Kenneth and Hattie Gordon Fry Papers

Kenneth and Hattie Gordon Fry Papers, 1925-1996

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Fry, Hattie Gordon; Fry, Kenneth
Title: Kenneth and Hattie Gordon Fry Papers
Dates: 1925-1996 (inclusive)
19251996
Quantity: 0.4 linear feet, (1 manuscript box)
Collection Number: WCMss.136
Summary: This Kenneth and Hattie Gordon Fry Papers contains materials related to the lives of Doctors Kenneth and Hattie Gordon Fry, Whitman College class of 1926. These papers, which date from 1925 to 1996, also include correspondence, photographs, medical journal articles, and records.
Repository: Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Penrose Library, Room 130
345 Boyer Avenue
Walla Walla, WA
99362
Telephone: 5095275922
Fax: 5095264785
archives@whitman.edu
Access Restrictions: Collection is open for research.
Languages: English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Hattie Louise Gordon Wakefield "Jerry" Fry and Kenneth E. Fry met as students at Whitman College, and both graduated in 1926. Hattie had been born in St. Louis, Missouri to Dr. Frank Newton and Louise Isenman Gordon on June 30, 1906, and Kenneth in Utica, New York to Walter and Anne Evans Fry on July 29, 1902. After their graduation the pair lost touch and they both began pursuing doctorates in different fields.

Hattie went to the University of California Berkeley, where she received a masters and then a Ph.D. in classics in 1927 and 1930 respectively. She then left for Honolulu and by 1931 was teaching there. In 1934, she married Eric T. Wakefield and the couple continued to live on the island all through World War II, during which time they witnessed the Pearl Harbor bombing. They remained married until Wakefield's death in 1978.

Kenneth attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and graduated with a medical Ph.D. in 1931. Between 1941 and 1946 he served as a colonel in the United States Medical Corps before returning to Jefferson Medical College as a professor. It was during his time in Pennsylvania that he also met and married Nova Smith. He retired in 1967 and returned to Walla Walla, serving as the Walla Walla County health officer between 1970 and 1980. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Walla Walla branch of Planned Parenthood and a local mental health program, and remained active as a Whitman alumnus. He served on the board of the Alumni Giving Fund between 1967 and 1973 and continued to be heavily involved for the remainder of his life. They were both awarded the Whitman College Gordon Scribner Award for Distinguished Service in the 1980s.

By 1978, Hattie and Kenneth had both become widows, and their courtship began that year. They married in 1980, and continued to be involved in Walla Walla society until Kenneth's death on 15 April, 1996. Hattie spent the next few years of her life at the Washington Odd Fellows Home, and died on January 20, 2002.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Kenneth and Hattie Gordon Fry Papers consists of the Master's and Doctoral theses of Dr. Hattie Gordon as well as her school and university transcripts and personal correspondence, and personal photos. These papers, which date from 1925 through 1996, also include medical journal articles, written by Dr. Kenneth Fry, records of his military service and fraternal society pins are included. Both were awarded Whitman College's Gordon Scribner Award for Distinguished Service and the tribute cites their contributions to both Whitman College and the community of Walla Walla, Washington.

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