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Child's Drawings Connect Modern-Day Waldo To The 1930s

Virginia Davis and Ellyn Butler. Photo by Susan B. Wilson/KCUR.
Virginia Davis and Ellyn Butler. Photo by Susan B. Wilson/KCUR.

By Susan B. Wilson and Brenna Daldorph

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-989486.mp3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This story begins with a secret in the attic, like any good mystery should. Ellyn Butler is a 27-year-old graduate of UMKC with a BA in art. She's lived in an old house in Waldo for the past three years. One night in June, as the clock neared midnight, Butler and her new roommate decided to explore the attic.

Under the floorboards, they found a stash of crayon drawings, done by a child, probably more than 50 years ago.

Faster than she thought possible, Butler had located the artist, Virginia Davis, who is now 82 years old and lives in Overland Park. Davis had made the drawings 74 years ago, when she was only 8, and lived in that house in Waldo. She thinks her older sister had hidden the drawings under the floorboards.

Soon after their initial meeting, Butler invited Davis to visit the house. Visiting her childhood home and seeing the drawings sparked many memories for Davis. Her father had built the house during the Great Depression.

74 years after their creation, the drawings resulted in a strong friendship between Virginia Davis and Ellyn Butler.

This story was produced for KC Currents. To listen on your own schedule, subscribe to the KC Currents Podcast.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”
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