Inspiration from the Past

Catherine Dilts

I never thought I’d write historical fiction, until a story dropped into my lap. A whole trunk full of stories. I had to start somewhere, so I picked one. And this story is a doozie.

Going through the piles of photos, newspaper clippings, letters, and journals my mother left me, I discovered an irresistible true tale. My great-aunt Mildred was in a bank robbery.

If you knew Aunt Millie the way we did, you might briefly suspect she’d participated. She was a sassy gal. A real firecracker. Not that I actually expected her to engage in criminal activity. But it wouldn’t have shocked me much if she’d been on the periphery of something sketchy.

She was, however, an innocent bystander. In 1932, at the tender age of twenty-five, Mildred Berry was working in a South Dakota bank when armed men entered to rob the place. Someone in the family had clipped newspaper articles and tucked them away, for me to find over 90 years later. My mother hadn’t been born yet. This seemed so ancient, and yet so immediate.

One article stopped abruptly. Someone either didn’t clip the rest of the article, or the other half had been lost over the decades.

I had this pile of very interesting material. Interesting to me, at least. What was I going to do with it? I couldn’t bear the thought of this stuff moldering away for another generation. Maybe becoming permanently lost to decay or indifference.

First, I verified the clippings by checking my great-grandfather’s journal entry for the date of the robbery. He wrote briefly about his daughter’s terrifying experience.

Second, I fortuitously ran across a Facebook page for the small town where the robbery took place. Oh, no! The bank was being torn down! I watched the progress of the demolition in horror. Not that well-built over a hundred years ago, I suspect, it was crumbling and unsalvageable. At least I had the before images, and found other photos of the bank when it was fully intact.

Third, I messaged the town’s Facebook page, and learned where to find archived newspapers for the more complete story about the robbery. I was amazed these prairie newspapers had been lovingly preserved digitally, and there are people who can look up specific info for you, for a modest fee. I soon had several articles, plus the just conclusion for the ruffians.

Fourth, now I was in knee deep, and wading further. I dove into research, learning about Model As and bank vaults, and reading great-grandfather’s memoir/history. I tried writing Millie’s story. Being a fiction writer, I struggled for a bit, until I decided I didn’t need to stick to the plain facts. So I embellished, adding a plotline that has no connection to reality. Millie’s story, but fictionalized.

I’m still working on the short story. My critique partner won’t see it for another month or two. And I’m not sure where to send it for potential publication when I’m finished. At this point, I don’t care much about the end result. This is a story I had to tell. For Aunt Millie.