Interviewed by Kelly Gilbert
Barbara B. Cummings (Bartleson) was born on August 8, 1935 at the Lee Memorial Hospital, which at that time was located on Victoria Street in an old wooden building built with the scraps from the old Lee County Courthouse. Barbara's grandfather, Mr. John K. Woolslair, on her mother's side was the first in her family to arrive in Ft. Myers in 1898, residing in a home on the Orange River that is still standing to this day. Barbara's father, Dr. Fred D. Bartleson, came to Ft. Myers in 1915 from Jacksonville where he was born and lived in Ft. Myers until he died in 1967. Her mother, Eleanor Woolslair Bartleson, lived here her whole life, but because of the lack of good medical care in Ft. Myers at the time, her mother left for Pennsylvania to have the baby in safer conditions. Barbara Cummings' parents were high school sweethearts who married in 1921. Shortly after their marriage, her father attended medical school in Gainesville, FL, returning to practice in Ft. Myers as one of only 10 physicians in the Lee County area.
Barbara has one other sister, Eleanor Catherine Bartleson (1928), and two other brothers, Fred Bartleson, Jr. (1930), and James Fleming Bartleson (1942). Growing up as a child in Ft. Myers, Barbara's family resided on an acre of land off of McGregor and Jefferson from 1942, when she was six, until she was married in 1953. Because they lived on such a large piece of property, the earliest memories that Barbara has of Ft. Myers is having a pony and some horses on which she used to race down Cortez Ave. until it hit Bramen Rd., all of which used to be unpaved. She remembers that because Ft. Myers was such a cow town, there used to be many unpaved roads all over town excluding First Street (which was then and is still the center of town) and Colonial that was paved only at the first three blocks. She also clearly remembers that there was a cow crossing only a couple of blocks south of what is now Page Field off of Tamiami Trail.
Because Barbara's family is a permanent staple in this town, I asked her if any of her relatives were ever involved in the politics of Ft. Myers. She recalled that her uncle John K. Woolslair, Jr. was the Prosecuting Attorney for many years in Ft. Myers, along with another uncle, John Douglas Woolslair, who became the Police Chief of Ft. Myers and served for some time. Ironically enough, Barbara never considered her father a political figure; yet, he played a major role in many political affairs. Because he was a well-known and well-respected Doctor in town, he invited many political figures over to the house while Barbara was growing up. Not only did he know many people, but he also acted as a School Board Trustee for a period of time and worked on the very first South Florida Water Management Board. To add to his long list of achievements, he also served as the campaign manager for Governor Fuller Warren, who won in 1948 and served until 1952. Upon recalling her father's work for Governor Warren, she also remembers being one of the only children she knew who had ever received a written excuse for missing school from the Governor of Florida. In the ninth grade, Barbara was allowed to miss school for the Governor's inauguration and, at the end of the ceremony, her father asked the Governor to write an excuse letter for her absence and she still has it to this day.
When asked about World War II, Barbara recalls the city of Ft. Myers having a great enthusiasm for the war effort and also remembers the patriotism relating to the war. She recalls the sugar, rubber, metal, and gas rationing during the years of the war and laughs to herself when telling me how the children used to save their gum wrappers in hopes that the accumulation would help out in making the bombs or ships. One of the sacrifices they made was the lack of butter that was available; therefore, she clearly remembers making margarine out of the lard from the meat they would buy and adding the yellow food coloring to make it seem like butter. Because Ft. Myers held two different air bases during the war, she remembers the kind spirit of Ft. Myers as the majority of the population housed soldiers during a hurricane or invited the men over for Sunday dinners in town. She recalls having four or five men over every Sunday, which was more than most, but because of their large home they were more than willing to house as many as they could.
Curious to see what festivals or pageants were held during her childhood and what ones have survived, I asked Barbara to recall some of the more popular events in Ft. Myers. The two events that she remembers being a big deal for the small cow town was, first, the Edison Pageant, now known as the Festival of Lights, held every year in downtown Ft. Myers. The other event that took place every so many months was the County Fair. At these fairs, the whole town showed their best cooking, clothes making, and home goods that they were able to make. At the end of the fair, ribbons would be awarded to the winners in each category. She fondly remembers her daughter winning first place in all of the events that she entered in at a very young age.
Barbara Cummings attended Ft. Myers High School and graduated in 1953; at the time, this was the only high school in the Lee County Area. Barbara noted that although there was a high school in Alva, the Ft. Myers High students considered it non-existent, in the usual feelings of students loyal to their own high school. [Note: One must remember that, at this time, Ft. Myers was a segregated community. Dunbar High School opened in 1927 to educate the African Americans in the community.] At the young age of eighteen, she married David Carter Cummings, Jr. on November 27, 1953. Only two years later, Barbara had her first of three daughters, Eleanor Ann Cummings born on November 17, 1955. Next came Catherine Compton Cummings on June 3, 1957 followed by Cornelia Carter Cummings on November 17, 1960; these girls all went to school at Bishop Vero High School. Barbara proudly tells me that all three of her daughters were born with her own father working as the doctor. As a young woman, Barbara raised the children and was very active in the First Presbyterian Church to which the family had attended for two generations.
After her youngest child left the home in 1972, she felt as though she could enter into the workplace as a real estate agent, when she obtained her salesman's license from the Realtors' Association. She then worked for Jim Kinsey for another six years as an agent until finally opening her own real estate company in 1978 self-titled Barbara B. Cummings Realtor. In her company, she had five salesmen under her and did very well for many years. After thirty-three years of marriage, her husband passed away in 1986. She ended up working for Claude Allen Realty, were she resides today as a real estate agent. Ironically enough, as a person whose livelihood revolves around growth in Ft. Myers, when asked what was the most disturbing thing about the changes she has seen during her lifetime she replied, "the population growth." She commented that the population has grown from a mere 15,000 people in Lee County in the 40s to over 400,000 people today. She believes that growth in general is a good thing, but the expansive nature of the growth she has seen is, as she calls it, "not sensible."
Because of her concern for the environment and the community as a whole, she has been very involved in a number of organizations. She is most noteworthy for her involvement in the Lee County Conservation Association in their fight against the Estero Bay Project. But she also has been a member of the Board of Realtors for the last fourteen to fifteen years, holding the position of Treasurer for two years and Secretary for one year, as well as being a member of the Florida Board of Realtors for the last six years. Back in 1989, she and her daughter formed the first neighborhood watch in the Alan Park Area after a breakin at their home. She also is noted for being a founding member of Marchers Against Drugs, which began in 1996. This group works with the Sheriff's office and sets up picket lines outside of known areas of drug dealing. This group of women then proceed to yell at the dealers and taunt until they leave the area; they have shut down thirty-five crack houses to date. She is also known for being the first "Green" Realtor in Lee County, which is involved in saving environmental energy for homeowners. She is also a member of Energy Star Ally, another environmental group which gives her the qualifications to discuss the different environmental techniques for saving energy with home owners. Her latest project is being a member of the Green Building Committee here on Florida Gulf Coast University's campus that will involve building a completely environmentally safe building that will be used to teach the environmental sciences.
Barbara B. Cummings dedication to this town is very evident when discussing the history of her life here in Ft. Myers. Her family history and community involvement distinguishes her apart from many others as an asset to Ft. Myers history. Her many years of civil work and commitment to improving the environment and condition of Ft. Myers shows her dedication to keeping the same type of environment available for the many generations to come. I want to thank Barbara for her excellence in achievement and for allowing me the privilege to discuss her life and times here in Ft. Myers, Florida.
|
|
|