Wilmette Public Library Local History Digital Collection

Mathilda Marie Kempe (1895-1981) oral history

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Track 3, Transcript p. 8-12: Track 3, Transcript p. 8-12
Transcription: TRACK 3 BM: Um hum. Okay. Miss Kempe, you said you were 10 years old when you moved over here. Would you tell me about that? MMK: Well, I remember moving day. We had a lot of help and it was a beautiful day..... BM: Um hum. MMK: ... . and we did this all by hand, you know. Carried boxes Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 9 and sometimes they'd fall down, you know. (Laughter) And we ended picking up the shoes and the merchandise and all that would fall out of our hands and, uh, like I say, we had a lot of help, but everbody in the neighborhood kind of gave us a hand, you know. BM: Yes, MMK: .... and, uh.... BM: What time of year was it? Was it. MMK: What year was that - born? BM: No, go ahead. MMK: I was born in '93. BM: Um hum. MMK: And you were 10 years old. BM: But I mean what month of the year was this when you were moving across the street? MMK: Well, it was the spring time. BM: Oh, Um hum. MMK: Beautiful weather. Beautiful day outside. BM: Um hum. So you and your brothers and sisters and your mother and father went over and would take some boxes and walk across the street with the boxes. How long did that take? MMK: Well, of course, everything, uh - that first day, like I say, we had a lot of help and you couldn't do it all in one day so, uh, uh, we did it, uh, you know, uh, we finally finished the job, but, uh, it must have taken a Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 10 week. BM: I would think so. MMK: At least. BN: Sure. And then you moved up here over the store -- the family? MMK: Yes. Um hum. There were six rooms, but now my brother and I -- we're alone. The rest of the family is gone. I divided the - the flat, so I have the rear part and the front part I rent. BM: Oh. How nice. I see. So let's go back to the store. Did you help in the store after school, uh.... MMK: Oh, yes, we all had to help - my brothers, you know. BN: Um hum. MMK: . . .my two brothers and, uh, and if we were able to, you know, but when we got older and, uh, out of school, why then we took jobs. BM: Um hum. MMK: We went out and worked for other people - office work or my brothers - they learned a plumbing trade and the both of them (Indistinct). Both of them took to plumbing. BM: And they were here in Wilmette? MMK: Yes. And, uh, when they got married, you know, one lived in Glencoe and had a business up in Glencoe.... BM: Um hum. MMK: ... .and the other one stayed here in the Village..... BM: Um hum. Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 11 and had a plumbing shop on Green Bay Road. BM: Oh, I see. MMK: Um hum. BM: Where did you go to school? MMK: The American Legion hall - right.... BM: Oh. Over on Wilmnette Avenue MMK: On Wilmette Avenue. Yes. BM: Yes. What -- was that the public school here? MMK: Yes. It was a two room school. BM: Oh. What was the name of the school? Did it have a name or. MMK: It was Wilmette Public School. BM: Oh, I see. MNK: And then when Wilmette, uh, when Gross Point was annexed to Wilmette. BM: Um hum. MMK: . .. .you know, why, we couldn't go to the, uh, Gross Point School. We were out of the district so the last, uh, three or four years my brother and I, uh, we went way down to 10th and Central. BM: Oh, yes. You went all the way over there? MMK: My father couldn't afford to, uh, keep us over here because we were out of the district.... BM: I see. MMK: .. . . if we wanted to stay there. BM: Oh, well, was Ridge the dividing line then? Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 12 MMK: Yes, across the street was Gross Point and this was Wilmette. BM: Okay. So you had to go to the - was that the Logan School? MMK: Logan, uh. BM: On 10th and Central then? MMK: Um hum.
Creators: Kempe, Mathilda Marie, 1895-1981, Interviewee; Maselli, Briggs
, Interviewer
Media Type: Audio; Image; Text
Item Type: Audiocassettes
Description: Interview with Mathilda Marie Kempe by Briggs Maselli on November 4, 1979 at 418 Ridge Road, Wilmette, Illinois.

Abstract: Born on Ridge Road across the street

Father Otto L. Kempe came via New York, Niles to Wilmette — was a shoemaker from Saxony - came as a young man in 1881 with a group of young men - Mother was from Chicago

Started a shoe repair business on west side of Ridge Road — put in a stock of shoes for sale
Built a new building at 418 Ridge (on east side) and moved and incorporated the first building within it
Mathilda one of four children 2 boys and 2 girls - Mother died in 1923 - Father lost interest in store — sister and brothers not interested in operating it so Mathilda tried and continued operation (43 years) until 1933

Moving day from west to east side of Ridge Rd. - Lived upstairs - all children worked in store until old enough to go from there and take jobs with other people — boys became plumbers - schooling - dressmaking in Evanston with a Frenchwoman
Contents of store — shoes — all rubber footware — men’s and boys’ clothing and headware — grocery goods. Father gardened and had fruit trees and sold fruits and vegetables — he had made shoes as well as repaired them

Gross Point School - eight grades - 1 through 4 on first floor in one room — 5 through 8 on second floor - east side of Ridge Rd. within Wilmette School District so Miss Kempe finished at Central School.
Home life while growing up - Mother canned fruits - made jams and jellies — knit woolen stockings - made sheets and pillowcases - girls’ clothing - quilts made with neighbors’ help - hot bricks and feather beds in winter

Elaborates on holiday celebration and father’s shoemaking.
Date of Original: 4 November 1979
Subject(s): Shoemakers
Oral histories
Gross Point (Ill.) — History
Wilmette (Ill.) -- Residents
Personal Name(s): Kempe, Mathilda Marie ; Kempe, Otto L.
Local identifier: R977.31 KE
Language of Item: English
Copyright Statement: Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Copyright Date: 1979
Copyright Holder: Wilmette Public Library
Copyright Holder Contact Information: 1242 Wilmette Ave.
Wilmette, IL 60091
U.S.A.
Recommended Citation: Kempe, Mathilda Marie, and Briggs Maselli. Mathilda Marie Kempe. Wilmette, Ill: Wilmette Public Library District, 1979.
Contact: Wilmette Public Library
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