1965

Continued studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  We went with a study group to Mexico City for the summer and rented a house in El Bosque de Echegaray.  The U.W. team did a study of the municipio of Huixquilucan.  I studied the power structure of the municipio.

Madison, Wisconsin
December, 1965

Dear Friends:

Last year we told about our rambles through South and Central America and then touring the U.S. and Canada. This year's letter is not so adventurous although we did go to Mexico for ten weeks and did put some 15,000 miles on the V.W. traveling in the U.S. and Mexico since last Christmas. But generally speaking, this year was more quiet than usual. We spent most of the time in Madison, George working on his course work and David going to Kiddie Camp (nursery school for retar­ded children) each morning. Meanwhile I've been keeping the larder full of cookies and cakes,, doing the household chores, some reading, some writing, lots of knitting and in the afternoons being with David,

The summer in Mexico was interesting. We drove down, camping while in the U.S. and then staying in motels until we got a house in a suburb of Mexico City. George drove to the village of Huixquilucan daily where he was working with a group of students from the Univ. of Wisconsin Department of Anthropology in a study of the village. His area of interest was the power structure of the community. At the moment he is trying to finish writing up the report on the study. We got to see¹⁰ much of the country for each weekend we would go to visit another part of the surrounding area. No more traveling is anticipated before George takes his prelims (qualifying exams for the Ph.D.) sometime in October of next year. Then we hope to return to Colombia for a stay of about six months while George does research on his dissertation.

David is progressing well. He can dress himself except for tying laces and buttoning buttons. He's a daredevil on his tricycle. Last week he rode it down a flight of concrete stairs. I hope he learned enough that time not to try it again. We take him swimming Saturday after­noons and he just loves the water. David is very sociable and gets along well with the kids here in the university housing area. We feel that his mixing with so many normal children has been of great value to his development.

I suppose the most ''newsy" item of this letter is the announcement of the fact that we're adopting a child the first part of January. We've been going through the process of adoption for several months (been on the list for almost a year) and already have been informed of a child that the agency would 3 like us to consider. We will see him before Christmas^: but will not take him home till after the holidays.  It would not be fair to take him to a new surrounding and then immediately^: take him to the farm and more new people and surroundings. (We will be spending Christmas at the farm of my folks near Wausau, Wisconsin.) The child selected for us is & boy, almost three years old, black hair, dark skin (he's negro-white), talks in sentences and is toilet trained (that's a real bonus).   We're very enthusiastic about the child. His name is Todd.

This year, as a number of times in the past, we purchased our Christmas cards from CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). We chose the card that most appealed to us because of our firm conviction in the oneness of mankind.  At the time we ordered the card we did not know that we'd be offered child of mixed racial heritage. Now we will have a chance to practice what we preach.

With love,

George, Mary Ann + David