Here’s another bit of University of Hawaii history.

Tucked among the papers my mother inherited from the late Professor Carey D. Miller were three pages of rough typewritten notes.

“Talk to students, 11-9-1976.”

She would have been about 82 at the time, I believe.

Miller had been among the earliest members of the UH faculty. Miller Hall is named in her honor.

She tells of growing up in Boise, Idaho, which at the time had an electric trolley system. Amazing.

She worked her way through school, graduating with honors from UC Berkeley and going graduate work at Columbia before accepting a job in Hawaii in 1922.

It’s a pretty amazing tale.

You can read the original here, but I retyped it, or tried to, below.

Grandparents on both sides were pioneers.

Father born in Zurich, Switz. They had many hardships and frequently not enough to eat.

Not haoles who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths.

Compare with immigrants here. Good climate and could go to co. store.

My heart does not bleed when I hear that as children they had to peddle veg or some work.

I had two sisters and one brother, the youngest sister was 13 years older than I, was a ratoon crop on a ranch 3 miles west of Boise, Idaho.

I early observed that farm or ranch women had to work very hard. My mother milked cows along with my father and brother. She had to care for the milk and cream and made butter, which was sold in town with the eggs she raised.

Went to a country, the lillie white school house in the lane and teacher had all 8 grades. The boys were always having fights and bloody noses.

Parents moved to town and I had good teacher in 7th and 8th grade. By this time a good high school. Stayed in town 2 or 3 months the worst winter weather and otherwise walked the mile and a half to the electric interurban. When I graduated I received scholarships, one to Whitman College and the other to Univ of Idaho at Moscow up north.

Opened in September. About the middle of December I had news father’s death. Brain hemorrhage. Went home and could not return to college.

Went to business college in the hopes that I could earn my way through college. Prospects dim. After being out for year I returned to Moscow. Awfully cold.

Friend was attending University of California Berkeley. I decided I wanted to go there. Opened in August.

I loved Berkeley. The cool fog. I got away hot August and September weather got out of some (?) also. Closed before Christmas.

Job in registrars office where I work for three years. There were financial troubles but I managed to graduate with honors in class of 1000 bachelors degrees.

Now to get a job. Poor training for teaching. Nothing new.

Started teaching in small southern Idaho town. Friend State College of Washington home, wired me to come and fill position for someone who was to be on leave. At least I was in college atmosphere. Weather was even worse than Moscow, days 20° below zero and we both resigned she to accept dietitian with Navy.

Swine flu. Helped in hospital in Boise until February. Had offers from my old chief Dr. Agnes F.M. to come to Berkeley, a lecturer in nutrition and do laboratory.

My mother was with me and she developed diabetes doctor said six months. She died the year before insulin was discovered.

I looked for a steno job and found one in head office of Ext. work in Boise and I was soon promoted to assistant to Home Demon. Leader. Then the second semester I went back to Moscow to fill a vacancy.

Fall of 1921 I went to Columbia University in New York and studied nutrition with one of the best teachers in the field, Sherman and Dr. MS Rose.

About March or April I received a wire asking if I would be interested in coming to the University of Hawaii to head the home economics department. I wired that I would. Learned of Miss Wells. Discouraging picture. I wired again no.

Mr. Hemenway came to see me. Mr. Hemmenway painted different picture. Raised salary from 2700 to 3000 and transportation from San Francisco. So the die was cast. I got a long letter from Dr. Dean.

most people know different difference between Hawaii and Philippines. Four days train and on the water to Hawaii. Said Dr. M would let me have white rats to establish the experimental rat lab..

Two friends decided to come for years vacation and Miss Erwin, with whom I have lived these 54 years, established home economics at Punahou School.

Dr. Dean met us at the ship and took the rats, leaving Dean Keller to settle three women instead of one. Blaisdell Hotel. Breakfast had first taste papaya. And within two or three years I demonstrated the papaya was a good source of vitamin C.

When the methods for determining vitamin value food was for use of rats and GPs

We turned the dining room into an animal lab.

Under Pres. Crawford we got a nutrition lab where Arts Bldg now stands. A small structure for GPs from Board of Health.

1937 got call from Pres. Crawford to make sketches for a home economics building. Worked all weekend and had something on paper. I tried to tell him I had other ideas than matching of Farrington Hall on the other side of the fountain. As clear after some discussion that I could take it or leave it and he would give money to someone else. He turns sketches and dimensions to Dean Keller and he made something that looked more like an architect’s plans.

Dr. Snyder called it a rededication.

Now Farrington Hall is gone, and Miller Hall is slated for the same fate when they make a new mall.

They might better have torn down this hall than Gilmore Hall as it was better constructed.

Fortunately my first bosses were Dr. Dean and Pres. Crawford and Dean Keller, who was dean of applied science, through most of my regine. They were sympathetic to our work and those who came after were not.

Mrs. Furer said a few weeks ago that the Textiles and Fashion Design could use the entire building.

Nothing permanent but change.

Rudyard Kipling wrote, “After me cometh a builder. Tell him I too have known.”