Wilmette Public Library Local History Digital Collection

Mathilda Marie Kempe (1895-1981) oral history

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Track 1, Transcript p. 1-5: Track 1, Transcript p. 1-5
Transcription: TRACK 1 Mathilda Marie Kempe p. 1 BM: Miss Kempe, would you give me your full name and tell me where you live? MMK: My full name is Mathilda Marie Kempe. BM: Very good. And where do you live? MMK: 418 Ridge Road, Wilmette, Illinois. BM: Right. And how long have you lived here? MMK: Uh, all my life. BM: Really? Were you -- you were born in this house? MMK: I was born across the street and this building was moved over here when my father built this brick building. BM: Which - which building? MMK: Next door -- that used to be our first store. BM: What number is that - over there? MMK: 416. BM: 416. And that was moved across the street? MMK: Yes, when my father built this building so that he would have the two buildings together. BM: I see. Why did he want to move it across the street? Did he have a store over there? MNK: He owned - he built the building.... BM: Um hum. MMK: . . . .but he didn't own the ground. BM: Oh, I see. MMK: And he couldn't buy the ground because a little orphan - it was a little orphan boy - it was willed to him and my Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont, 2 father couldn't buy the piece of land until he was 21 years old. BM: Oh, I see. MNK: And so in between time, uh, well, we were over there about 15 - 20 years when he built this. BM: I see. When you say 15 -- 20 years, about what year was that? Do you remember? MMK: 1881. BM: 1881 to, uh, 15 years would be 1896 - when you were over in the other building you said you were over there about 15 years. MMK: Yes. BM: About what year was that when.... MMK: Well, he came here in 1881. BM: What... MMK: . . . .from the old country. BM: Oh. Okay. Uh, Miss Kempe, tell me your father's name, please, and where he was born. MMK: He was born in Germany and his name was Otto. BM: Um hum. MMK: Otto L. BM: Otto L. Kempe? MNK: Um hum. BM: What part of Germany was he born in? MMK: Near Saxony. BM: Oh, I see. A lot of the people in this area came from Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 3 the Trier area. Is that part of where he came from? MMK: Yes, it was. BM: And you said your mother was born in Chicago? MMK: Yes. BM: Where did they meet? MMK: At a, uh, well, uh, on the north side of Chicago and, uh, it was in a dance hall.... BM: Um hum. I see. MMK: . . . . and food, of course, you know. BM: I'm sure there was food. MMK: Restaurant and dancing and so forth. BM: Um hum. And what year did your father come to the United States? MMK: 1881. BM: And he was 28 years old, you said, when he came here and, uh, did he come here alone? MMK: No... he came with a group - all single fellows, you know. BM: I see. MMK: They all had come to the USA, you know, where all the money grew on the trees, you know. BM: Um hum. MMK: (Laughter) So - but they all had a trade. BM: I see. So your father was already in -- a shoemaker when he came here. I see. Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 4 MMK: And he traveled a good deal in France and, uh, throughout Europe, you know -- until he was 28 years old. BM: Um hum. MMK: ....and he did it for the experience. BM: I see. MMK: You know, to see the country. BM: Yes. Um hum. MMK: So when he came over here he landed in New York, of course, and his first job was hod carrier. BM: Oh, that's hard work. MMK: The church in Rogers Park - the Catholic church - they were building that church and he was carrying the hod in, you know. BM: Yes. MMK: Up the steps - down the steps - up the steps - down the steps -- and all of that heavy mortar, you know. Bricks, stone. BM: Yes, that's a very difficult job. MMK: Oh, but he was strong and he was well -- he was very well. I mean he had good health, you know. BM: Well then, when did he come to Wilmette? MMK: Wilmette? Oh, urn, after he left New York -- why, Niles Center - he landed in Niles Center - the bunch. I don't know how many of them there were -- maybe there was a dozen fellows, you know. BM: Oh. Um hum. Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 5 MMK: And, uh, so Wilmette - Gross Point -- it was Gross Point BM: Yes. Um hum. MMK: And he landed here and, uh, there was no shoemaker here. He investigated, you know, so he got a room and, uh, he did his repair work in the building, you know, shoe repairing. BM: Um hum. MMK: And he had a room and he did his own housekeeping - all this was in the building, you know. BM: Do you know where the building was? MMK: Across the street. BM: What number was that? MMK: . . . .but it's moved back. The front part is brick that was added on and the old part -- it's over a hundred years old and that's in the rear of the building. BM: Do you know the street - what number that is across the street? It must be 412. MMK: 400 - uh, well, across the street is 435. BM: 435. So it's around that. MMK: And the numbers get larger as they go north. BM: Okay.
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.
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