February is commonly thought of as the "Month of Love" by many as Valentine's Day separates the 28 days equally in part by anticipation and satisfaction. However, this year, Mardi Gras shares the Valentine's Day festivities as February 14 is also Ash Wednesday.
So, it is fitting to remind folks that Valentine's Day is not only about romantic love but also the unselfish love of others. A notable example of this can be found in Franklinton legend Hallie Love.
Mrs. Love was born Mary Hannah Cozine in 1874 in Jessamine, Kentucky. It is unclear how her family with Dutch roots landed in Franklinton, but like many before and since, they deemed it a wonderful place to live and work. She married John Milton Love and in 1913, at ages 44 and 38 respectively, they adopted their only daughter, Mary, who would become the mother of their two grandsons, Bob and John.
Mrs. Love was likely a terrific wife and creative mother, but for many in Franklinton those are not the only two things she is to be remembered for. It was through the Waverley Club (the oldest civic organization in Washington Parish) that Mrs. Love found opportunities to better the lives of children.
A teacher of Expression, a class that focused on elocution, poetry recitations, and bible verse memorizations, Mrs. Love turned out lawyers and several judges along with other students who went on to be highly successful adults. The first public library in Franklinton was housed at the Waverley Club's Rock House, and Waverley petitioned the Louisiana Library Commission to expand library services. Mrs. Love worked tirelessly to make the Franklinton Branch library a success. She directed the annual Christmas program for children at schools, both white and (then segregated) black by seeing that the Candy Car, now known as the Santa Float, was well-supplied with candy and enthusiastic participants so that every school child and pre-school child might have a supply of candy and a chance to meet with Santa Claus and his helpers on the last day of school before closing for the Christmas holiday season.
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Mrs. Love was said to have revered the founder of Girl Scouting, Juliette Lowe, and she established the first Girl Scout troop in Franklinton during the early 1900's.
She would serve in the Girl Scouts organization for 50 years. In an article "Love Was Her Name" by Diane Moore, she tells how Mrs. Love was often seen "wearing the green cotton leader uniform of the 1940's, cinched at the waist with a Scout belt and buckle, from which dangled a silver whistle." Mrs. Love had been Diane Moore's mother's troop leader and inspired many young Franklinton girls to purse the Golden Eaglet award, the equivalent of the boy's Eagle Scout award.
While she accomplished a great deal during a time when women were not afforded the same praise as men, she is probably best remembered for establishing Peter Pan Fridays during the summer months. I sought the help of Terry Seal and Mary Jo Poole at the Varnado Store Museum for information on Mrs. Love and both were extremely helpful and even loaned me an original "expression book" to show the variety of entries Mrs. Love required of her students.
However, it was speaking of Peter Pan when both ladies' faces lit up. Peter Pan was located on Hayes Creek between Franklinton and Clifton on property still owned by the Burris family. It was a primitive-style camp with a one large building, two smaller ones, an outhouse, and a hand pump for fresh water. Children would meet at the Rock House on Friday mornings each week of summer for a truck owned by Uncle Zeke Babington, local hardware store owner, to transport them to Peter Pan. The ages ranged from 7 to 16 and often there were so many that it took two trips. Upon arrival children gathered for the Pledge of Allegiance, the Lord's Prayer, Bible readings and meditations from Mrs. Love's personal "Expression Book." Then there was swimming in the icy creek, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, a quiet hour, more swimming and then the return to Franklinton at 4:00 pm.
Amazingly, according to Ms. Diane Moore, this day was free of charge; Mrs. Love was the only adult and she had no CPR or First Aid formal training; older kids happily looked after the younger ones; and no child ever came near drowning, fell out of a tree, broke a limb, challenged a snake, or had any major altercations that called for adult intervention.
At her death on October 25, 1959, Mrs. Love was the only lifetime member of the Waverley Club, the catalyst for so much of her life's work. According to her obituary found in the archives of The Era-Leader, she was a great lover of nature and felt that every person, especially children, was potentially good, and it was difficult for her to conceive the idea of any child being bad or even a delinquent.
Hallie Love was born when Ulysses S. Grant was in the White House and saw sixteen other men become U.S. Presidents. She lived through the end of Reconstruction, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Korean Conflict and was 46 years old when she finally got the right to vote. Mrs. Love was a fierce advocate for children and for opportunities for females equalto those of men. It may seem a coincidence that she would carry the name Love, the driving emotion in her life.
