OLIVIA JONES
The Story of Jane Willingham
Olivia Jones (2015)
When Ms. Haldeman called upon me to interview long-time College Park resident Mrs. Jane Willingham, I honestly had no idea who I was about to encounter. Ms. Haldeman handed me a short briefing on this Mrs. Willingham, and after reading it I felt as though I had barely scratched the surface of who she was. I gathered that she was a hero of a teacher, part of the movement of women into journalism, and the pioneer of Bronze Reminiscences, a literary magazine she founded when she taught at Lakeshore High School. All of these accomplishments and exciting backstories compelled me to run to Ms. Haldeman’s classroom first thing after school to arrive at Mrs. Willingham’s door as soon as possible. As the next editor of Silent Voices (Woodward’s literary magazine), I was excited to hear about her numerous accomplishments, but none more so than her experiences as the advisor for Bronze Reminiscences.
The continuing purpose for each issue of Bronze Reminiscences was to record the life experiences of students’ oldest living relatives or acquaintances. From these stories emerged a fascinating history back to the days of slavery as grandparents and great grandparents recalled the stories told to them in childhood. In addition to stories were family recipes, home remedies, and inspiring quotations from those who had endured unbelievable hardships. Some gave first-hand accounts of marching with Rev. Martin Luther King and meeting past U.S. presidents and world leaders.
Before Mrs. Willingham became a teacher, she was one of the first women broadcasters. She worked for WSB news. Mr. Cox of Cox Broadcasting was her boss and a friend of Presidents. When Truman became President after the death of Roosevelt, Mr. Cox took on the task of helping Truman enhance his diction in speeches. Listening to Truman and making suggestions of how to improve diction and speech patterns became the job of Mrs. Willingham, then Miss Sparks. When she got the opportunity to attend a White House tea for Women in Journalism, she shook hands with Mrs. Truman and then President Truman. When she gave her name, he said, “Oh you are the red-headed young lady trying to improve my speech. Well I’m not giving up my hard r’s!”
Mrs. Willingham told me stories of her childhood, which included happy summers with her brother Andy Sparks, spent in her aunt’s Victorian home where she herself now lives. Her brother Andy became a writer for the AJC and married writer Olive Ann Burns, author of Cold Sassy Tree (one of my summer reading books in 8th grade!). Mrs. Willingham’s maiden name, Sparks, is the name for Sparks Hall at Georgia State University. Jane’s mother attended Cox College, a women’s college located next door to what is now an Alternative School on Main Street in College Park. Changing the town name from Manchester to College Park resulted in streets being named after famous colleges all over the nation. Other streets are named for U.S. Presidents or famous Southern generals. There is a John Calvin also. The Willingham name is a prominent name in College Park because of businesses owned by her husband’s family. Woodward sports teams now practice on what we call the Willingham fields. Mr. Willingham was a talented organist. The Willinghams have three children. There are grandchildren and a great grandson, and many friends who are frequent visitors at the Willingham home on Hawthorne Ave.