16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, March 1, 1912: This month signifies that the winter is
passing. And soon will be the Springtime With all its bright
scenes and soul stirring dreams, And memories so long and so
dear. After a whole week of trying to get a theme in readiness,
I finished the thing at noon. It came under General History.
Cleopatra was what I had to write about. I got it so as to suit
my satisfaction. But of course there were some mistakes. Her
middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later: How did
Grandma end up writing about Cleopatra? Did she choose the
topic? (If so, why?) . . . or did her teacher assign it? (If so,
why did he assign it to her instead of to another student?) The
way I picture Cleopatra is strongly affected by the 1960s movie
with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.—and I can’t quite
envision how people thought about her a hundred years ago. Was
Cleopatra’s beauty, charm and ability to control men generally
seen in a positive or a nega