Mary Hancock Jackson, were reinterred at the new Dyche Cemetery. Six thousand people attended the event.69
The Jackson Cabin in London, Kentucky. Courtesy of Kay Tolbert Buckland.
Summer visits to London became yearly events. Though her sister Annie was still living there, the Frenches stayed in a cabin in the hills of South London built on land that belonged to her oldest sister, Lou, in the mid-1930s. (The deed was transferred to Katherine and Frank in 1949.) The cabin was off in the woods on an eight-acre parcel of land that backed on a pig farm. It had no heat, running water, or electricity. Water came from a well, and the outhouse was down the path. There was a wood stove and a true icebox in the kitchen.70
A Shreveport Times article featuring French describes the cabin, citing its name as “Briar Lodge”: “[It is] in the foothills of KY on the Daniel Boone Trail … [a] quaint old-fashioned cabin built on land deeded her family in 1789 when KY was part of VA…. [It] is filled with antiques of the farm-type, such as wheels for wool and flax, rifles, powder horns, bullet forms, candle molds, cooking utensils for open fires, and much interesting furniture.”71
Kay Tolbert Buckland has vivid memories of summers spent with Grandmother Katherine:
She loved to play cards at night, ’cause we could light the lanterns. We would pop popcorn in the basket … over the fire…. At the big fireplace at the end of the room, … she would sit in this little school desk, and she could write at it, and she could play cards on it. I remember eating her raspberries, blueberries, she would make wonderful pies. My mother loved them. With the pies, she would serve a little brown sugar and butter mixture, you know you mix up and just put a little scoop on the pie … that was their version of ice cream…. I guess they just liked to get away from the city in the summer and go out to the cabin.”
They would also visit Annie, who lived in the big old Jackson family home, with a sprawling porch and a grape arbor and (by then) a mostly vacant upstairs where the children would run and play.72
French’s diaries reveal a quiet devoutness with regular attendance of church and various Christian organizations. Both she and Frank were active in the Methodist church in Shreveport during the year and in London during the summers. Frank was a member of the Board of Stewards in Shreveport; French’s diaries note regular teaching of Sunday school classes in both locations. She was also a constant attendee of the Missionary Society. Her language in her diaries is not overly religious, but, as we have seen, religion was a constant in her life.73
Retirement and Later Years
French became head of the English Department at Centenary College in 1945. In 1948, she attended her last conference of the Louisiana chapter of the AAUW. It was the organization’s eightieth anniversary, and the group met, fittingly, in Shreveport. French retired from Centenary later that same year at the age of seventy-three with bouquets of accolades. Dr. J. Mickle, the president of Centenary, wrote: “Perhaps no teacher in the whole history of Centenary College has left a finer and deeper impression upon student life both within and without the classroom than you have done. The fine quality of your mind and spirit has been matched with a co-operative and constructive attitude on all matters pertaining to the development of Centenary College. Furthermore, your contribution to the Shreveport community as a whole has been tremendous. It has raised the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual level of the entire city.”74
A proclamation from Mickle and the Board of Trustees declared: “[French] has created in her students a love of language and literature, and for two generations she has made Shakespeare live. She has had a lasting influence on the college and on the intellectual life of Shreveport. The Woman’s Department Club owes much to her efforts; she has given unstintingly of her gracious personality and her stimulating mind. Centenary College and Shreveport will long feel the far-reaching influence of Dr. Katherine Jackson French.”75
The 1948 Yoncopin yearbook was dedicated to her and describes her as “a woman of profound scholarship, gracious charm, and splendid Christian character—a humanitarian in the fullest and finest meaning of the word”: “Hundreds of students have known, loved, and respected the value of so gifted a woman and would well appreciate the tribute of the student who recently said, ‘Dr. French transforms the tasks of education into a challenging adventure in learning.’”76
French’s Centenary career can be traced through three photographs. The first photograph of “Mrs. Katherine French” appears in the 1930 yearbook. There were thirty-nine faculty members that year. French is one of eleven female teachers and the only one with a doctorate. In fact, of the men, only five have doctorates. Yet French is not referred to as Doctor. Her photograph appears on a page with those of two other female teachers. They wear earrings and pearls. French wears her academic regalia, robes and hood. The other two women bear soft, gentle gazes. One’s head is tilted down; the other gazes shyly at the camera through her makeup. French’s chin is lifted, her head uptilted, she wears no makeup, and her eyes are steely with a glint of humor. It is the kind of gaze that might be taken as condescending. Perhaps it was. We are looking at a woman who is proud of her accomplishments, unapologetic for her presence, and likely quite demanding of her charges. In short, we are looking at one tough woman who at the age of fifty-five is quite cognizant of the achievements of her life and the obstacles she has had to overcome.77
The 1934 yearbook contains an even haughtier picture of French. It is in full profile, the only faculty photograph in which the subject does not deign to look into the camera, rather staring off into the distance as though with a far-seeing eye. It also bears an interesting comparison to her daughter’s picture in the same volume. This younger Katherine French was voted “Most Popular.” She has her mother’s long, somewhat horsey face and large lips, but her expression is softer. Indeed, she is a member of “the Maroon Jackets,” a club of college hostesses described as “overflowing with Southern hospitality.” She was a member of Chi Omega, like her mother, and served as treasurer. She looks like a well-adjusted, happy coed, with no trace of her mother’s hard expression.78
The final picture, from the school paper This Is Centenary in August 1948, accompanies an article about French’s upcoming retirement. The older woman faces the camera. Her chin is still lifted, and she looks past the camera to the side. Her expression is softer, the eyes gently amused. The mouth holds a faint smile. Gone are the robes: she is wearing a jacket, blouse, and brooch. She is a woman whose battles are behind her, and she wears an expression of bemused contentment.79
Dr. and Mr. French remained in Shreveport after her retirement. French settled into retirement, moping with loneliness, missing her grandchildren:
Lodestars of my life!
Two angels great and small
Why are you so lingering
And come not to me at all?
For light is drawing on
And after that the night!
Hark, now, I hear you softly
All is joy and bright.80
The family continued to reunite in Kentucky in the summer and for some holidays as well. In July 1953, French was asked to be guest of honor at the 1954 Laurel County Homecoming.81
Other than one important incident that will be detailed in part 2, French did not seem to have had much
