News Event: I Baked A Cake For Ike and Mamie

Family History In Letters And A Recipe

by 

Dr. Michael

Food, cooking and recipes have always been an underlying means of passing cultural and family history from one generation to the next.  I remember, as a child in the corner of the kitchen listening quietly to the stories that my mom, aunts and grandmother told as they cooked.  Each year I would learn about the history of my family, get updates on relatives that I had never met, and hearing about those things that my parents did that they would not fess up to until we were adults.

So what does all this have to do with Ike and Mamie Eisenhower?  Everything.

William Snyder, Eileen Givens and Tim Rives at the EPLMBH Visitor Center

On October 14, 2014, President Eisenhower's 124th birthday, the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home hosted another one of their wonderful and inspiring Brown Bag Programs.  The EPLMBH guest speaker was Eileen Givens the granddaughter of Douglas McKay.  Mr. KcKay was President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Secretary of the Interior from January 21, 1953 – April 15, 1956.  Mrs. Givens spoke about the adventure and joy she had in the writing of her new book I Baked a Cake for Ike and Mamie!

Eileen Givens followed her grandfather's lead and began a life of public service.  To her credit she lead the city of Glendale, California both as a City Council member and as its Mayor.  After introductions, Mrs. Givens took the floor.  Strong and proud, she lead the audience on a journey through her family's past and focused not on the politics of the 1950s but on the part of history we tend to forget, the human side.  She shared with the audience that the book she has written is an "informal memoir and a social history" based on letters from her grandmother to various members of her family.   Mable McKay, Eileen's grandmother, wrote extensively during their time in Washington, D.C. (1953 - 1956).

Douglas McKay

Mabel McKay

Her book found its beginnings about 8 years ago because of the pending sell of her family home in Salem, Oregon.  She was placed in charge of moving and storing a set of boxes from the house.  Inside she came across a large number of letters.  Time went by.  Four to five years ago, Eileen began to look at the collections of letters more closely and realized that these letters were unique.  Mable McKay kept a copy of her letters from their time in the nation's capital.   The letters could be divided into several groups which included "Dear Family," "Dear Gals," letters to close friends, and even her bridge club.  According to Eileen her grandmother wrote more than 400 letters and cards in just one year.  The Dear Gals letters were addressed to her daughters back home in Oregon.  Mable's letters were typed on onionskin paper and carbon copied so she could send the letters out to all of her family.

No spoiler ALERT!!  Eileen McKay continued with stories about the relationship between the McKays and the Eisenhowers.  She outlined the importance of cooking and Mable's famous Angel Food Cake with pink icing.  Why pink? You will just have to the read the book.

Eileen then explored a number of stories including a fun, and not so secret, dinner with the Eisenhowers and the reasons the McKays had to move back to Oregon.  Eileen also said that her grandmother "always wanted to write her memoirs..., but sadly she did not."  How proud would Mable McKay be to see that her granddaughter completed the book she wanted to write and keep the memories alive for the next generations.

You can get your copy of the book I Baked a Cake for Ike and Mamie! A Memoir of Douglas and Mabel McKay: Letters from Washington, D.C. at the Eisenhower Presidential Gift Shop for $21.95 or you can order your book by calling 785-263-6751.

The Eisenhower Presidential Library's next book talk will be Merilyn Holt speaking about her newest book Cold War Kids: Politics and Childhood in Postwar America, 1945 - 1960, on November 6 at 7:00 p.m. in the Visitor Center.