1st. And so August 2, 1979 I was working at Weber State. KH: So what did you teach at Ogden High? CM: Home Economics at that time. Today it’s Family and Consumer Science. I taught cooking. In fact this spring, I ran into a student who is the grandparent of a child in our children’s school that took my cooking class. I thought, “Oh my.” And compliments that she came and I would have never ever known. I taught cooking, clothing, financial management, arts and crafts, human development— child development at that time. Two child developments because that was the only double prep I had. Other than that, I had separate preps. I remember a lot of help. We ended up knowing because there was Jan Moyes, Diane Hart, and Carla Ferrell, and myself and we became in one year the top Home Economic of team teachers in the state. We had meetings, we collaborated, we did everything. But at that time, Weber High was open pot. No walls in the 11 classroom. So when anybody would play a film, we coordinated because we couldn’t do anything else because everybody heard it. So we would have them do their assignments. And I was right at the end of the hall as you come down, the bathrooms are right there. It was really interesting because high school kids were just high school kids back then. I liked it, but boy, I didn’t. I was looking. But I got the job here I was hired in Child and Family Studies, and my main responsibilities were clothing and textile. And I was one day a head of the students and I’m not kidding. I would stay up, late nights doing things at home so that when I showed them to the students, I had it down. And sometimes I was reading. I remember one time, somebody said, “Do you know how to tap?” “No, but I’ll find out.” And I found a lady who did and I paid her for two hours and she taught me and I went in and taught it the next day. It’s just how I am. If I don’t, I’ll say I don’t, but I’ll find out for you. So that’s a long little bit about my history. KH: Were you encouraged to pursue your education? CM: Oh yes. Even before my father passed away, he at that time, war bonds or bonds he purchased them in 1965 for both my sister and I. And with the understanding that my mother would hold them and then they would be used for our education. I didn’t use mine until I got my Ph.D. with my master’s and my undergraduate I went on scholarships or worked to work my way through. But in my doctorate, I took a sabbatical from here, I went to Colorado State University. I had a teaching assistantship. I didn’t work because I took 18-28 credits a semester. And I went one summer, came back and taught, and then went the next summer, fall, spring, wrote my dissertation during the summer. Turned it in 12 on the 24th of July for my two weeks and on the 4th of August defended. I was 28 years old. We couldn’t ever find a time that worked for my committee, so during vocational week they had a full week of vocational back in those days. I asked my committee if they’d meet for a breakfast at the Union Building. They said, “Yes.” So I worked with the chef there and my committee had all got together for breakfast. We had one hour, which normally there are two. They asked me questions I told them, relayed my research, which was on actually looking at older adults and what they felt services were that the community needed to give them and then family workers in communities and what they felt they needed and noticed that they weren’t anywhere near together. And they sent me out of the room, I didn’t even get to sit down while they debated. My major professor, Dr. Caroline Norris came out and said, “Dr. Merrill, would you come back in.” I had one verb change I had missed and so I had to retype one page and other than that, my dissertation was done. However, when I turned it in to the graduate school, on the first of August, APA had changed from third edition to fourth edition. So I had to petition that since it had been to my committee by the 24th that the graduate school accept it and they did because they said it was because I had a 4.0 that they would accept it. So I took it to be bound, put it, and I headed home on the 10th of August. But, yeah, I was panicking because the change was major at that time. It probably would have taken me six months to redo it all. But my parents encouraged it, yes. Sorry, I thought I had tracked off there. No, I remember my mom standing by my father’s 13 grave when I had taken her up after I finished and I heard her say, “Lavelle, she has her doctorate, please make her stop.” KH: What were some of the challenges you faced while obtaining your degrees? CM: Time. The biggest challenge I would say is I put it on myself because I wanted to get done. I wanted to get on with life and I missed some of the fun things that you should do in college. On Friday nights when I was at college at Colorado State, we’d go out as a group and I was always the designated driver. So that was fun because I was with a group and our professors would come, and everybody. But that’s the only time I went out. And when I was going through school at Utah State, I didn’t really take time to play. So I tell all my students, don’t do it as I did it. Play. College is a time to explore. To make friends and find out what life is really about and what you really want. KH: What mentors or resources did you have available to you in your program and career? CM: Oh, throughout my career, I’ve had numerous ones. Some I’ve mentioned. Those that are alive I probably won’t mention because I didn’t have permission. But you know from the time I was small, I had mentors in my life or I looked up to people. But in my career, Marie Kruger as I’ve mentioned. When she passed away it was a really sad day. Jan Preston at Utah State. Oh, Mary Piza at the College of Eastern Utah. I have a friend that knew Mary. She used to substitute, she was old when I knew her, I hate to say that. But, she was ready to retire then and went on. A lot that are left living, , people that were here, when I moved 14 here at Weber State. Jean Coones, Genevieve Wise, Carol Tribe. I’ll mention Jim Bird, he’s still alive but, we all mentored each other. Because when I came to Weber, there was kind of an old guard and a new guard. There was this young faculty and then there was the older faculty that had been here for a long time. And the new guard kind of got together, but what ended up happening is the old guard retired all of a sudden and the new guard became the old guard for the new guard. But the people here, Carole Haun, people over in administration. Just a lot of different people that have either retired or aren’t here now. I think I’m the only one left in the college. I am. I’m not the oldest in the college, but I am the oldest hire in the college. I think I’m pretty close to that at the university level too. KH: What was Weber State like when you started? CM: Small. There were between 7,000-8,000 students. The business building wasn’t there. That was all earth, like grass. Building one, two, and three were still here. Student Services wasn’t here. It was intimate, smaller, and everybody knew everybody. The funny thing was students would come into my classrooms and go to the oldest person in the classroom and then they’d point to me as the teacher and they’d go, “Yeah.” Yeah, it was. Average age back then was about 26, so it hasn’t changed too much, and I was 22. But it was fun. We got together; football, the stadium was completely packed all of the time. Basketball, the Dee Events Center was packed all of the time. Students really wanted to learn. It was still a commuter campus, and people worked and were married. But education came first. Sometime today, work comes first. 15 KH: How has the Child and Family Study Program changed over time? CM: Well when I came, it was named Child and Family Studies, but it was more. Originally, it was a home economics department, and Family and Consumer Science. And then the state board of education came in and gave certain colleges and universities roles, and Weber State did not get the role of Home Economics Education. Utah State and University of Utah did. And so this was an old home economics program, we had a full foods lab program and we had all of these emphases. There was a foods emphasis, a clothing and textiles emphasis, a family resources management emphasis, a child development emphasis, interior design was in this program. We had an interior design emphasis. The children’s school was still here. It had not been named Melba S. Lehner yet, but Melba was still alive at that time. I knew her very well. And each program collaborated with each other so that we had a three core class that everybody had to take. And then they could go off into their separate areas. And there was one major person in every area. Jan Slabaugh was with interior design. Brenda Hall, ended up Brenda Scofield–was in family resource management. Jen Wise was family relations. Carol Tribe was child development. Evelyn Day was foods and nutrition. I was clothing and textiles. Jim Bird at that time was the head of the children’s school and Tom Day was part of the children’s school. So over the years, it was actually Jean Coones retired in 1984 at the end of that year. And Craig Campbell came in as department chair. I just came back with my doctorate and we started looking at the department as a whole and what did we need to phase out, what did we need to change to meet the times. And 16 so we decided to phase out the foods and make it more of a nutrition department. And totally phase out the clothing, make the family and resource more into the family area. So what developed out of that was what we have now. Early Childhood—or it was child development and human development, and early childhood education because that’s combined with teacher ed. and then family studies. And today we have early childhood, early childhood education, and family studies. KH: Could you talk a little bit about the history of the children’s school? CM: The children’s school actually started clear back in 1930 something. With Melba. Melba was department chair, I think it was maybe1940 something. Right after World War II. Melba Lehner felt that there was a need for training in the early childhood for the students who were going to go out and work in daycares and preschools, and also that those who were going into teaching school— Kindergarten through third grade, which is the early childhood degree—needed to have live experiences. And all over the United States children’s schools were popping up. So I believe it was off of building three or four, and I think building three. That’s where it started and it started very small and just built with a small community group. And they would come for like two and a half hours a day and then it expanded from there. And when this building was built [McKay Education Building], it was actually built with three rooms being lab rooms. Two of them being preschool or three to five year olds, and the end room being more of a community; that they would come for two and half hours in the morning, they might leave and a different group would come for two and a half hours in the 17 afternoon. So that there was still a community base to it. With student fees, the two rooms for the 3-5 years olds, the highest percent had to be university student children and then faculty and staff would pay a higher fee but they would then fill. If there were any rooms, the community could have them. The interesting thing, the community room—when I first came in ’79 there was like a three year wait list. And there was a two year student, faculty wait list. So people began and it got to a point, people would put their children when they found out they were pregnant, as time went on. In, 1986 or 1987? I think it was 1987, we put together a team to look at naming the children’s school because Melba had put her life and everything into that. And she was getting older and so we were able to do that. I remember when we named it, I was here for the celebration and students came back, grown up students, they came back and Melba remembered them all. Melba has since gone, but the Janice Dee Family has made sure that the children’s school has a memorial fund and that scholarships and research. And different things can be done for the children’s school. The children’s school is an NAEYC accredited, which is the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The accreditation takes a lot of work to get. And with that, NAEYC decided that they wanted to do associate degree programs and then pilot bachelor degree programs. So a couple of years ago, our department decided to do it. We did it, we wrote things and we now have an associate in our early childhood education is certified by NAEYC as well. KH: Would you talk a little bit about the celebration for renaming the school? 18 CM: Basically we had a ribbon cutting, we made the plaque that’s down there still. We just invited people. People came and spoke—former students and that. And then other than that we had a big cake and ice cream and cake. It was low key because Melba herself, was very humble, very modest, very elegant. And not afraid to get down with the kids. Not afraid, oh, and she could tell you off. I remember working on some department history and I sat on the floor at her feet so I could write so I could look up and watch her face. And I remember how amazing that was to watch when she would switch moods about things that had happened; and how angry she had gotten, and when things had gone right. It was just wonderful to watch. But it was really low key and then after that, we’ve just kept it. We used to call it just the Children’s School, but then when the final about three years ago, the final endowment money, came in, or is coming in and so now we call it the Lehner Children’s School, or the Melba S. Lenher Children’s School. MSL Children’s School. KH: Would you talk a little bit about the Boyd K. and Donna S. Packard Center for Family and Community Education? CM: The family education center actually came about in 1988. It was approved for the college of education, but to be housed at that time, in child and family studies. It had to be approved by the board of regents. So it was approved, there were two things that it did at that time. It worked on the Families Alive Conference, which was yearly then. And then we didn’t have the Care about Childcare Program. We had, what we call the CDA credentialing. And so people could come and borrow a parenting library, families alive videos, it was housed in 19 a little closet room at the end of the hall. But it had no funding. So one year, we were talking about different things that could happen, and Jack Rassmussen, the former dean, wanted to look at the family education center and pull it into the dean’s office. And then put certain things under it as a support or not things necessarily under it, but have support for it and direction. So storytelling, families alive, the T.A.P program, Teaching Assistants Pathway to Teaching. Some of those things under it, so that we could look at getting funding and maybe getting them named. So we started looking and Leslie Moore at the time was our development officer. And she started looking at names of students from the past that we might be able to name it after, and so she felt that Boyd K. and Donna S. Packard had both been students here and actually met here. And Donna was in Child and Family studies, or the Home economics area. And Boyd was in education with business. And so they were actually both in the college and so she went to them and asked and because he was an Apostle in the Latter-Day Saint Church, he had to get permission. And so there was a whole line of what they have to do. And they came back as a family, because the family also has to agree that they would. But it needed to be based on that they were students here. So that’s what we did with the idea that it’s a support center for the various programs within the college of education and in the community as needed. So donations were sought and received and we had a celebration for that. There was a dinner that was attended by individuals who had donated the Packard family came and some of Mr. Packard’s friends. And so we had music 20 and we had a few little speeches and we showed the display that was going to go up on the wall which is downstairs and it was very nice evening. There was some controversy over the center people didn’t understand that it’s a support center. For example, I’m the executive director of the Packard Center and what I do is I manage the resources and help with the TAP program. I serve on their executive board just as a liaison and Shirley Dawson is over that. Does a wonderful job, we’ve been able to add more students than we have before. School districts are in great need, but we work with the school districts on that. Storytelling has continued to go. It’s an annual affair. We try to keep it free for everyone to attend. In this day and age, it’s becoming harder and harder, but we have wonderful donors that work with us. We help do some of the logistics with the Families Alive. We don’t do as much with that because, like TAP is in teacher ed. Storytelling really is in Teacher Ed. Families Alive is now endowed—actually it’s the Tanner’s Families Alive. It’s endowed by O.C. Tanner. And it’s out of Child and Families Studies. So those different kinds of programs. And we work with the diversity center on a lot of different things as well. KH: Would you talk a little bit about the Charter School here at Weber? CM: The Charter School, I haven’t had a lot to do with it the last four years. But I actually was the chair of the committee that started it. We began it in May seven years ago. And we had child and family studies, we had a representative from HYPR. It used to be HPHP, Human Performance and Health Performance, or vice versa. But now it’s Health Physical Education and Recreation. What used 21 to be ATN is now, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. And so we had representatives from the four departments that make up the college and we assigned different areas of writing and different things and then we’d come back together, talk, and we’d set the goals, what the mission was and all of that. And then we decided room 116, which I taught in only. It was the only room I had ever been in since 1979, was going to be remodeled and we designed it with an observation room, bathrooms in the classroom, different things. And we wrote the documentations all for it. When I got them back, I had the state look over them. And they said, “They aren’t detailed enough.” It was summer, the committee was gone, so I spent the summer writing, getting people to read it. Writing again and went before the Charter Board in October and before the state board of education, or board of education in November and was approved. Now, we thought we had a year and a half to open. But the state thought that we were opening in August. So we thought not the coming August, but the August after that. So we said, “Okay.” So I was told about a grant that I could write for. So I wrote the information for the grant. Camie Bearden helped me and we were granted, we did it in a three year progressive step. So in total it was $100,000 and so each year, we added books, we added different things. But our first grant was to even put furniture in there. They started the construction and we had to have it ready to go by May. The room had to be completed. So FM [Facilities Management] worked with us, Chad Downs was wonderful. Any problem that could come up, did. But we got the room ready and then, and then we hired a teacher and we 22 had our board of directors and we met all of the time. And we were writing policies, we were doing procedures, everything. And we opened the next August. We had the Wildcat, Mr. Wildcat come—Mr. or Mrs. I don’t know. We had a ribbon cutting outside and the little kids who were in the school, came. We had t-shirts for them to wear and they cut. And they were the ones who cut the ribbon with the president, with Ann Milliner and the dean. And we came back in and had punch and cookies, and they were able to tour the facilities. We also changed the community school room into an after and before care so that the children could be here, and then we worked out a system of taking them down and back. And I stayed as board chair for two more years and then it’s on a rotating system. KH: What does a typical semester look like for you? CM: I have no typical semester. Right now as associate dean, typical semester is I teach two face to face classes, then by my choice teach, I teach two overload classes online. The dean gives me a list at the beginning, sometime of each semester or at the beginning of the year of accomplishments and directives. And that can change rapidly all of the time. And because I act as dean when the dean is not here. And I’m over program reviews. I work on the website for tenure and promotion. I don’t know, it just switches. This is my last appointed year as associate dean. So, I plan on going back full-time teaching, what it will look like will probably be four classes, committees—oh yeah, committees are all of the time. National work, people have often said to me, “You’ve got tenure, why do you keep doing everything?” You have to keep up in your field, you have 23 to keep your name out. Not only that, but you have to be up on the latest information to bring it back to your students. I don’t teach with yellow notes and everything is changing. KH: What is the term for an associate dean? CM: Generally it’s a three year term, and then the way the policy is right now, you can either be reappointed for another three years or you have to reapply, but they are looking at changing that. And there’s a committee that will look and anyone can do that. So this college will do it and so I was appointed for three years, then another three years. And then with Jack knowing what his retirement plans were, he appointed me for another two years. And I asked Kristin if she wanted to keep me on or not. I was ready just to do whatever. And she said that she wanted to keep me on. But my plans are that it should go up for the way the policy says that it’s advertised, you apply, you do the interviews, and then it’s decided. Do I want it again? Somebody else needs the choice. Out of the 40 years I’ve been at Weber State, I have spent 20 in administration. Now here’s the caveat though, I love administration. I love teaching, but if you had to put the two next to each other and somebody said to me, “You only can choose one. What would you choose?” I hate to tell my students, but I’d say administration. I love administration. KH: What are the different positions you’ve held here? CM: Instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, full professor, except I’ve been a full professor since 1992. I got tenured in 1985. Department chair twice, 24 once for eight years. Then department chair again for three. And this will be my eighth year as associate dean. KH: What was the tenure process like for you? CM: I can’t say that word on camera. But it starts with an, “h”. Tenure was a lot different back then. We had to go through a review in our second year. In our third year, in our fifth year, and then our seventh year. So this new policy, it only takes six years. But ours took seven when we had to go through full reviews. And child and family studies was well known for getting rid of their faculty at tenure time. And then I came up. And I actually had a letter from Bob Smith, who was the vice president at that time, now it would be considered provost. Because everybody else in the department, we had all been hired with master’s. They got a one year extension, I didn’t. So I asked why. Well the letter that came back said that I just had to do it, that I wasn’t getting an extension and it was in my, I think it was my third year or fourth. We were really evaluated constantly that I couldn’t do it in three years, you don’t tell me that. And that I’d better be thinking ahead. So I actually got divorced and when I was separated, I decided the way to handle it for me, was to go back to school. So I had filed for divorce, I flew out the next weekend to Colorado State, I had applied to Oregon State, Colorado State, and Ohio State. And I had done an interview, telephone interview with Ohio and with Corvallis—with Oregon State. But Colorado State, I actually had to fly out and take a test again. So I flew out and took a written test, bluffed my through it. I just thought, “There’s no way.” I was interviewed by five really great men, now that I know them, I think 25 most of them are gone. And Dr. Tex Anderson was the department chair. He was one of them. And I thought, “These old farmers are not going to take this 25 year old at all.” But I did my interview, then I went to lunch with a group of the students. Then I came back and I said, “Dr. Anderson, can I talk to you?” “Call me Tex.” And I said, “You told me in the interview that you might not know for three weeks. If there’s anyway I need to know, I would today because I’d like to get housing to start this summer if I could and then go back and work for a year, and then come full-time.” “Yeah, go get your housing.” And so when I walked out, Carolyn Norse stopped me and she says, “Yes, go get your housing and I’ll be your advisor.” So I was excited! I went, there was an apartment place a block off, so I got it and flew home. And went back and as I said, I did that year, came back and taught for a year. Went through another review that said okay. And went back and was there that year and then when I came back in August, I came back as Dr. Merrill and Families Alive was the first week of school. I was standing in the back and Bob Smith came in and he says, “Well hello.” And I said, “Hello Dr. Smith.” And he says, “You remember it’s Bob.” And I said, “Yes, but I’m Dr. Merrill now and you told me I couldn’t do it.” And he looked at me and he said, “Have you sent proof?” And I said, “Oh yes. Everything has been sent to HR.” because I started through the seventh year tenure process that fall. And at first, the department didn’t want to do it and Parkinson’s. He was the dean when I was hired, but he had stepped down and he was on the committee. And of course, the little department group that didn’t want any new blood to really stay, because we had too many fun ideas. He 26 called me into his office and asked me why I had asked for an extension and I told him. And told him about the letter that was in my file. And he says, “Why do you feel you need tenure?” And I went right down the list of the tenure policy then about how I met everything and exceeded it. Articles written, presentations given, offices held in national organizations… and he said, “Okay.” I got tenure. I broke the mold. The next year, the department voted that I was chair of the tenure committee. Jim Bird got it that year, it kind of trickled down after that because we all had to go back and get Ph.D.’s or Ed.D. KH: What was it like being department chair? CM: Difficult and wonderful. When I first went in, I was following in Craig Campbell’s footsteps and he had started to try to pull the department together really after we had done all these switches. And so I was trying hard to continue that process right when the university came down with a reduce and restructure policy. And they put out a list of departments that they were going to do away with. And listed departments that they were going to restructure and those that were safe. Child and family studies ended up being on the reduce and restructure list. So I had the administration come over and meet with the department and they listened to us and they said, “Okay, you can have two open forums that convinces why we should keep you. And get all of your curriculum together and put your case together.” So within two weeks had all of our curriculum together, we had all of our cases. I remember there was a gentleman in business, I can’t remember his name. But I met him in the bookstore, he looked at every single book we had. Was it academic? Was it fluff? And then we had open forums. 27 Now, at each one of those open forums, I called in and people in the department called in as many markers as we had out in the community. We had 300+ at both meetings. People talked, people said why we needed to be kept. And there were a lot of questions asked and still we were on that list. Well, the assistant to the governor at that time and I were kind of dating. And we went out to dinner and he says, “What’s wrong? You’re just not yourself tonight.” And I said, “They want to cut the family out of life.” Something to that effect and he looked at me and said, “What?” And I said, “Well, children and families aren’t important to Weber State anymore.” I said, “We are on the reduce/restructure list. They want to do away with us all.” And I said, “You know, we are important and this is why.” Well, he went to the governor and the governor called President Thompson, President Thompson called me and said, “Don’t go to the governor the next time.” I said, “I didn’t. I was on a date.” Anyway, we got off the list. I said, “Can’t I vent to a date?” I guess not. Anyway, so that was one of the big challenges. But then we were really kept moving forward and the second time I was department chair, it was a lot of people retiring, bringing in new faculty. Not throwing out the baby with the bath water, just throwing the bath water out. Trying to keep the baby happy. And then, being associate dean has just been learning about all of the different nuances. KH: What was it like changing from quarters to semesters? CM: It was hard because, you had ten weeks and then you could get rid of them—the students. And then another ten weeks and then you were rid of them. Now you’ve got 16 weeks, no, I’m just kidding. The one disadvantage of it was really 28 looking at, “What did you want to increase, what did you not want to increase? How are you going to stand on your head and dance and sing and whatever you needed to do for 16 weeks, when students were used to ten weeks, and faculty were.” The nice thing about it was you could more in depth on things. And you could really dig out or offer broader prospects. And really get into things. It was very different. It was handled well at Weber State. It was interesting, student transcript having to be adjusted because five credit classes were only worth three point something, or 3.5 and to really look at that and to get students graduated. The disadvantage I see is because students get tired. When we have spring break half way through, some of the students choose not to come back, or choose, “I’ve got too much else to do in life.” And that would have been the end of the quarter. I find, I love the fall break and thank goodness it’s only one day. Because I do have students that quit then. You get tied up in your life because you are going into, what I call, the “Hal-Thank-Mas” season with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. And then you’ve got the New Year. And they are so close together that it gets a little tough. But, pros and cons. KH: What was it like changing from a college to a university? CM: It was wonderful. I remember President Nadauld jumping up on the brick wall when they took down off the cloth that was covering the university. And as a four year college, we were very community based. But, as a university we still have a dual mission, being a university and still being community based. So it gives a bigger advantage to the students. I remember we had a huge party. It was a 29 dance and in the student union on this floor it was this kind of music. This floor, this kind of music. This floor… you know, and refreshments. There was a dinner. It was really an exciting evening and then at midnight with fireworks to unveil that. But now, I still call it sometimes Weber State College. Even though we’ve been a university since 1990.It was really fun. And to see the changes that the university has made in at least adding teaching still being the focus, but adding the research component. Having an undergraduate research program that students can learn more so if they choose to go out for higher degrees, that they are more prepared. KH: What are your memories of the Olympics? CM: We got time off. Yeah. Coming back a week early, having a lot of different—the dorms housed more of the security people. I remember, I did not volunteer because we were having a Families Alive at the end of March. And I was chairing another Families Alive, I did 13 of them. And so I was really busy in the process of doing that. But I remember the helicopters flying over consistently. I remember the roads being closed for the Dee. The curling was at the Ice Skating Sheet. From my house, I can see the tip of Snow Basin Mountain, just the towers that are there. Wondering how it was going, but then I could go down, click on my fireplace, click on my T.V. and watch it and sit in the lounge chair. But, that’s when I remember everybody being so excited that it was able to be in Utah and knowing that we didn’t know all of the security risks that were actually happening. But, knowing that we were pretty safe. KH: Would you talk a little bit about the Families Alive Conference? 30 CM: Okay, the Families Alive Conference—actually it was started under a different name back in the early 50’s and Melba Lehner started it again, to look at how families were changing in society and communities. And then because of funding, it went by the wayside. And then 1984, was the first one that we did again. And the department had gotten together and decided that we needed to look at it again because families again were changing and there was the big saying going around that, “Families were at a demise.” They were being done away with. Well, the interesting thing is research clear back in 1910 showed that things were, the same things were being said, but the family was the basis of all societies. Some type of family. We look at cave drawings and you have clans together that is a family. So as we looked at that, and things were going on in the world and so we decided to have it and so we found money. The Families Alive Program, we’d bring in guest speakers. Or experts in the field and then we also have community members that will come and give workshops and so it really started as for not only students, but community. We had people come from Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, all over to come. And then as conferences got more popular, and now they’ve died down again. It’s really more for community and students. But we brought in some big names like, Burton White, Ben Gahzi. We’ve even brought in celebrities like Henry Winkler. People have said, “Why did you bring Henry Winkler in?” Henry Winkler is dyslectic. And so what he went through as a child and how when people finally recognized and how it turned around. But now the O.C. Tanner has… when I went in—when I started sharing it, I really worked close with development and the O.C. Tanner 31 family. And so the basis was there when we approached them to see if they would only have a lecture but if they’d name the whole thing and they did. So, it was really great. KH: What committees or organizations have you or are a member of? CM: Too many. I looked at that question last night and I chuckled and I pulled my resume because I’m active in both a professional women’s association that’s international that I serve on the board of directors and all of that. Then I’m active in the American Association for Family and Consumer Science, which is formally The Home Economics Association. I’ve served many committees, committee chairs, board of directors, and then I’m active in the National Association for Family Relations. I’ve served on the board of directors of many committees, I’ve been vice president affiliates, everything. And right now, I am on the board of directors, I’m the member at large for the Groves Conference on Marriage and Family. I just finished being co-chair of the Teaching Family Science Association and we did their conference in Kauai, the second and third of June. Normally, that association is smaller. We normally have 30-50 people attend the conference. We had 75 in attendance, and we had a lot of peer reviewed papers and teaching techniques. So we had a lot that applied, so Dick Burke and Carol VandenAkker and I decided to step the conference up instead of doing 13 minute presentation, 5 minute. We had so many 20 minute presentations and then we had 7 minute— like flash session, or speed sessions. So you had 7 minutes to give 7 slides to give all of your information that you wanted. So we had a bunch 32 of those and then we had speed poster sessions. They had one minute, they could show one slide, they had one minute to talk about the poster, and why people should visit it and then their posters were there for an hour. The people could go and do. So we had two days of rotating them. I then had worked with the Smith family on Kauai who does the Smith Family luau. And we took 134 adults, 5 teenagers, and 2 children to an evening at the Smith Family luau. It’s the largest conference in the history of Teaching Family Science that we’ve had. And people said, “Would you do it again?” “Give me some time.” I have five pages in my resume, or my vita. So I have been very active all of the time. Like I said, when people said, “When you get tenure, you just don’t continue.” I have, I’ve served on two board of directors. Now is my third one in a different organization. I am active in all of them. Actually for National Counsel on Family Relations—NCFR, we are putting together a new program for students on resumes to have their resumes or vitas to have them evaluated, even graduate students. I just evaluated the program and what they’ve done and gave suggestions of to make it better or different to help those who are going to do this as mentors and professionals. So I’m mentor a lot of students as well as professionals still. And they still mentor me. KH: What topics have you written about? CM: I’ve written about older adults. I’ve written a lot about genealogy and how it can affect your family. I’ve written a lot about stress. I have chapters in five separate books. One is on leadership, one is on self-esteem, one is on finding your life path. One is on maintaining your self-concept, which is different than self- 33 esteem and I explain the difference. And the other one is on health. How to maintain a healthy life when you are looking at your mind, body, spirit, combinations. KH: How have you become a mentor to others in your field? CM: Just by being who I am. Also, by understanding that they have things that I can still learn even though I’m older. That I still learn every day from my students. That I do have something to give to them but that it’s a two way street. I just talked with a student from 15-20 years ago yesterday and they were telling their children how I was their hardest teacher. But, there’s a cohort that gets together and they all talk about, yeah I was hard but it’s what I taught them that they remember and use in their life. And I don’t think I’m that hard. I don’t know. It comes and goes. KH: What advice would you give to students and women starting in your field? CM: It’s not high paying. It changes consistently. You have to constantly be willing to keep up. Studying the family is so exciting to look at it over time, as well as, know that it’s been the basis for all society. And that yes, it has changed, but the family will never go away. It’s not in demise. There’s always going to be people having children. That some days it’s easy, some days it’s hard. And that as a woman, this used to be a woman dominated field and it’s not anymore. In fact, in family studies, that program, I’m the only female. So, there are four males and me. So the joke is, and it is just a joke, I meet with the boys. And they know it and they laugh about it. But I am the oldest so I can say that. But 34 it’s meant as a term of endearment. When I was born, the field’s that women could go into was teaching, secretary, or nursing. And today, my advice is you can be anything that you want to be. But in this field, you can still be anything you want to be, but the biggest thing you have to do is sell yourself. I can give you tools, the family studies program has 11 areas that we really look at; 10 are based on the National Council on Family Relations. Because we are a program that the students can get pre-CFLE certification. And so one of the big things is learn that you are valuable, that you are your own special commodity, and learn how to sell yourself. KH: What are some of your favorite memories at Weber State University? CM: People. Learning and getting to know new people. Favorite memories are watching my students succeed. Serving on the various committees to always be more student focused. Changing from a college to a university. Watching the growth of the campus. Not parking, not a favorite memory. Watching the Davis Campus come. Watching the other sites that we can have classes at grow. I think it’s just being a member of the Weber State community. KH: How do you think women receiving the right to vote, shaped or influenced history, your community, and you personally? CM: The interesting thing is if you look at Utah history, women have always had rights. That we are different from any place else. Now, I come from Carbon County, which Carbon and Emery County are almost like a state within inside of the state of Utah. And women were always held high. But I think nationwide, it 35 changed the political view that women were no longer property. That they did have brains, that they could be educated, and that they had a larger voice than people realized. As far as me personally, I was raised in a household that was very equal. My mom and dad would discuss a lot and then they would bring it to my sister and I. And they would include us in the decisions. So from a very early age, it wasn’t—well there were, “You will do this.” Certain things. But most of the time it was, “You did this, what do you feel the consequences should be. You have a choice between this and this.” So, I was given power from a very young age, which was and is developmentally appropriately now, but not heard of in early age. And so I think that my dad and mom were raised by parents who the female vote was very important. Because we come from strong people, strong willed women. My mother never did remarry after my father died and she died in 1997. I have been married twice and divorced twice. There are a lot of different reasons for those. But I think part of it was education. I think that did play a role. Which is okay, people tell you that they’re okay with things, but they really aren’t. My first one, I had a master’s, my second I had a Ph.D. How did it influence me again? Today. My first marriage, I took his last name. Second marriage, I didn’t. If I were to marry again today, I would not. I would keep my maiden name. Merrill is my maiden name. I think that’s how it’s influenced me. And the interesting thing that’s most of my colleagues, some go by their husbands’ name. Some husbands go by hyphen. And some go by their name, and the woman 36 goes by her name. So I think that’s how maybe has the also changed the world because I do remember when I went to get a credit card and was told, I either had to have my mother’s signature or my husband’s. What? I’m 21 years old. It didn’t matter, I was a female. Today, that’s against the law. But I do remember being told that. The last time I bought a car, 9 years ago. I walked into one dealership and was asking some questions and the salesperson said, “Honey, why don’t you just have your husband come back with you.” “If I had one of those, I might. But I don’t.” “Well, then find a male friend to come back.” Well what was interesting is I have a male friend and he and his wife were talking to me and he went in and asked the questions I was asking and asked the price and got a $10,000 different price. So I walked up and said, “Oh, will you honor that for me, since he’s my friend?” “Oh no. It’s this price for you.” I didn’t buy the car there, I went elsewhere. And actually, I walked out of where I did buy the car and the salesperson came running and said, “Why? Why?” And I said, “Do you think it’s funny when I ask you questions and you say, ‘Just a minute, I’ll go talk.’ And you go over and sit down and talk with your buddies for 20 minutes, come back, give me an answer. I ask a couple more questions. Are you not smart enough to answer my questions?” “Oh well we’ve been talking football and that.” And I said, “And you’re wasting my time.” Everybody heard it. I got apologized to … I mean. Even the owner of the thing came out, “I’m sorry this happened.” You know? “What can we do?” And I told them, I said, “Do you treat all your customers like this?” “No.” “Do you just treat women like this?” “Well yeah, 37 because most men come in with them.” I said, “It doesn’t work. I’m not buying a car here.” Well they made everything possible for me to buy my car and I did. But that doesn’t happen anymore. Maybe it’s just with me, every time I go up to get my car serviced, I get great service. I think the stories lasted for nine years. But, I think a lot of different ways that we may not think of. The rights of women have changed and in some people’s minds they haven’t though. Even today. I still hear people say, “Oh, you teach females so they can get their Mrs. Degree.” “No, I teach females so that after they get their Mrs. Degree they can still, if they choose to stay at home, be the best person that they can be. If they choose not to, that they can still do dual roles and that if their significant other leaves them for any reason, death, divorce, anything… that they have something to fall back on. And that’s the most important.” But as my students can tell you, one of the most important jobs that you will ever do is being married. The second hardest job that you’ll ever do is raising children. And they’re a lot of skills that you need that I think the women’s suffrage movement helped out or bring to the forefront that weren’t noticed. KH: Is there anything else you’d like to share? CM: That this has just been delightful and I have lots of stories if ever you need more. KH: Great, thank you for your time. CM: Thank you.