BOYS

Marian Frisbie Nickols grows up in Toledo, Ohio at dawn of the 20th century. Many of the characters and events in BOYS are from her childhood, along with the desire for the freedom boys enjoy. This desire comes from inclusionary progressive thinking so prevalent in early Toledo. Marian is the fifth generation of Baldwin descendants, one of the first families of the Maumee River community. New settlements do not always care which sex does the work as long as the work is complete, that is the compensation. But most of all, she is the niece of Eva Baldwin Philips who has been living with them for many years. She does not yet vote in 1905, (Amendment 19 is ratified 18 Aug 1920) or wear knee-length skits (not acceptable until 1921), nor does she remarry after her husband’s death in 1898, yet decides Berlin, Germany is the place to further her piano skills with the famous concert pianist, Martin Krause. And she is the one to scold for not being a proper lady furthering confusion in Marian’s choice to one day be a boy.