GLORIA STUBING RIST
Newcomb Historical Museum
GLORIA STUBING RIST
Imagine living in the Adirondacks during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Money was scarce, housing could be a makeshift shack with no electricity or indoor plumbing, and apples might be your only food for several days. This is the challenging lifestyle that Gloria Stubing humorously describes in her childhood memoir, Up on a Hill and Thereabouts – An Adirondack Childhood.
Gloria was born in Yonkers, N.Y. Her early years were spent living in the Bronx with her parents (Ernest Stubing and Mary Pearl Hammond), grandparents (the Stones), and her brother, Harland Henry (Bubby). City life did not suit Mary Pearl, so she decided to move home to Chilson Hill outside of Ticonderoga. Her husband was not asked to accompany her.
Mary Pearl built a wooden shack from leftover boards and cheesecloth for windows. The family hunted and fished for their food and raised vegetables in a small garden. Friends and extended family members formed a community that took care of each other in times of need. There was a camaraderie that drew these people together in their efforts to survive and prosper.
Gloria’s mother (called “Mim”) was a self-sufficient, independent woman who lived her life by her own rules. Laws and other people’s opinions were of no concern to her. She married three times and was divorced twice. In 1941, she purchased the Lake Harris House in Newcomb. Her establishment provided food, dancing, and a place to socialize.
After moving to Newcomb, Gloria attended and graduated from the Union Free School and two years later, she started cadet nursing training at the Long Island College Hospital. She completed her training in 1944 and became a registered nurse. In May 1946, she married Deverne Rist, and their first years of marriage were spent in Newcomb. The family eventually moved to the Syracuse area where Deverne trained as an auto mechanic.
Although there were many visits back to Newcomb over the years, Gloria missed her mountain home and never forgot her unique childhood. If you would like to review her book, we have two copies at the museum. This is the way Gloria begins it:
This is a child’s-eye view of days long gone, of a
place and of people who are forever in her heart,
so that the memories are fresh.
--Patricia Sullivan