THOMAS, Dorothy Swain

Born 13 August 1898, Barnes, Kansas; died 22 September 1990

Daughter of Willard I. and Augusta Dodge Thomas; married John W. Buickerood, 1939

Dorothy Swain Thomas was a member of a large and talented family of a minister. The Reverend Thomas' family moved often: to several towns in Kansas and then, when Thomas was seven, to a homestead in Alberta, Canada; 40 miles from a railroad. Six years later, the family moved back to the Midwest, eventually to Lincoln, Nebraska, where Thomas attended high school and college. She interrupted her college education from time to time to teach in country schools, in small towns, and eventually in Lincoln. She moved to New Mexico in 1934, but the locale of her stories remains primarily the Midwest.

Thomas published numerous stories, several poems, and books for children. She also wrote one-act plays; one is included in Best One-Act Plays of 1950. Her novels, Ma Jeeter's Girls (1932, reissued 1986) and The Home Place (1936, 1966) are actually collections of short stories. All episodes use the same cast of characters, however, and the continuity of theme makes a unified novel.

Ma Jeeter's Girls is told from the point of view of the young school teacher who "boards" with Ma Jeeter and teaches at the school across the road. Living at home with Ma are her apparently virginal son Pete, her unmarried daughter Laura, and Laura's little daughter. But Ma has five other daughters, and every chapter delineates the courtship of one of the daughters, each of whom, with only one exception, has become pregnant without the sanction of marriage.

Ma Jeeter is particularly well-drawn. Although her physical appearance is rather horrible, she is a wonderfully sympathetic character as she relates the downfall of her daughters, the emotions of the family concerning "the family weakness," and the various ways in which the problems of paternity and marriage are resolved. The novel seems at first glance to be a lighthearted treatment of an age-old problem, but Thomas' understanding of the moments of sorrow and defeat in the particular situation of each daughter is notable.

The first chapter of The Home Place won second prize for the O. Henry Memorial Awards in 1935; the editors considered it one of the best in depicting the effects of the Depression on family life. Subsequent chapters, all published earlier as short stories, have merit but do not achieve the harmony found in Ma Jeeter's Girls. Events cover a year during the Depression on the Nebraska farm to which the three sons and their families return when they lose their jobs and homes. The small, crowded house becomes the scene of conflict and resolution between the varied members—particularly the women—of four generations of the family. It is through the eyes of Phyllis, the young, pregnant wife of the second son, that the other characters and their problems are sympathetically developed. Thomas' book is rich in details of Midwestern farm life during the Depression and shows both humor and warmth in development of character.

H. L. Mencken's American Mercury named Thomas one of the ablest of American short story writers. Several of her stories have been anthologized or marked for special honors. As did Ruth Suckow in Iowa and Bess Streeter Aldrich in Nebraska, Thomas explores the everyday lives of ordinary people. Her stories are, she has said, pretty sure to be about love and happiness sought for. In contrast to Mari Sandoz, writing in Lincoln, Nebraska, at the same time, Thomas believed life to be more kind than cruel; her work, while realistic, often reflects an optimistic point of view. The author's skill lies in her fidelity to physical detail and her ability to develop her characters and present their story from a clean, clear, and unmannered viewpoint.

Other Works:

Hi-Po the Hippo (1942). Eliphant Dilemma (1946). The Child in America: Behavior Problems and Programs (with W. I. Thomas, 1928, reissued 1970).

Bibliography:

Daniels, S., Dorothy Thomas: The Woman and the Work (videocassette, 1989). Getting Away (film based on Thomas' short story, 1980).

Other references:

American Mercury (Dec. 1946). CSM (4 Jan. 1941). Quill Minutes, Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska (1931-32). San Angelo Standard-Times (6 Mar. 1977). Saturday Evening Post (10 April 1937).

—HELEN STAUFFER