WWAD: Phyllis Barber

Phyllis Barber
How I Got Cultured:
A Nevada Memoir
(Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992; reprinted Reno: University of Nevada, 1994)

Phyllis Barber

How I Got Cultured: A Nevada Memoir is the autobiographical account of Phyllis Barber. She details her childhood through adolescence in a western Mormon household. The book is a series of stories and episodes in her early life that repeatedly delves into the inherit conflict of her fervently installed Mormon values and her desire to become a star and cultured woman.

Phyllis Barber was born Phyllis Nelson to Thora and Herman Nelson in 1943. Thora Nelson was a part-time teacher and her father had a career in the navy, helped build the Hoover Dam and later sold insurance. She is the younger sister of Elaine and the elder to her brother Stephen and sister Kathy. Her father was a bishop in the Boulder City Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-day Saints. Their "family was a vital part of the circle of faith."¹ It was the important for Phyllis and her siblings to be exemplary models of Mormon values. Phyllis had "been taught that being a good Mormon was the most important thing anyone could ever think of doing."²

Las Vegas, Nevada is essentially a character in the monograph with a pivotal role. The Mormon ideals of purity, modesty, and chastity, do not come to mind when thinking of Las Vegas. "Desert, heat, gambling, no sense of higher values"³ are used by Barber to depict Las Vegas. Yet, the Nelson family moved there as Phyllis entered adolescence. This new environment offered Phyllis experiences that enabled her to develop the seed of doubt that was growing inside about her faith.

The book uses her musical talent and the talents she would latter develop as its focal point. Phyllis had trained to play piano in her early childhood. She describes her various piano teachers and how each offered unique perspectives on music. The book is very candid and it is clear to see how she incorporated the influences of these teachers into herself.

Phyllis’ piano playing was a means to an end. Yes, she was talented, but she was more interested in the "culture" it would provide. She was "hungry for Culture⁴ and searched for it in the paradox of Las Vegas. She thought music and performing would give her the attention she craved, while quenching her desire for culture.

Phyllis’ desire for culture was shared by her mother Thora. Thora Nelson was raised in a poor family where her musical ambition went unnurtured. Thora’s mother decided her other daughter would be the one to receive the limited funds for developing musical talent. In becomes apparent in Phyllis’ depiction of her childhood that her mother was trying to live vicariously through her accomplishments and talent. Thora Nelson encouraged Phyllis to practice piano. Phyllis complied with her mother’s wishes for her own reasons. Thora believed talent was a gift from God, to be shared with him and family. On the other hand, Phyllis loved praise for her talents. Her mother recognized this and chastised her for "wanting to be a star yourself, not just for God."⁵ Her family also denounced Phyllis for the pride she held in her musical abilities and the accolades she craved. She was warned God would take away her gift if it was used incorrectly and the importance of remaining humble. Her parents felt that entertaining would lead her away from God’s work and the normal Mormon path and purpose in life, specifically to reproduce and tend to a family.

Phyllis also discovered dance. She was first attracted to it by the exotic Hawaiian visitors that briefly stayed with her family. They added intrigue to dance, which enticed Phyllis even more. She was later exposed to ballet, which begins to satisfy her craving for culture. Phyllis is inspired by several "breaths of culture."⁶ She encounters a blind pianist, as well as the late conductor Leonard Bernstein. Phyllis identifies with these impressive people and longs for their kindness and acceptance.

The monograph is the winner of the Associated Writing Program Award for Creative Non-Fiction. It is rich with symbolism. Her story takes place with the backdrop of the United States entering the Cold War. Nevada’s desert is barren and used as atomic bomb test sites. The emptiness of her surroundings depict the lack of culture in her life and its unavailability. The Hoover Dam also appears frequently in the book. Her relatives helped in the construction and she had visited it several times. The dam represents the separation of her two worlds (Mormonism and a place where talent could forge its own path). This is similar to Barber’s dramatization of how the dam separates Arizona and Nevada.

Phyllis stays true to her faith and proclaims that she "loves God as much as Joseph Smith"⁷ [The founding prophet of the Mormon Church]. At the same time, her yearning to dance and discover her body are in direct opposition to her parents' religious interpretations.

Today, Phyllis Barber is a professional pianist. She also added another area to her means of artistic expression. She is a seasoned writer and author of several books, including short stories and two children’s books. She is a faculty member of Vermont College’s MFA in Writing Program. Phyllis is recognized as an expert on Mormonism and Las Vegas. She has been interviewed by the BBC on the subjects. She has also appeared on NBC’s Today show.

Phyllis Barber is a true Western Women’s historian, using herself as a case study. She is a strong voice shedding light on the American Woman’s Western Experience. Phyllis has led book discussions at the Boulder Public Library on her book and how it pertains to "Women of the West."

Notes:

¹ Phyllis Barber, How I Got Cultured: A Nevada Memoir (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992; reprinted Reno: University of Nevada, 1994) p. 8.

² Ibid., p. 5.

³ Ibid., p. 180.

⁴ Ibid., p. 59.

⁵ Ibid., p. 53.

⁶ Ibid, p. 153.

⁷ Ibid., p. 108