Clara Robinson Hand

(Clara A. Robinson)

Letters

July 28, 1919
July 23, 1925
May 14, 1930
September 15, 1937

Handwritten Excerpt (16 KB)

Clippings

1930, Page 1 (289 KB)
1930, Page 2 (642 KB)

1904 Program:

Present address: 1900 Bolton Street, Baltimore, Md.

Clara Robinson has been married to the Rev. Mr. Hand of Baltimore.

November 1910 Kalends:

Clara Robinson Hand has a son, born in September.

July 1930 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand has been living in Washington, DC but as her husband is a methodist minister who was attending conference on the day of banquet, she was expecting to be moved to another church.

July 1939 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand did her part on the Reunion committee. She is active as a pastor's wife but was part and parcel with us all during our stay in Baltimore.

November 1949 Alumnae Quarterly:

"I would like to think of something snappy to report but it can't be done.
My husband is still hard at work in the interests of the Methodist Church in Baltimore, so we continue to stay right here except for a short vacation now and then.
Last September we moved into a two-apartment house in the suburban section, and my daughter and her husband and three-year-old granddaughter occupied the second apartment, which made a happy family life for its all. Now, alas, they have to move up into the New York neighborhood and my husband and I are feeling quite lost in our big quarters.
We have been making frequent trips to Washington where our son lives, so now we shall have to include trips to New York in our schedule of living.
"Please say 'Thank You' for me to all who remembered to send in their contributions for the Alumnae Fund. We did not reach the fine high total of 1948 but I trust another year will find us reaching toward the top in that also."

Spring 1950 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand has been busy sending letters of thanks to those who contributed early to the Alumnae Fund, and letters of reminder to those who are slow. Which kind of letter do you like to receive?

Spring 1951 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand gives us cheering wordof the Alumnae Fund, at the same time urging cooperation of every member. She writes:"It appears I should write you (in three different counts, so I will try to get down to it and see what I can do. First, a letter of thanks is due you for your very prompt reply to the first notice of '51-'52 Alumnae Fund Roll Call, which goes out from the office. The Fund representa- tives are requested to write personal thanks to those first contributors, so I do indeed thank you.
I was quite elated to receive the March 15 report from the office and learn that twelve of our class had already contributed and that we had $137.50 to our credit on the way, I hope, to our highest class contribution ever.
Before I got started on my thank-you letters, I received your card of March 20, and that required more thought than I could give it at the time, and perhaps ever, as I wanted to say something worthwhile about the fund and at least one little item of news that could be of interest to someone. But now I fear I can't do either.
I do say, though, I did indeed notice there was nothing at all for 1903 in the last QUARTERLY! I hoped you were not sick. Then I remembered that you had said in the fall that your daughter and her husband and three sons were living with you while on furlough from India, and that would seem to me to make life lively enough without any time for extras, such as sending in QUARTERLY notes.
For myself I will say I am behind my schedule with everything I am accustomed to do, because I have been away from home so much in the past months. In September, my daughter and her husband and 5-year-old daughter, who had been living about twenty miles from New York City, last year moved about 100 miles further away to Oneonta, N. Y., where I have since made several visits.
In the very cold weather of Dec. 20 my husband and I made the very difficult trip there by train, having to change cars both in New York and in Albany. We had been drafted to help make Christmas merry for the little granddaughter, as a new baby was expected, and the doctor had said Christmas Eve was the probable date. I am glad to report, however, we all had a merry Christmas together and the final Christmas present, a little eight-pound three-ounce boy, did not arrive until Dec. 29.
Granddad had to return home Jan. 2, but I remained for some weeks more and was glad finally to get away from the ice and snow so prevalent in Oneonta, back to Baltimore and streets where one can walk around most of the time without rubber boots.
Now what can I say to make every one want to give more to the Alumnae Fund than they have ever given before?
First, in these days of precarious financial conditions, particularly for colleges, more and more colleges are depending upon their Alumnae Fund for the money for scholarships and increased faculty salaries, and surely we of Goucher want to do the best for the College we all love.
Then again, it was suggested at our Fund Representative luncheon, that in helping Goucher we are honoring ourselves. It means so much to claim as our Alma Mater an up-and-coming and progressive college like Goucher, so let us help to keep it so. If you have dollars, put Goucher high up in your budget; if like some of us, your dollars are few- smile, and give what you can."

Spring 1953 Alumnae Quarterly:

"I had a jolly and enjoyable time attending the Alumnae Council in November, being buffeted by the wind and rain as we dashed from building to building on the Towson campus, as the program of the two days required. I was thrilled by the wonderful Julia Rogers Library, and delighted with Miss Sara Jones, the Librarian.
Another charming feature of the occasion was the lovely dinner given by President and Mrs. Kraushaar for the Councillors in the gayly decorated Barn. I was glad to see Edith Powell Pringle who was representing her Club.
Every member of the class should have a turn at being Alumnae Fund Representative and enjoy this happy intimate gathering of Alumanae members of early and later years from various sections.
Who bids first?"

Fall 1953 Alumnae Quarterly:

"The reunion was really a joy and I want to express my gratitude to everyone who came. It was wonderful to see all of you and to talk to you again. It was an additional pleasure to meet the charming daughters who accompanied their mothers. It all adds up to a wealth of happy memories and I shall be eager for further news of everyone.
Just after reunion I was caught up in a round of family events - dinners, birthday celebrations, and a big family reunion on the Fourth of July. My daughter, who lives in the suburbs of Albany, came for a visit with her two children and then all of us joined my sister (Mary Robinson '07) for two weeks at Ocean Grove, N.J. The first week in September my husband and I took one more trip to Albany to celebrate the eigth birthday of our beloved granddaughter.
Although I am no longer class representative for the Alumnae Fund, I still like to correspond with those of my classmates who were kind enough to answer my solicitations in the past. So don't forget me." We could not forget Clara's faithful efforts nor her cheerful, interesting letters. -Eda Briggs Frost

Spring 1955 Alumnae Quarterly:

"...Between the things I must do, the things I ought to do, and the things I want to do, I sometimes just sit down and let them all slide."

Spring 1956 Alumnae Quarterly:

"Tonight my husband and I went out for dinner for the first time in I don't know how long, and I did enjoy not having to get the evening meal, so I felt happy and relaxed in just the mood for a letter. I am properly impressed by all the varied activities of our Goucher alumnae that I read about in the Quarterly. I regret that i hav eno worth while activities to report, but I am healthy and busy, keeping in touch with family and friends. Emilie Doetsch and I have had a couple of pleasant times together, one of which was a library tour here in Baltimore on a delightful October day which ended with tea in the rare book room of our own Julia Rogers Library at Goucher. Emilie and I sat for a while on our grand 1903 bench close by. Then recently we had the pleasure of attending an interesting lecture on Africa and a wonderful lunch together afterward. Emilie is a delightful companion and I greatly enjoyed being with her."

Winter 1959 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand gave up trying to find an apartment in Silver Spring, where she and her husband would be near their son, and settled for one in Baltimore. They will find life easier and more simple, which is most desirable for us oldsters. Clara's new address is 139 Symington Ave., Baltimore.

Summer 1959 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand finds their new apartment not as convenient as the big house when it comes to entertaining her daughter and her family. Clara and her husband had been sick with laryngitis.

Winter 1960 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Handmakes an observation with which we could all agree, and that is that she finds it somewhat hard to adjust to all the ideas and activities of this modern world. Stout hearts like hers will carry us through and stout hearts they must have who try to lead us in such troubled times.

Fall 1960 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand is staying with her sister, Mary Robinson '07, while her husband ill with a heart condition is in the hospital where their son is a member of the staff. Our earnest wishes for his early recovery.

Winter 1961 Alumnae Quarterly:

We send our sincere sympathy to Clara Robinson Hand whose husband died in Washington, where they had come so that they might be near their physician son. Clara stayed with her sister, Mary Robinson, while here, but is now back in Baltimore.

Fall 1961 Alumnae Quarterly:

From Mary Robinson '07, I had a bit of news about her sister, Clara Hand. They had vacationed at Rehoboth Beach and enjoyed the beach, the water and the sun. (The sun, too?)

Spring 1962 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand is living alone in her Baltimore apartment, and is glad to be getting around in taxis, busses, and trains - no jets. She made recent visits to her daughter in Albany and to her son in Silver Spring, Md. She must be quite well for the visit to her son was a hurry-up affair that just left her time to finish a batch of meringues she was making for her church circle.

Fall 1963 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand was much pleased with a cheerful and efficient old lady who nurses Charlotte; she suffered the same kind of break in the hip bone, but is now "as good as new." A cheerful heart is a good medicine. Good luck in your moving, Charlotte, and on your next checkup. As for Clara herself, she gets around remarkably well, though she says she has company when she goes shopping.

Spring 1967 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand has trouble with her equilibrium, which necessitates an around-the-clock helper, but there is nothing the matter with her mental equilibrium.

Summer 1969 Alumnae Quarterly:

We have been anxious about Clara Robinson Hand and are now relieved to hear from her son that she is in a nursing home in Silver Spring, Md., where he lives. Clara cannot write but we shall continue to, on the chance that she will kow that we'll always remember such a loyal worker for the class.

Winter 1971 Alumnae Quarterly:

Clara Robinson Hand, as the wife of a Methodist minister became wise in the ways of helping the troubled ones. A minister's wife leads a strenuous life and ther emust have been times when the burden seemed too heavy, but she never indulged in self-pity, nor complained. Even in her last long sickness, she did not dwell in her own troubles. As her health began to fail, she had given up her home in Baltimore to lve in Silver Spring where her son, Dr. J. Phelps Hand, lived. So her last days were untroubled and her gentle spirit could rest a while before leaving us. Our sympathy goes out to her family and other friends in their bereavement.

Spring 1957 Alumnae Quarterly:

From Baltimore Clara Robinson Hand writes that she does not have "anything of special interest to report to the Quarterly. For the last six months my husband and I have been doing little travelling and have not taken too active a part in things which used to claim our attention. We keep up with world affairs through radio and TV, along with several weekly and monthly magazines and also keep in touch with children and grandchildren by long distance, making a real dent in the budget." (I want to insert here that Clara's husband is a sufferer from a heart ailment and Clara, of course, tries to keep him from doing things that might hurt him.) "Last October we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary with an informal buffet supper, with relatives and friends ranging in age from 6 months to 80 years. I told them that all over 70 or under 12 could sit and be served; the others would have to serve themselves. We had a merry time."