Golden Alumni	Class of 1924
Kathryn (Crowder) Washington
2006 article by Bill Washington

Photo taken during the 1920s Kathryn was born in Smith Mills, Kentucky, in 1906 and she will be 100 years old on June 1st. She and her older sister, Louise, were the children of Margaret and William Crowder.  After later living in Stratford, Texas, Meade, Kansas, and  Wymore, Nebraska, they moved to Manhattan on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918, and established Crowder Cleaning and Dye Works in Aggieville. She attended Eugene Field elementary, lost her father in 1923, and graduated Manhattan High School in 1924.  While at Manhattan, she had the lead in the operetta “The Princess Chrysanthemum.” Upon graduation, she attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and graduated in 1928.  She taught music for a few years and married Vance Washington in 1930.  Vance was also a Manhattan High graduate and played on the 1923 Championship football team.  That year, they moved to the Washington farm and ranch that was settled by Vance’s grandfather, George, in 1871 and continued by his father, Ed.     The thirties were tough years but they always had plenty to eat, they said later. Kathryn separated the milk and sold cream and cottage cheese in Manhattan. They raised Hereford cattle, hogs, crops, and a big garden and fruit trees. In 1938, the first money for Tuttle Creek dam was approved by Congress. They opposed the dam as did most of the Blue Valley residents. Bill was born that year, Mary in 1939, and Sue in 1947.  There was always much work to be done with the cooking, children, and garden canning. They fed German prisoners during and after the war when they were held at Ft.Riley and were released to farm work detail during the daytime. There were often ten or more prisoners and we remember many of them as kind to the children and still remember some of their names. We recall vividly they did not like sweet corn, saying corn is for the swine.     The big flood came in 1951 and caused big trouble for farmers and city folks alike. Because of final congressional approval, the farm was condemned under eminent domain and the family moved into Manhattan in 1956.  The Tuttle Creek opposition believed that smaller dams in the watershed were the appropriate answer. Vance died of leukemia at 58 years of age in 1962.     Kathryn has always loved cooking and entertaining, most of all for her own family.  Kathryn belongs to Manhattan Supper Club, Manhattan Book Club, GU Chapter of PEO, and the First Presbyterian Church. She is currently residing at Meadowlark Hills. Her son Bill and his wife Sharron Buzzell Washington; daughter Mary and her husband Frank Lowman; daughter Sue and her husband Larry Parker (deceased;) and granddaughter Jennie Washington Stout are all Manhattan High alumni, and one great-grandchild, Ben Lowman, is currently attending MHS. She has five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.