Alice Dunning Flick

(Alice Josephine Dunning)

Letters

February 1, 1919
January 27, 1924
November 22, 1929
September 25, 1934

Handwritten Excerpt (82 KB)

Iowa Banner (389 KB)

Basketball Team - bottom, 2nd from right (232 KB)

President's Address, Kalends, June 1903

Class Prophecy, June 1903

I Remember: Creating Tradition, Goucher Alumnae Quarterly, Winter 1959

November 1903 Kalends:

Alice Dunning is engaged in work for her father, who is president of the Citizens' Bank, Bedford, Iowa.

Alice Dunning has been visiting in Chicago.

June 1905 Kalends:

Alice Dunning, who has come East to act as maid of honor for Mabel Day, was in Baltimore for Commencement.

February 1906 Kalends:

Alice Dunning, while visiting Bonnie Marshall in Des Moines, Iowa, met at the banquet of the Women's Pan-Hellenic Association Alice Tone and Mrs. Everhart.

December 1906 Kalends:

Alice Dunning stopped over in Baltimore on her way to Emily Hoskin's wedding.

June 1907 Kalends:

Alice Josephine Dunning will be married in June to Mr. Bruce Flick, of Bedford, Iowa.

January 1909 Kalends:

Alice Dunning Flick has a daughter, born December 5.

June 1915 Kalends:

The Class Letter of 1903 has reached Alice Dunning Flick, Bedford, Iowa, and will soon start on its third trip. It contains forty-eight letters and travels by express.

April 1930 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick's daughter graduates at Westhampton College, University of Richmond this June.

July 1930 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick brought her "one" husband and her younger daughter Frances. Her older daughter will graduate this June from Westhampton College, Richmond. Her son has completed his Junior year at Amherst. Alice is as busy in Des Moines, as she used to be at College. She takes an active part in school, club and church work. Of course she still sings in the choir.

July 1931 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning FLick with her family,..."Mr. Flick, Margaret, the daughter, who was graduated from Westhampton College last June and who has been an assistant in one of the Des Moines Branch Libraries, since, and Frances, a sophomore in High School..." drove to Amherst where Robert, the son, was graduated. Margaret Hukill Taylor's son is a member of the same class and I hope that we may have a small 1903 reunion there."

February 1932 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick represented Goucher College at the inauguration of Dr. John Scholte Nollen as President of Grinnell College on Thursday, February 11, 1932.

November 1932 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick, we suspect, is going to vote the Republican ticket. She writes: "Undoubtedly, you have read in the newspapers of the revolt of the Iowa farmer, the farm holiday, and so forth, and would expect that the crowd which gathered to see and hear Mr. Hoover, when he visited his native state on October 4, would be composed of townspeople alone, but that was not the case. People poured into Des Moines from every part of the state and neighboring states- a respectful, enthusiastic crowd remembering that it was entertaining the President of the United States. That attitude together with the fact that it was an immense crowd and very enthusiastic impressed me when the newspapers had stressed the great majority of disgruntled people in the state.
The second impression was that the PResident and Mrs. Hoover knew the language of the Iowan. However far they may have gone from their native state, they could come home and 'fit in' with the people.
Again I was impressed by a request Mrs. Hoover made. She asked to see the Smous Opportunity School - the outstanding and wonderful piece of work done by the Des Moines Schools for children with physical defects. We have a well-known and remarkable school system here, but she knew of the unusual thing being done for children.
I have heard the President speak over the radio many times and had the impression of formality and reserve. That impression was entirely swept away by the Des Moines speech. It may be hard to inject personality into a talk made into a microphone alone.
Since this has been written before election, you will realize that I'm anxious to know how 'Iowa Goes'."

May 1936 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick represented Goucher at the inauguration of Earl Enyeart as Presidient of Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa, on April 20, 1936.

November 1936 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick represented Goucher College at the inauguration of Charles Edwin Friley as president of Iowa State COllege on October 7 at Ames, Iowa.

February 1937 Alumnae Quarterly:

To the Class of 1903: I am so grateful to Esther Bixler for asking me to have a letter in this Quarterly and as I am writing on New Year's Day I'm wishing for every member of the Class the very happiest year to come.
Fan is with us for the holidays and the three children have been at home so we have all been happy together. The weather has been topsy-turvy-the warmest Christmas day recorded in Des Moines-and not up to the good Iowa standard. Well, we thought we were back in the pioneer days last winter so will not complain now.
Frances Flick is in college at Iowa State this year studying Forestry and she and Sallie Parker see each other often. Mabel and I started the last Round Robin out when Mabel brought Sallie to college in 1934.
Esther has the Robin now and I am hoping it can hurry along and complete its flight before our next reunion in 1939. Please begin to think of and plan for this coming reunion and write me if you have any suggestions to make. Most of all, I hope many of us may be together again for the rejuvenating experience I have found our reunions to be.
Best wishes to you all, Alice Dunning Flick.

November 1937 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick says, "College friendships have always been so valuable to me that, I must confess, it has been a real hardship to live so far away from most of you that I see you infrequently and then only when I am in the East. It has been a pleasure during these past three years to have Sallie Parker, Mabel Day's youngest, in college near Des Moins and to see Mabel oftener because of that. Sallie has transferred to Goucher this fall but before she left Iowa in June Mabel and the two older daughters drove out to see us and to take Sallie back to their home in New Jersey. You can immagine the fun the nine of us had together. The old class letters which I have kept and Donnybrooks were a source of much pleasure and amusement and Mabel and I were often teased about the marvelous Class of 1903.
Since Sallie Parker has deserted Iowa my daughter, Margaret, has gone to New Jersey. She was graduated in June from the Library School of the University of Illinois and now is in the library in Newark. Robert is teaching English in the high school in Bedford, Iowa, our old home town, and Frances is in Iowa State College studying forestry. There is plenty of room in our home for old friends who would like to see the beauties of Iowa in the fall."

November 1938 Alumnae Quarterly

"Greetings to you all and best wishes to Goucher COllege from the Flicks in Iowa. I had a short visit with Helen Hendrix Mohr in Kansas CIty last week. We both regret so much that we cannot be with you."

July 1939 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick, of course, was on, with all her home, family, church and club interests. Alice mothered Sally Day for three years while at Ames, Iowa, and this year Alice has a daughter of her own graduating at Ames. Alice knows every member of the Class, and at Reunion was always as she was in College.

November 1940 Alumnae Quarterly:

A letter from Alice Dunning tells of going to Forest Hills, Long Island, the last of September to spend a month with her daughter, Margaret; and her new granddaughter, Charlotte Louise. We welcome another 1903 granddaughter.

July 1942 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick represented Goucher College at the Inauguration of Edwin Edgar Voigt as President of Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa, on May 25, 1942.

May 1944 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick writes that her daugher, Frances, has gone to Ruston, La., to be in the Library of the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, in charge of the engineering section and government documents. Her son, Robert, is a teacher in Des Moines. Her married daughter, Margaret, lives in Flushing, N.Y.

November 1945 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick leads a very busy life. This summer she has had all her family with her - this included the little granddaughter, Charlotte, whose father is with our Army in Germany.

February 1946 Alumnae Quarterly:

The members of 1903 will be distressed to hear of the death of Bruce J. Flick, husband of Alice Dunning Flick, our class president. Mr. Flick died December 11 at his home, 1346 44th St., Des Moines 11, Iowa, after a long illness. He was a prominent lawyer, and had been Assistanct City Solicitor since 1938. We send our heartfelt sympathy to Alice and her family.

February 1947 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick and her son came East this summer to visit Alice's two daughters. Alice also made a short visit with Mabel Day Parker, in Morristown, and with Olive Mast Pennegar, in Coatesville. I was sorry I was not on Alice's line of travel, so she could have visited us.

February 1947 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick came to Flushing, New York, in November, to see her new grandson, Robert Bruce.

Spring 1948 Alumnae Quarterly:

On March 22, 1948, Alice Josephine Dunning Flick represented Goucher at the observance of theninetieth anniversary of the founding of the Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa.

November 1948 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick, before returning home from the reunion, visited in Washington and Richmond, then visited her daughter in New York and also Mabel Day Parker in Morristown, N.J. She writes me that Fan Hopkins has retired.

Winter 1950 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick's letter came too late for the deadline set for the November Quarterly. She writes: "Early last June a cousin who lives near Chicago, and lives alone, was taken very ill. I was with her, off and on, most of the summer. Rob and I made the 326 mile drive so many times that I know every bump by heart. I also know that I did not do many things I had planned to do during the vacation. One was to write to you.
Then when we returned from Chicago the last time late in August, I found a letter from Anna Slease asking me to thank 'officially' the members of 1903 who had 'put over' the funds for the class room...But my letters of thanks are late, not because I felt your help was not appreciated greatly but because I have just been too busy 'for one of my years' - and most of it was church work.
YOu will know how that is and perhaps will be interested to know that part of the work was liquidating the assets of Des Moines Branch of the Womans Foreign Missionary Society and turning them over to the W.F.M.S. (Don't you mean W.S.C.S., Alice?) Of course it has been going on since the merger but this fall the end seems to be in sight.
Another thing I have wanted to do was start another Round Robin in the class. The one we had at the reunion seems to have vanished; at least I cannot find it, so will start another hoping it gets around by 1953. Anna has done such splendid work in this Fund drive and has contacted so many mebers of the class and interested them that I think it is a good time to start the ball rolling for our 50th in '53.
Rob and I took two weeks off from 'nursing' this summer and drove with friends to the Black Hills, the Yellowstone, Estes Park and had four days with Fan in Colorado Springs. We had a grand if strenuous time.
Before I close I want to tell you that I liked your idea of having a class member tell of her family in the Quarterly and hope you are keeping it up.

Winter 1952 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick from Des Moines: "Weeks and months pass so quickly that June 1953 will be here before we realize it. I hope you are all thinkin gof our class reunion and planning to be present. So many members of 1903 live so far from Baltimore that it does take some planning for us to attend reunions but I hope distance will not keep one away. If my memory is correct I have been present at seven reunions of the Class of 1903 and some of you have attended more. my hope is that 'the faithful' will be on hand in 1953 and many more, some even coming for the first time.
You should see the snow we are having out here in Iowa. My sister, Fan, came for Christmas from Colorado Springs in spite of snow and crowded and late trains. We shared the Christmas notes from Goucher friends and I was delighted that so many of my classmates mentioned our next reunion.
In her card Claire said I was to send something about myself for the class notes. I am trying to get out of some activities so I will have time next summer to write to all of you about our reunion. I'll have to admit that letters take much more time than they used to take. And if any of you would like to send some reunion suggestions please do not wait for me to write to you. I hope you all feel it is 'our' reunion."

Fall 1953 Alumnae Quarterly:

No class gathering, or class letter is quite right without a word from our President, who has kept in close touch with us for so long: "When Eda Briggs asked me to write something for the Quarterly she said, 'Talk about yourself.' That certainly begins with the hapiness that came at the reunion in June. Those of you who live as fara way from Baltimore as I do and see classmates as seldom, know what it means to be with college friends even for three days. I am sure that Mary Abercrombie from California and Nancy Catching from Georgia will agree with me that our enjoyment could not be measured even by the number of miles we travelled.
As Eda told you in the class notes, we hope to have a 'get-together' at Goucher in 1958, although it will not be a scheduled reunion. Another decision made at the class meeting was that there would be no Round Robin as in the first fifty years, but every member is asked to respond when Eda asks her to write for the Quarterly.
Some of my friends at home have asked me if I did not feel old attending my fiftieth anniversary of graduation, but I said, 'No, and not one of the members of 1903 at the reunion seemed to feel old.' There is a good deal of the sparkle that was in the class of 1903 still there. Another question was about missing the old surroundings, and I had to confess that the campus is so beautiful and the college so interesting that I could only enjoy the present surroundings.
I had a second reunion after leaving Baltimore. I spent a week with my daughter in Washington, then went to New York to get my granddaughter to bring her to Iowa for the summer. In August, my daughter, Margaret, came out with my grandson to see us. So I have been with my family and friends of college days and it has been a happy summer."

Fall 1954 Alumnae Quarterly:

"Among the many things I wanted to accomplish this summer was to catch up with my correspondence. My son was going to spend a month with a friend in Oregon and I was to be alone during JUne. First, we had floods, which you may have read about, and then I was ill for two weeks; then came the drought and heat, during which few letters were written. But I did "catch up" with some pleasant times when Jessie Parker, Mabel Day Parker's second daughter, and a friend of hers stopped with us over the Fourth, on their way home from a trip west. We enjoyed their visit very much.
Then the last of July, Edith Powell and daughters Dorothy and Edith stopped for the weekend, as they were going home from a wonderful trip to Jasper, Alberta, Glacier, Yellowstone, and the Black Hills. We did appreciate getting to kow Edith's daughters. In fact, one of teh nicest things about 1903 is the interest the 'children' have taken in our members. We have had an unusual number of daughters at our reunions and I think it is a compliment to both the mothers and the daughters.
Frances was in England for two months studying at the Institute of Forestry at Oxford and had a wonderful, but a chilly time, while we were suffering from too much heat."

Spring 1956 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick wrote that she had been caring for an elderly relative who later died. She said: "I had not heard of Laura Washington Turner's death, and I grieve for the loss of one of our most loyal classmates. I did not know her well in college, but during the years since that time, we had exchanged letters many times. Her devotion and care of her daughter were wonderful. I have neglected letter writing but learned that Mabel Day Parker and daughter, Jessie, were flying to Florida for a vacation and Millie Benson Bielaski wrote me that her granddaughter is at Goucher this year and very happy there. Millie and her husband planned to go to Spain, Portugal, and Germany the last of March."

Fall 1957 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick has her heart and mind full of plans and projects for our informal reunion in 1958 - things to do for Goucher, to do in memory of Dr. Shefloe, and to do for ourselves. She will be writing to you soon.

Fall 1958 Alumnae Quarterly:

In comparing notes with Alice Dunning Flick we find that our grandparents came to adjoining counties in southwest Iowa as real pioneers in the 1850's - log cabins, prairies, no roads except old Indian trails. My mother has told me some of the legends and superstitions that gew up among those early settlers and I realize what a field of research there is that might be explored; we have not done enough of that sort of thing in covering the history of our country. Many of those who travelled to the west lived very lonely lives, close to nature, struggling to subdue the land to their needs. The result was a great deal of practical good sense in solving their material problems, odd, individualistic applications of the words of the Bible, and a deep feeling of the mysterious in their lives.

Summer 1959 Alumnae Quarterly:

From the Des Moines Register, May 21: "The Des Moines Branch of the A.A.U.W. named a fellowship in honor of Mrs. Bruce J. Flick at the general meeting Wednesday at the Des Moines Art Center. The $500 grant will be sent to the Natinal Fellowship Fund for research and advanced study.
Mrs. Flick, born in Bedford, was graduated from Goucher College, Baltimore, Md., and has been a member of A.A.U.W. since 1921. She was president of the Des Moines branch and served many years on the board of the state division of A.A.U.W. At present she is working on a specially appointed committee to compile the hitsory of the Iowa State division."
The preceding clipping was sent to me by Alice's daughter, Frances, rather against her mother's wish, but we are grateful to have the news and happy to have her good services recognized in a really fine way. How well we chose, when we made her our president! Alice, herself, had written to me somewhat earlier. She was looking forward to a sort of family reunion, with some friends too, sometime this summer.
She discussed the suitability of asking others than 1903's to contribute to the language laboratory fund - other friends of Dr. Shefloe and of language work. Something to think about and perhaps talk over with President Kraushaar, as she suggests. There are questions coming up regarding class gifts and contributions to anniversary collections which will undoubtedly be cleared up as that very well organized anniversary committee gets to work. I've just recieved my assignment from our state chairman so maybe I'll learn it first hand.

Winter 1960 Alumnae Quarterly:

The definite dates for the Anniversary celebration will doubtless be given out soon and then we can begin to plan definitely what to do ourselves. Alice Dunning Flick said in her letter that she is most anxious to have something definite to think about. If a few of us could foregather in Baltimore how pleasant it would be. Alice is gratified, as we all are, to know that admirers of Dr. Shefloe will be contributing to his memorial as well as 1903's. Alice, by the way, seems undaunted by snow or cold; she and Robert drove to Iowa City to see Frances in a "light" snow earlier this winter. Now how many inches make a light snow in Iowa?

Spring 1960 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice DUnning Flick writes that she was disappointed in not seeing mention in the 75th Anniversary literature of the fact that the college was founded in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America, and that the women of the church ahd much to do with its founding. Some of the women of that influential group used to come to the dormitories for dinner, and one of their committees looked after the girls whenever their help seemed appropriate.
Alice's daughter, Frances, is in Guatemala, doing library work with a government mission and Alice remarked that it was a wonderful winter to be spent in a more southerly clime. Certainly Des Moines had enough snow to satisfy even the most ardent snow lover. Neither Alice nor Frances will be coming east for the big celebration, it seems, and I understand that it is too late to make satisfactory arrangements for reunions at the college, BUT it is not too late to write to Charlotte Jones, Emilie Doetsch, or to me, and we'll do what we can to get some spot at the college, or a bench or two in the park where we can exchange gossip.

Winter 1961 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Flick is uncertain about an eastern trip this year as her older daughter will be visiting her. Both Alice and Edith Powell Pringle took part in the celebration in their respective churches of the anniversary of the founding of the Women's Society. Alice took part in a play, Edith played the violin; both confessed that they had a bit of stage fright. Well! Wouldn't you?

Winter 1962 Alumnae Quarterly:

We hope Alice Dunning Flick by the time she reads this has forgotten all about the snow which is blanketing the west as I write it. She had a family reunion at Christmas time with her sister, younger daughter, and son.

Spring 1962 Alumnae Quarterly:

As late as March 21, Alice Dunning Flick spoke of the patches of snow that were still left, after a winter in which there was snow on the ground for 103 days! But I believe there were places in our country which had even more than Des Moines. She suggests that every one of us who is at all interested in our 60th reunion, whether we are sure of coming or not, should write to her class friends about it, just to keep the idea stirring.

Fall 1962 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick, bless her heart, but visited Ames, Iowa, and in Colorado, so she is still "locomoting." Full of talk about reunions and class gifts, but more of that hereafter.

Spring 1963 Alumnae Quarterly:

"Dear Classmates: Wouldn't it be wonderful after sixty years to be together at Goucher, June 21-23? I hope that many of you can come for the reunion' of you cannot you may be included in the festivities by having a part in the anniversary gift to be presented to the College at the Alumnae Dinner. Later Saturday night the members of the class will get together to visit and to read the letters which we hope the absentees will send to Emilie A. Doetsch, 13 Merrymount Road, Baltimore 10, Maryland. Do join us and renew that old 1903 spirit. It was an up-and-coming spirit and I think it still is. As ever, Alice Dunning Flick.

Winter 1964 Alumnae Quarterly:

Alice Dunning Flick, from a cold and snow-blanketed town, sends her greetings: "To the members of the class of 1903 best wishes. The ten of us who attended our 60th anniversary had a most delightful time, and already Milly is wondering when the next reunion should be held - an informal one - of course. Please think about it!" She and Frances and Robert had Christmas together.

Continued...