Locks on a river, the Mississippi

When growing up in St. Louis, I sometimes saw the Mississippi River, and the Illinnois, and the Missouri. Looking for something which the theme for Sepia Saturday reminded me of.

How about The Upper Mississippi locks and dams? 

By army corps of engineers - http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/About/Offices/EmergencyManagement/Flood/LocksDams.aspx, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47278018

The above map is very limited, not even including where the Missouri River comes into the Mississippi, near St. Louis.

Lock and dam Upper Mississippi

Melvin Price Locks and Dam is a dam and two locks at river mile 200.78 on the Upper Mississippi River, about 17 miles (27 km) north of Saint Louis, Missouri. The collocated National Great Rivers Museum, at 1 Lock and Dam Way, East Alton, Illinois, explains the structure and its engineering.

Construction began in 1979, the main lock opened in 1990, and the full structure was completed in 1994. It replaced the earlier Lock and Dam No. 26, demolished in 1990, and is the first replacement structure on the Upper Mississippi River nine-foot navigation project.  SOURCE: Wikipedia.

Note, Dam No. 26 does not show on the map pictured above.  

I was taken by my father to see some locks on the Mississippi (I think) near Alton IL. My sister and myself went to college in Elsah IL, which is just north of Alton IL on the Mississippi.  I think it was more likely somewhere near there. That would have been any time from 1950-1963 when I moved away.  So it wouldn't have been the replacement Dam No. 26...maybe the original one.

Here's the original Dam No 26.

Lock and Dam No. 26 was a lock and dam located near Alton, Illinois on the Upper Mississippi River around river mile 202.5.  (The Old Clark Bridge with a swing span rail bridge in between.)

Opened in 1938, its largest lock was 600 feet long. It was demolished in 1990 and replaced by the Melvin Price Locks and Dam, which is also known as Lock and Dam number 26. SOURCE: Wikipedia

Our college was Principia College. In 1934, Principia College graduated its first class as a full four-year institution and in 1935 the college was officially moved to its present-day location in Elsah. In 1993, about 300 acres (120 ha) of the campus was designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior.   Source: Wikipedia Here.

Principia's campus sits on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River

I will go into more details about my college (or any early life) elsewhere!

The Great River Road, Illinois Route 100 14 mi (23 km) upstream of Alton. This shows how the bluffs look from the river level.

Here's the Sepia Saturday theme for this week. The water, boats and locks just struck me that I haven't seen anything like them since I was a girl.

Getting over the Anti-Vaccination life

I was raised in Christian Science, where the belief is that the same power that Jesus used to heal is available through prayer today.  So until I was a young adult and left home at 21, (in 1963) I never had any medical treatment, nor saw a doctor.

I received a smallpox vaccination at about 5 years old, in public school in Houston, (in 1947-9). My mother was terrified, and I was given a lollypop. But within a few years we moved to St. Louis where I and my sister would attend Principia, a Christian Science school (kindergarten through college) where no vaccinations were required.  There were sometimes epidemics that happened after I left the college, and I heard that several students died.

At 21 I became a Flight Attendant in my first job away from home.  Then I got all the vaccinations needed to go overseas.  No polio vaccine was available for the job. And I was no longer a Christian Scientist either.

I got my children vaccinated, though measles, mumps and chicken pox weren't available as vaccines yet...so they suffered through them.  And when they received the polio vaccines, apparently I was exposed to the virus when bathing them. I found out later.  So none of us caught it.

Recently I realized I haven't yet healed from my own surviving of this childhood.  Who knew.  I'm going to be doing some therapeutic work to embrace that little girl that I carry around within me, who cried from infections, coughed through colds and allergies, had fevers without aspirin, lost my tonsils to a fever rather than a surgeon, and lived without antibiotics until I was past 20.

So I just wanted to share this is my burden that I'm healing from.  All the wonderful inspirational quotes that I read, the alternative health practices that I sometimes share, come from my perspective as an adult. I have the choice to live my life with responsibility, joy, love, anger toward injustice, compassion, and good health.  Yes, I believe healing comes from a positive attitude, as well as the use of scientific discoveries like medicine and vaccines.  I am still angry toward parents who abuse their children's health and safety by not using available medical practices.  It's the children who suffer most.

Sharing this with 52 Ancestors on Facebook Group  "Generations Cafe  ..topic is nurturing.  I'm sure my parents were loving and nurturing, but their faith was their choice...mine is different.

Join  Amy Johnson's Crow's Facebook Group  "Generations Cafe 
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School days

For our Sepia Saturday meme, this week we get to share school pictures.  Mmm, not those awful ones of year books, thank you very much!

Photo from: Flickr Commons collection of the State Archives of North Carolina

So come over HERE to see what other Sepians have been inspired to post (scroll to bottom of that page where names are listed for links to their posts).  You are welcome to post your own blog on- (or maybe off-) theme and list your link as well!  The girls in the photo were captured in 1917.  That's the year my mother was born.  My photos are a bit more recent!  Sharing some of the family photos of my youth again.

These were taken of the campus of Principia, in St. Louis, MO in about 1953.  My father was a bit proud of his Studebaker.  Top photo shows the girls dorm, with the gym over to the left side.  Next photo (on right) shows car with the Upper School in the background.  And the lower photo shows my sister and myself (the tall one in matching Easter Outfits) in front of the Administration Building.

I mentioned this campus a few weeks ago, HERE, and talked about my high school years a bit.  As you can see we were a bit younger than that when we started school there.  Actually my sister was about 4 I think, and I had just turned 8 when I entered 3rd grade.  I had no other school experience besides Principia until my sophomore year of college, when I attended William and Mary for summer school.  Then I quit college completely my spring quarter of my junior year of college.  That's when my adult life actually started.