The year was 1920.
Women gained the right to vote in the United States of America as the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.
In November 1920, the president of the United States of America was Woodrow Wilson.
"The Mark of Zorro," directed by Fred Niblo, was one of the most viewed movies released that year.
The United States 18th amendment to the Constitution was begun. It outlawed the production and consumption of alcohol and was known as Prohibition.
The 19th amendment to the Constitution was ratified in August 1920 giving women the right to vote. The women's suffragette movement had fought for it for 10 years.
World War I had ended two years before.
The German republic was two years old.
It would be 19 more years before the Second World War began.
In 1920, a daughter was born to William Malvin Finley and Luna Cockrum Finley in Grey's Hospital, Batesville, Ark., about 60 miles from the family's home in Norfork. The young couple had gone to Batesville for the birth of their first child and stayed several days in a hotel awaiting her birth.
Wanda Jeraldean Finley was born.
Many of the readers of The TIMES can't fathom any of these events or facts outside of a history book.
Wanda Roe, our neighbor, lived them. She became a teacher when women had few career opportunities available to them.
Now, in 2020, 100 years later, Mrs. Roe is widowed, still learning, still creating beauty, and celebrating her 100th birthday in Pea Ridge, the town she has called home since 1972.
Growing up in Norfork, one of the oldest settlements in Arkansas, Wanda said her childhood was "serene, innocent and happy." The population in 1920 was 224.
She stayed home alone with her children when her husband fought overseas.
She and her husband worried when their son fought overseas in Vietnam.
She has buried her husband, her son, her daughter.
Yet, she still lives and lives and creates determined to learn something new every year and to contribute to the community around her.
Beautiful and graceful, Mrs. Roe is grateful for the opportunities she's had. She is humbled the words of praise in cards received from former students. She has given away many pieces of her art over the years.
To age gracefully, she advises to keep contact with young people. Until the government restrictions, she was still teaching art in her home studio.
She has no plans to retire from life.
For years, she and her husband were an integral part of the Pea Ridge School District where he served as superintendent of schools and she was teacher, counselor. She has influenced many people over her more than 40 years of teaching.
"What do you want for your birthday?" she was asked, initially thinking of a birthday part as she had when she turned 90. "But this one's different, my family's gone."
"I've got to do something, I began to list the people who have influenced in my life. Quickly I had 100 people -- some dead," she said. Some were artists, some were teachers, some were family members, some were students.
She is being celebrated by her friends and former students with a drive-through caravan at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, in front of the School Heritage building on the Intermediate School campus. There will be a receptacle for cards.
Persons wishing to send cards may mail them to The TIMES, attention Wanda Roe, P.O. Box 25, Pea Ridge AR 72751.
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Editor's note: Annette Beard is the managing editor of The Times of Northeast Benton County, chosen the best small weekly newspaper in Arkansas for five years. She is the mother of nine grown children and 12 grandchildren. The opinions expressed are those of the author. She can be reached at [email protected].