Harriet was the first daughter of Helen Auger (Davis) & Harold Beers Randall. Her younger sister was Jean Davis Randall. My father Roger Williams was Harriet's only cousin.
The following information was compiled and put in to an unpublished biography by Harriet's daughter, Andrea Whitaker Baumann:
Harriet was born in the back bedroom of her family home, 90 Spring Street, Woonsocket. The family retained a cook/maid through the early years until the girls started school. The maid, Annie, was a refugee from Ireland.
Harriet said she remembered "always being happy" as a child. She loved playing with dolls, having 94 of them!
Harriet was sponsored for her last 2 years in Pembroke College at Brown University by Mrs. Arnold Hoffman, head of the Girl Scouts in RI. Harriet said that it was a gift that "made all the difference" in her life. Harriet, when living in Panama as a Foreign Service wife, started the Girl Scouts of Panama, in her memory.
While at Pembroke College, Harriet's mother insisted that Harriet leave there and go to Katie Gibbs Secretarial School, thinking she needed more of a "marketable skill' than what she might earn at college. Harriet did as she was told but hated it there. Because men were the bosses then, she did not relish the idea of taking orders from them for the rest of her working life. When given the gift of the extra money for her last 2 unfinished years at college, by Mrs. Hoffman, she returned to Pembroke and earned her Bachelors degree in Economics!!!
She met her husband to be on New Years Eve, 1932. He was a senior at Brown. They announced their engagement on June 29, 1934 after Harriet graduated. They were married on Dec. 29 of that same year, at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Providence. Harriet's sister Jean was Maid of Honor. Their honeymoon was a 3 month motorcycle trip through Europe.
Harriet earned a scholarship to study to be a social worker, but after 60 days of it, she realized the was not going to be able to change the world, too many hungry children and no birth control available. Instead, she took on a 1 year teaching job at St. Marguerite's School in Mendham, NJ. She loved it.
Her first child was born in 1939, Joe. 9 months after Joe was born, husband Charles was commissioned into the US Foreign Service. In 1940, they were shipped to Havana, Cuba. While there, their 2nd child, Andrea, was born. July, 1941, they were assigned to Manila, Philippines.
When the Japanese invasion came in 1943, Harriets family was interned for 2 years, then being repatriated in one of only 2 WWII Asia prisoner exchanges. Her 3rd child was delivered while at sea aboard the SS Teia Maru off the coast of Singapore in 1943. Husband Charles delivered the baby, Gretchen, during this prisoner exchange. They were on this boat for 4 weeks. The exchange took place in India. They made it to New York on Dec. 3, 1943.
Harriet's biography is far more extensive than what I can include here.
She was a very devout christian. In her retirement years she worked at the Washington National Cathedral (1975-97). The church had "window memorials" and Harriet has one dedicated to her, the only person to have one while living. Her family gave it to her for her 50th wedding anniversary.
Her husband died at 91 years. They had been married 67 years!
The following information was compiled and put in to an unpublished biography by Harriet's daughter, Andrea Whitaker Baumann:
Harriet was born in the back bedroom of her family home, 90 Spring Street, Woonsocket. The family retained a cook/maid through the early years until the girls started school. The maid, Annie, was a refugee from Ireland.
Harriet said she remembered "always being happy" as a child. She loved playing with dolls, having 94 of them!
Harriet was sponsored for her last 2 years in Pembroke College at Brown University by Mrs. Arnold Hoffman, head of the Girl Scouts in RI. Harriet said that it was a gift that "made all the difference" in her life. Harriet, when living in Panama as a Foreign Service wife, started the Girl Scouts of Panama, in her memory.
While at Pembroke College, Harriet's mother insisted that Harriet leave there and go to Katie Gibbs Secretarial School, thinking she needed more of a "marketable skill' than what she might earn at college. Harriet did as she was told but hated it there. Because men were the bosses then, she did not relish the idea of taking orders from them for the rest of her working life. When given the gift of the extra money for her last 2 unfinished years at college, by Mrs. Hoffman, she returned to Pembroke and earned her Bachelors degree in Economics!!!
She met her husband to be on New Years Eve, 1932. He was a senior at Brown. They announced their engagement on June 29, 1934 after Harriet graduated. They were married on Dec. 29 of that same year, at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Providence. Harriet's sister Jean was Maid of Honor. Their honeymoon was a 3 month motorcycle trip through Europe.
Harriet earned a scholarship to study to be a social worker, but after 60 days of it, she realized the was not going to be able to change the world, too many hungry children and no birth control available. Instead, she took on a 1 year teaching job at St. Marguerite's School in Mendham, NJ. She loved it.
Her first child was born in 1939, Joe. 9 months after Joe was born, husband Charles was commissioned into the US Foreign Service. In 1940, they were shipped to Havana, Cuba. While there, their 2nd child, Andrea, was born. July, 1941, they were assigned to Manila, Philippines.
When the Japanese invasion came in 1943, Harriets family was interned for 2 years, then being repatriated in one of only 2 WWII Asia prisoner exchanges. Her 3rd child was delivered while at sea aboard the SS Teia Maru off the coast of Singapore in 1943. Husband Charles delivered the baby, Gretchen, during this prisoner exchange. They were on this boat for 4 weeks. The exchange took place in India. They made it to New York on Dec. 3, 1943.
Harriet's biography is far more extensive than what I can include here.
She was a very devout christian. In her retirement years she worked at the Washington National Cathedral (1975-97). The church had "window memorials" and Harriet has one dedicated to her, the only person to have one while living. Her family gave it to her for her 50th wedding anniversary.
Her husband died at 91 years. They had been married 67 years!
Harriet was the first daughter of Helen Auger (Davis) & Harold Beers Randall. Her younger sister was Jean Davis Randall. My father Roger Williams was Harriet's only cousin.
The following information was compiled and put in to an unpublished biography by Harriet's daughter, Andrea Whitaker Baumann:
Harriet was born in the back bedroom of her family home, 90 Spring Street, Woonsocket. The family retained a cook/maid through the early years until the girls started school. The maid, Annie, was a refugee from Ireland.
Harriet said she remembered "always being happy" as a child. She loved playing with dolls, having 94 of them!
Harriet was sponsored for her last 2 years in Pembroke College at Brown University by Mrs. Arnold Hoffman, head of the Girl Scouts in RI. Harriet said that it was a gift that "made all the difference" in her life. Harriet, when living in Panama as a Foreign Service wife, started the Girl Scouts of Panama, in her memory.
While at Pembroke College, Harriet's mother insisted that Harriet leave there and go to Katie Gibbs Secretarial School, thinking she needed more of a "marketable skill' than what she might earn at college. Harriet did as she was told but hated it there. Because men were the bosses then, she did not relish the idea of taking orders from them for the rest of her working life. When given the gift of the extra money for her last 2 unfinished years at college, by Mrs. Hoffman, she returned to Pembroke and earned her Bachelors degree in Economics!!!
She met her husband to be on New Years Eve, 1932. He was a senior at Brown. They announced their engagement on June 29, 1934 after Harriet graduated. They were married on Dec. 29 of that same year, at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Providence. Harriet's sister Jean was Maid of Honor. Their honeymoon was a 3 month motorcycle trip through Europe.
Harriet earned a scholarship to study to be a social worker, but after 60 days of it, she realized the was not going to be able to change the world, too many hungry children and no birth control available. Instead, she took on a 1 year teaching job at St. Marguerite's School in Mendham, NJ. She loved it.
Her first child was born in 1939, Joe. 9 months after Joe was born, husband Charles was commissioned into the US Foreign Service. In 1940, they were shipped to Havana, Cuba. While there, their 2nd child, Andrea, was born. July, 1941, they were assigned to Manila, Philippines.
When the Japanese invasion came in 1943, Harriets family was interned for 2 years, then being repatriated in one of only 2 WWII Asia prisoner exchanges. Her 3rd child was delivered while at sea aboard the SS Teia Maru off the coast of Singapore in 1943. Husband Charles delivered the baby, Gretchen, during this prisoner exchange. They were on this boat for 4 weeks. The exchange took place in India. They made it to New York on Dec. 3, 1943.
Harriet's biography is far more extensive than what I can include here.
She was a very devout christian. In her retirement years she worked at the Washington National Cathedral (1975-97). The church had "window memorials" and Harriet has one dedicated to her, the only person to have one while living. Her family gave it to her for her 50th wedding anniversary.
Her husband died at 91 years. They had been married 67 years!
The following information was compiled and put in to an unpublished biography by Harriet's daughter, Andrea Whitaker Baumann:
Harriet was born in the back bedroom of her family home, 90 Spring Street, Woonsocket. The family retained a cook/maid through the early years until the girls started school. The maid, Annie, was a refugee from Ireland.
Harriet said she remembered "always being happy" as a child. She loved playing with dolls, having 94 of them!
Harriet was sponsored for her last 2 years in Pembroke College at Brown University by Mrs. Arnold Hoffman, head of the Girl Scouts in RI. Harriet said that it was a gift that "made all the difference" in her life. Harriet, when living in Panama as a Foreign Service wife, started the Girl Scouts of Panama, in her memory.
While at Pembroke College, Harriet's mother insisted that Harriet leave there and go to Katie Gibbs Secretarial School, thinking she needed more of a "marketable skill' than what she might earn at college. Harriet did as she was told but hated it there. Because men were the bosses then, she did not relish the idea of taking orders from them for the rest of her working life. When given the gift of the extra money for her last 2 unfinished years at college, by Mrs. Hoffman, she returned to Pembroke and earned her Bachelors degree in Economics!!!
She met her husband to be on New Years Eve, 1932. He was a senior at Brown. They announced their engagement on June 29, 1934 after Harriet graduated. They were married on Dec. 29 of that same year, at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Providence. Harriet's sister Jean was Maid of Honor. Their honeymoon was a 3 month motorcycle trip through Europe.
Harriet earned a scholarship to study to be a social worker, but after 60 days of it, she realized the was not going to be able to change the world, too many hungry children and no birth control available. Instead, she took on a 1 year teaching job at St. Marguerite's School in Mendham, NJ. She loved it.
Her first child was born in 1939, Joe. 9 months after Joe was born, husband Charles was commissioned into the US Foreign Service. In 1940, they were shipped to Havana, Cuba. While there, their 2nd child, Andrea, was born. July, 1941, they were assigned to Manila, Philippines.
When the Japanese invasion came in 1943, Harriets family was interned for 2 years, then being repatriated in one of only 2 WWII Asia prisoner exchanges. Her 3rd child was delivered while at sea aboard the SS Teia Maru off the coast of Singapore in 1943. Husband Charles delivered the baby, Gretchen, during this prisoner exchange. They were on this boat for 4 weeks. The exchange took place in India. They made it to New York on Dec. 3, 1943.
Harriet's biography is far more extensive than what I can include here.
She was a very devout christian. In her retirement years she worked at the Washington National Cathedral (1975-97). The church had "window memorials" and Harriet has one dedicated to her, the only person to have one while living. Her family gave it to her for her 50th wedding anniversary.
Her husband died at 91 years. They had been married 67 years!
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