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Days of Waterford

Cook, Melanie M
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1847-762X
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1430821890

Abstract Details

2015, BA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English.
My thesis, Days of Waterford, was initially inspired by my study of Louise Erdrich’s novel, Tracks. Erdrich writes of the lives of the Ojibwa tribe with deep affection and sensitivity without sparing the reader the rough edges of her characters. As I read her novel, I became aware of the similarities between her Ojibwa tribe and the people from the “backside” of Waterford Park, the horse track where I spent most of the 1970’s and 80’s. Erdrich’s masterful use survival humor is of particular interest to me. Like the Ojibwa, racetrack horsemen tend to find ways to laugh about things that most people would not find humorous. They often forgo the security and stability that most people strive for in favor of the serial exhilaration that comes with placing hopes and dreams on the next good horse, and then the next, and the next. Success and hardship are both common and expected in the lives of racetrackers. Nothing lasts, good or bad—except the stories. In Erdrich’s Tracks, there is much emphasis on the oral tradition of storytelling by the main characters. This is another similarity between Erdrich’s Ojibwa and my “tribe” of racetrackers. Racetrack stories usually exist only in oral form; it is very rare that they are written down. The final link between the Ojibwa and Waterford’s horsemen is that both struggle to preserve their identity as modern life imposes its changes upon them. Changes in the racing industry of recent years have all but put an end to the family-run racing stables of the 1970’s. To write the stories and histories of some of Waterford’s horsemen, I interviewed a number of people who raced there during that era. I also studied a number of books by authors who wrote from interviews and oral histories. Studs Terkel’s The Great Divide was highly influential in my writing. In this book, Terkel writes from interviews with working class individuals across the United States, who talk about their lives and their struggles to get by in American society. Interviewing the Waterford horsemen was an enjoyable challenge and a struggle in itself. I found that many people readily agree to interviews, but a smaller number will actually sit down to participate. Many people agreed to interview by email, but only one person completed this type of interview. Several horsemen did meet with me in person and sit down to talk with me about their lives, their families, their horses, and their stories. The high point of my interviewing experiences happened on a cold day in early February. Luck dictated that four or five old-time horsemen would happen by the rec hall at Mountaineer (which was Waterford thirty years ago). It was a beautiful thing to sit with this group of racetrackers and listen as they reminisced between gulps of coffee and spoonfuls of chili, which was sponsored that day by the racetrack chaplaincy. Stories and laughter flowed effortlessly for several hours. I don’t think I needed to ask a single question. It was glorious. I hoped to re-create the situation on another day but due to a long stretch of sub-zero temperatures and a lack of fortuitous timing, it did not happen again. My father, Richard Murphy, loved nothing more than to hear and tell racetrack stories—for hours on end. I am sure it is from him that I acquired my affection for horsemen and their tales. I have Dad to thank for situating our family in the midst of this dream-chasing lifestyle. Our security came not from steady income and fashionable possessions, but from the firm foundation of familial relationships. I have included my own family’s history and experiences in this thesis.
Patti Swartz, Ph. D. (Advisor)
Katherine Orr, Ph. D. (Committee Member)
Leslie Haephy, Ph. D. (Committee Member)
Lydia Rose, Ph. D. (Committee Member)
91 p.
Fine Arts; Gender; History; Regional Studies
horse racing; horse training; jockeys; backside; farming; West Virginia

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Cook, M. M. (2015). Days of Waterford [Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1430821890

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Cook, Melanie. Days of Waterford. 2015. Kent State University, Undergraduate thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1430821890.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Cook, Melanie. "Days of Waterford." Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1430821890

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ksuhonors1430821890
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This open access ETD is published by Kent State University Honors College and OhioLINK.