Susan A. Fletcher - Exploring the History of Childhood and Play through 50 Historic Treasures

Susan A. Fletcher is a Colorado Springs native. She grew up on a peaceful street surrounded by her best friends, and they had all sorts of marvelous adventures together. You can read more about her childhood exploits in this book. She currently serves as the Director of History and Archives for The Navigators. She is the co-editor of Dawson Trotman in His Own Words and has written numerous chapters on Colorado for the Pikes Peak Regional History Book Series. Her work also appears in Springs Magazine and The Colorado Collective.

W riting a book about the history of childhood while living in my home-town has naturally caused me to reflect on my own childhood. The first people I need to thank are my parents, Ruth and John Fletcher, and my grandparents Leon and Augusta Brown. Im so thankful to be part of your family. Thank you for giving me a beautiful, happy childhood and for raising me to be a woman who loves Jesus. Words cannot express how much I love each of you, and how much I look forward to us all being reunited in the world to come.

Because this book is about the history of play, I thank my childhood best friend Tanya Pease. I couldnt have asked for a better companion to grow up with. We played with the usual 1980s and 90s toys, but we also had the best imagination games. We were pirates, pioneers, explorers, teachers, and detectives. We did science experiments, art projects, and played outside nearly every summer evening until dark. Im profoundly thankful that we grew up four houses down from each other. No matter where our lives take us from here on out, you will be in my heart forever.

And now for the friends I met when I grew up. This book is based in part on my masters thesis, and I am grateful to Dr. Annie Coleman for her role as my thesis advisor at IUPUI. I am blessed by her thoughtful attention and all of the ways in which she helped me be a better writer and historian. In 2017, AASLH and Rowman & Littlefield were soliciting proposals for their new Exploring American History book series. My friend Bob Beatty sent me a note asking, Wonder if youd give any thought to repurposing your thesis research on toys & games for a book like this? I owe him a huge thank-you for starting me off on this journey and for his encouragement along the way.

In 2013, I attended the Seminar for Historic Administration (now HLI), where I met my SHAsome history family. In particular, I want to thank Amanda Bryden, Marc Blackburn, Melissa Prycer, Jenn Landry, and Brett Lobello for their support on this project.

In 2018, I had the great blessing of receiving a G. Rollie Adams Research Fellowship at The Strong National Museum of Play. Ever since I wrote about The Mansion of Happiness as a poor grad student, I wanted to see the board game in person, so being at the Strong was a dream come true. I spent a fantastic summer week in Rochester, New York, exploring their collections in the reading room of the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives. My deep gratitude to Christopher Bensch, Nic Ricketts, Julia Novakovic, and Beth Lathrop for welcoming me to their wonderful museum and for all of their assistance. I also thank Patrick Ellis for being a delightful fellow-fellow during our research week in June, and for his thoughtful remarks on my project.

Closer to home, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my art community at SPQR Art Space and the Modbo Gallery in downtown Colorado Springs. I am profoundly thankful to my friend and art teacher Brett Andrus for helping me set big artistic and personal goals that eventually led to writing this book. After eight years of teaching me about drawing and painting, he became one of my biggest champions as I returned to the world of history-writing. At a critical point in this project when I was feeling discouraged, he helped kick me into high gear. Brett, thank you for giving me space and permission to temporarily step away from the visual arts to focus on research and writing. Your mantra Plan the Work and Work the Plan totally works. Thank you for your constant faith in me and for every single thing that you do for the artists in our community.

I also have several of my fellow artists to thank. First of all, my painter friend Lupita Carrasco helped me stay connected to the visual arts world (and to another human) during this process by swapping Instagram messages with me every day showing our daily progress on our work. Having that accountability was helpful, and it was a joy to get to know you through those messages. Thank you also to my friends in my Advanced Studio Classes at SPQR, including Emily Rhoades, Claire Swinford, Elizabeth Selby, April Dawes, and Sophia Hanna. I also thank my friend and Modbo Gallery owner Lauren Cibrowski for sharing her Care Bear stories with me, and for providing a home for the artists in our city.

A big thank-you to my Springs Magazine editor Jeremy Jones for bringing me on board his fine publication as a freelance writer. His thoughtful work as an editor has made me a better writer, and I am thankful for his encouragement on this project.

I owe so much to all of my medical champions and healers. Thank you to T. Hedman, D. Hager, Dr. T. Bonack, Dr. A. Liddle, Dr. J. Brinley, and Dr. R. Stringfellow. I am grateful to every one of them for their years of dedication to solving my mysteries and for taking care of me while I wrote this book.

So many people prayed for me while I was writing this book, and I am thankful for each and every one of them. In particular, I want to thank Pastor Katie Fowler, Pastor Jennifer Holz, Bob Beatty, Donald McGilchrist, Paul Lilley, and Ruth Fletcher. Thank you also to my Life Group at First Presbyterian Church: Melissa, Helen and Bill, Joel, Vicki, Christen, and Mason and Maria.

Four of my dear ones passed away over the twenty months in which I was working on the book manuscript, and I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge their influence in my life and work. I miss my uncle Bobs presence in our family, and I am thankful for the opportunity to interview him about his childhood while he was still alive. I am grateful to my friend and American hero Lt. James W. Downing for his brave actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor and for living out the rest of his 104 years with humor, courage, and friendship. Thank you to my fellow historian, friend, and mentor Donald McGilchrist for sharing his vast storehouses of wisdom with me and for being a model of faith, gentleness, grace, and humility. On the day that I submitted the final full submission of this book manuscript, I learned that my beloved former history professor Dr. Bill Mullins had gone home to be with the Lord. Hes one of the people who made me want to be a historian, and I owe my career to him. Thank you, my dear friends.

Finally, on a happier note, a huge thank-you to my Paul Lilley for his love and support on this project. Thank you, Paul, for reading over my drafts, making me dinner, and for being my faithful companion. You are a wonderful gift to me, and I treasure you deeply.

Writing a book about toys and games means that your friends and family will be more interested in your scholarly work than they normally are. Thank you to everyone who asked me how the book was going and who said with genuine enthusiasm, Thats a cool project!

This book is for all of my fellow children of the 1980s and 1990s in fond memory of the time we all spent playing Oregon Trail, Care Bears, and My Little Pony. And this book is for a brand-new generation of American children, who my friends are raising right now. May your childhood be blessed, sweet Micaiah, Asher, Phil, Nora, Sasha, and Matthew.