Immaculate Conception School

I remember the Catholics being a powerful force in Macon. When I was growing up, it seemed like you knew who all the Catholics were. You may not have known where all your friends went to church — if they went to church at all. But you sure knew who your Catholic friends were.

That wasn't bad. It wasn't good. It just was.

And the reason is because the Catholics had their own school. At the time, private schools were about as rare as home-schooling. But Macon had a Catholic school. It had a huge public school and it had a tiny Catholic school.

It was just an elementary school — up through sixth grade. And that's how you put your friends in the "Catholic" or "Non-Catholic" buckets. If you went to elementary school with them, they probably weren't Catholic. But if they showed up with the group of kids that suddenly showed up in the seventh grade, yep, they were Catholic.

It's interesting to look backwards and see how kids segment their own population. They don't have to be told to — they just do it. It's as if society demands labels to be put on people. The labels aren't always pejorative — the "Catholic" label certainly isn't. (Some of my best friends are Catholic.) But the label has to exist.

I've never seen a postcard of the Catholic church. It's a relatively modern building, perhaps built in the 1960s. I don't know anything about their "old" building, if there was one. But this school building still stands. It's been remodeled and doesn't quite look like this picture now, but it's still there.

Enough about my memories of Macon Catholics; let's talk about the postcard.

Apparently, Dorothy left without saying goodbye to Genevieve. In pre-war 1940, you had to take a ride when it became available.

Dorothy left fast enough that she didn't get Genevieve's address, so she tried it from memory. There is a lot of scribbling on the front of the card and apparently some of it was done by the postal workers as they tried to figure out where Genevieve lived. A stamp says that she wasn't "in the directory". There are pieces of addresses scribbled on the card: "1010" and "1014". And what looks like the word "where" with a big question mark.

I have to assume that Genevieve eventually got her card, because I bought it on eBay. If it had ended up in the dead letter office, it would have been destroyed.

Subject:	Immaculate Conception School
Caption:	Immaculate Conception School, Macon, Mo. 1A257 Taylor's News and Book Store, Macon, Mo. "C.T. Photo-Finish" Reg. U.S. Pat.Off. Made only by Curt Teich & Co., Chicago
Date:	Jan (?) 20, 1940 - 8:30 PM
From:	Dorothy
To:	Miss Genevieve Richardson Sedalia, Mo
Message:	That is the nearest I could get to your address. Dear Genevieve, I guess you were surprised to find that I was gone. Daddy came up on some business 20 miles north of Macon so I came too. I don't know when I'm coming home. Maybe Fri or Sat. Dorothy
Notes:	I remember the Catholics being a powerful force in Macon. When I was growing up, it seemed like you knew who all the Catholics were. You may not have known where all your friends went to church — if they went to church at all. But you sure knew who your Catholic friends were. That wasn't bad. It wasn't good. It just was. And the reason is because the Catholics had their own school. At the time, private schools were about as rare as home-schooling. But Macon had a Catholic school. It had a huge public school and it had a tiny Catholic school. It was just an elementary school — up through sixth grade. And that's how you put your friends in the "Catholic" or "Non-Catholic" buckets. If you went to elementary school with them, they probably weren't Catholic. But if they showed up with the group of kids that suddenly showed up in the seventh grade, yep, they were Catholic. It's interesting to look backwards and see how kids segment their own population. They don't have to be told to — they just do it. It's as if society demands labels to be put on people. The labels aren't always pejorative — the "Catholic" label certainly isn't. (Some of my best friends are Catholic.) But the label has to exist. I've never seen a postcard of the Catholic church. It's a relatively modern building, perhaps built in the 1960s. I don't know anything about their "old" building, if there was one. But this school building still stands. It's been remodeled and doesn't quite look like this picture now, but it's still there. Enough about my memories of Macon Catholics; let's talk about the postcard. Apparently, Dorothy left without saying goodbye to Genevieve. In pre-war 1940, you had to take a ride when it became available. Dorothy left fast enough that she didn't get Genevieve's address, so she tried it from memory. There is a lot of scribbling on the front of the card and apparently some of it was done by the postal workers as they tried to figure out where Genevieve lived. A stamp says that she wasn't "in the directory". There are pieces of addresses scribbled on the card: "1010" and "1014". And what looks like the word "where" with a big question mark. I have to assume that Genevieve eventually got her card, because I bought it on eBay. If it had ended up in the dead letter office, it would have been destroyed.