Julia Edna Graper Lancaster Stephens and her husband, John Firth Stephens, are celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Julia, born in Decatur County, Tennessee, of Addie McClure and Robert Lee Lancaster had three brothers – Curry, Grady and Benjamin – and three sisters – Thelma, Beulah and Eudie. Since Grady died about a year ago, Julia – who was the baby – alone represents her family.
Julia's mother was a great pioneer and a very resourceful person. She preferred to be called Mama Lancaster by her grandchildren. And, with Papa Lancaster – a farmer – she was broadly respected and loved.
John's parents were Emma LaPorte Firth and John Tupman Stephens. John and his sister, Frances, were born in Covington, Kentucky. John's mother was a musician of appreciable reknown, and his father was a trainman with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company. Frances was a Phi Kappa Phi member at the University of Tennessee and became a trained social worker. She was employed in Cleveland, Ohio, and later in Miami, Florida. Mr. Stephens' work took the family to Knoxville when John was at the age of ten. Knoxville offered many opportunities.
After attending grade school in Decatur County, Julia attended Freed Hardiman College in Henderson, Tennessee, through the seventh and eighth grades. She relates, “My desk was located beside a window. One morning our teacher placed a beautiful vase of fresh flowers in the window. She then went to the blackboard. Apparently, I could not resist the temptation of dipping a flower in the water and sprinkling few drops of water on my classmates. Of course, sounds of “-ooh” were heard across the room. When the teacher turned around and asked what happened, no one uttered a word: there was complete silence.
“In Home Economics at Decaturville High School, our class made oatmeal cookies. They were very, very dry. We were instructed not to eat the cookies. A classmate took one from the “mile-high” plate of cookies, passed it around, and each of us took a bite. The teacher blew her top and went around the room inquiring, “Who took the cooky from the plate?” None of us let the cat out of the bag. Such loyalty. One particular girl hd crumbs on her lips which was a “dead give away”; the culprit had been found. Our instructor lined us up and made us eat all f those cookies. This incident turned me against oat meal cookies---without milk.
“Each morning Mather Johnson brought a huge pickle from his father's grocery store. He would pass it around in the study hall, usually starting with me since my desk was near his. It would stop at the person taking the last bite. Imagine eating pickle in the morning; great fun!
“Riding Ladin Junior's horse through downtown Decaturville at break neck speed was both thrilling and scary.
“I remember my Latin teacher keeping me after school. He had a crush on a lady and was always eager to meet her after class. He accused me of not trying to translate the sentences so he would be delayed; was he correct?
“I attended Toler's Business College in Paris, Tennessee. This is where I became interested in politics and volunteered to assist with literature et cetera. I stayed with a lovely family named “Paris”.
“Attending George Peabody College was a giant step for me to take. While going to Nashville on the train, my dear mother's words echoed, “I have done everything within my power to instil character in you. I shall not worry that you will go wrong. But remember, never be afraid to be alone. Stand back; it is much easier to get in with people that it is to separate yourself from those who turn out not of good character.
“I was a bit discouraged by the time I arrived at the Union Station. I was asked by a few fellow passengers on the train “Where was I going”? When I told them Peabody College for Teachers, they remarked “That's an old main and bachelors school”. But it was quite the contrary. I was greeted with open arms by other first year students. All were of sterling character. It was a wonderful, happy experience. Highlights were: Grapefruit feasts in bed; and trying to break Al Martin's fruit cake that she brought back from Georgia after Christmas.
“It was after hours in the dorm. About ten of us were giggling and making noise when our 'house mother' suddenly opened the door. At that time, Al had positioned her hockey stick high in the air to break the fruit cake. Our housemother wasn't one to smile, but this time she was so amused that she did smile and simply said, “Girls, please be quiet.”
“Dr. Ault, my economics teacher was a strict disciplinarian. The first day in his class he remarked, “If you do not answer immediately when I call your name, you are not alive and alert and I want you to get out of my class.” The following semester, with trepidations, I accepted the invitation to be his part time secretary. This became a very worth-while experience.
“Our roommates in the dorm suffered tremendously when we slipped into our rooms to study and learn all the difficult names of the muscles.
“I served food in the cafeteria, part time, with some special friends. When other friends came through the line, especially boys, they begged us to give them larger servings. They were all our friends when they went through the line.
“We were too young to fully appreciate history. President and Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt drove through the campus during my residency. We were rooted out of our rooms early in the morning and were out for hours; security reasons.
“I still correspond with two college friends: Helen Potts in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Mineola Stewart in Mobile, Alabama.
“I was employed by the Tennessee Educational Department in Nashville for two years. I later moved to Knoxville to work for Mrs. Margaret Washington in the State Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. Our office was located on the University of Tennessee campus. The rest is history; this is where I met my true love.”
John, to this time, had attended grade schools in Covington, Kentucky, and in Knoxville, followed by high school and The University of Tennessee-Knoxville. In high school he attainted membership in the National High School Honor Society. His university degree is that of Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. John was a Co-operative Engineering Student at the Tennessee Eastman Company chemical plant in Kingsport, Tennessee. And, during his senior year, he was employed by the Tennessee Valley Authority part time as a Laboratory Assistant. He graduated, during the depression, in 1935.
John first worked as a salesman for Warren Candles in Knoxville; then as a Junior Clerk (temporary) with the T. V. A. He continued as a clerk with the Chas. M. Allen Co., a manufacturers' representative firm, also in Knoxville. These jobs covered a two-year period.
About a year after graduating from the University, John met Julia on campus where she was employed. “It would be difficult to describe, adequately, the joy she brought into my life”, says John, “and this has been never ending.” After a relatively short, very exciting dating period, Julia accepted John's marriage proposal. And, after a relatively long engagement period – about three and one-half years – they were married by Reverend Mr. Jesse F. Benton, a Methodist Minister, in Elizabethton, Tennessee, on December 24, 1939. They spent their honeymoon weekend at the John Sevier Hotel in Johnson City, Tennessee.
In 1937, John had accepted the job of chemist with the American Bemberg Corporation in Elizabethton. While there, Julia and John both served as Scout Leaders.
Then in 1942, John was employed in the first of two, successive World War II jobs. They moved to Cleveland, Tennessee, for the first, at Tyner – near Chattanooga – then, in 1944, they moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
At Tyner, John was a T.N.T. Line Foreman at the Volunteer Ordinance Works, operated by the Hercules Powder Company. At Oak Ridge, he worked at first as a chemist in the Y-12 Plant of the Manhattan District, operated by the Tennessee Eastman Company; later, as an industrial hygienist – a turning point in his career. Due to a change in the operating companies, the Eastman Company was succeeded by the Carbide & Carbon Chemicals Company.
After normal reduction-in-force separations, successively at Tyner and at Oak Ridge, where he received an Army-Navy E Award, John attained a civil service job in 1949, in Detroit, Michigan. A new practice, air pollution control, was added to his industrial hygiene practice.
As we were preparing to go to Michigan, Julia's mother said, “I'm sorry to see you go so far away, but I'm glad to see you go where you can see a lot of snow”; we did!
In his principal career role with the General Motors Corporation, which followed in 1951, John's work took him to major cities in the United States and Canada. Fortunately, since his work involved appreciable travel, it was possible to include Julia on many of the preferred trips. He retired as a Research Engineer in the G. M. Industrial Hygiene Department on December 31, 1975.
Contemplating too many leisure hours after retirement, Julia and John became involved in outreach activities in addition to the mission activities that Julia, especially, and John had long supported in their church. Accordingly, they volunteered at Children's Hospital of Michigan, and in Contact Life-line Teleministry which Julia helped to initiate in Detroit. John served on the Board of Metropolitan Jail Ministry, and as its treasurer. He also served eight years in the Missions Division of the Detroit Conference of the United Methodist Church. Julia and John both served on the Administrative Board of the Metropolitan United Methodist Church, in Detroit for twenty-five, or more, years.
It seems that Julia, during all of her life, was in missions. She once had the rich and rewarding experience of having close contact with Dr. E. Stanley Jones during her missions program at Metropolitan Church. She had been awarded Life Membership in the Woman's Society of Christian Service in Oak Ridge, in 1949.
We continued to live in Detroit for eight years after retirement during which time John served for several years as a part time instructor at Henry Ford Community College, in Dearborn. Julia continued her activities in the United Methodist Women, in Women's National Farm & Garden, in Michigan Mothers, in Tuesday Musicale, in Wives, and in other support groups.
While in Michigan, John was listed in American Men and Women of Science, in Who's Who in Midwest, and in other biographical publications. He is an Honorary Member of the Michigan Industrial Hygiene Society, a Diplomate of the American Board of Industrial Hygiene, an Emeritus Member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and of the American Academy of Industrial Hygiene, a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemists, an Associate Member of the Engineering Society of Detroit and the American Chemical Society, and a Life Member of Delta Sigma Phi.
Before leaving Michigan, we flew to Hawaii in 1977, for a two-week visit on the islands of Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii. The islands, and the people, were beautiful. In 1980, we flew to Europe for three weeks and toured nine countries. Seeing the beautiful Passion Play at Oberammergau, in West Germany, was one of the many highlights of that trip.
We returned to Tennessee in May of 1984. Our principal reluctance in doing so was leaving an area we love where we had been completely fulfilled, and the many beloved friends and activities that made it all possible.
Our greatest satisfaction in having returned to Tennessee similarly relates to being close to our many beloved relatives, and friends, in our area. We have not again busied ourselves unduly with activities. This leaves a big void. But, then, we're not as young as we used to be. Still, we motored forty-five hundred miles in 1988, to beautiful New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. We visited dear friends in New Hampshire, enroute.
Our hobbies have include horseback riding, horseshoe pitching, croquet, fishing, swimming, gardening and flower arranging. They still include flower arranging, bridge, travel, reading, hiking, napping, being with friends, et cetera. There seems to be little likelihood of our becoming couch potatoes.
Along the way, we were privileged – one, or both – to attend World Fairs and Expositions at Chicago, New York, Montreal and Knoxville.
And, for all that we have enjoyed along life's was, or will continue to enjoy, we give credit to our wonderful parents, teachers, ministers, relatives and friends for their love, inspiration and encouragement.
P. S.
In Nashville, we have become members of the West End
United Methodist Church and Cheekwood: the Tennessee Horticultural and Fine
Arts Center, and John has become a Civitan Club member.