The Storyteller — Part 2: Courage Opens Doors
At seventeen years old, Chloe Belle Hodge had a choice to make.
She could accept that her family simply couldn’t afford the $12.50 monthly tuition for the Raleigh School of Commerce, or she could try to change her circumstances.
If you’ve read this far, you’ve probably already figured out which path she chose.
After spending three weeks sitting at home, restless and discouraged, Chloe decided she had waited long enough.
She told her mother she was going to the library.
Instead, she marched straight into the office of Mr. Heath, principal of the Raleigh School of Commerce.
With remarkable confidence for a seventeen-year-old, she explained that her parents simply could not afford the tuition. Then she made an extraordinary proposal.
If the school would allow her to attend anyway, she promised to repay every penny of her tuition, with interest, after graduating and securing her first job.
Mr. Heath listened carefully.
He told Chloe he would think about it.
A Knock at the Door
That evening, as the Hodge family gathered around the supper table, there was a knock at the door.
Standing outside was Mr. Heath.
Rather than sending a letter or making a telephone call, he had come personally to speak with Arthur Hodge.
He told Chloe’s father how impressed he was by his daughter’s determination and courage. Then he offered a solution.
If the family could somehow manage to pay half of the monthly tuition, Chloe could attend school immediately. The remaining balance could be repaid after she graduated and found employment.
It was an opportunity the family had never expected.
That fall, Chloe walked through the doors of the Raleigh School of Commerce as a student.
She didn’t waste the opportunity.
Before long, she had risen to the top of her class.
Another Obstacle
Just as everything seemed to be falling into place, life changed again.
Around Christmas, Arthur suffered a series of mini-strokes that left him unable to continue working.
Knowing her family needed every dollar they could find, Chloe quietly made a heartbreaking decision.
When Christmas break ended, she simply didn’t return to school.
She never told Mr. Heath why.
After several days passed, he noticed one of his best students was missing.
Rather than forgetting about her, he once again appeared at the Hodge family’s front door.
Learning what had happened, he made Chloe another offer she never forgot.
He told her to come back to school.
They would worry about the tuition later.
It was an act of kindness that forever changed the course of her life.
The Harricanes Comes Calling
Raleigh Federal Building
1909
1910
1910 Postcard of Raleigh, NC
1939
2008
In February 1934, the Wake County Courthouse telephoned the Raleigh School of Commerce.
A federal court needed someone capable of taking shorthand during an upcoming trial, and they wanted to know if the school had a student far enough along in the stenotype program.
Mr. Heath knew exactly who to send.
At only seventeen years old, Chloe reported her very first court case.
Even more remarkable, the case involved a moonshine operation in the Harricanes.
When I first read that passage in her autobiography, I couldn’t help but smile. Of all the federal cases she could have been assigned, it involved the very community that has become the focus of my family’s research.
I’ve searched to see whether any of my own relatives were connected to the case but, so far, I haven’t found a connection.
The hunt continues.
Beginning a Career
After earning her stenotype certificate, Chloe faced a challenge familiar to many young people.
Every employer wanted someone with experience.
But how could she gain experience if no one would hire her?
Once again, Chloe refused to accept defeat.
She decided there was only one person that could help. None other than George Isley, the Raleigh Mayor.
After waiting nearly two hours for an opportunity to speak with him, she finally introduced herself and explained why she deserved a chance.
The mayor admired her determination.
He sent her to the Office of the Secretary of State, where she was hired as a secretary’s assistant.
Her first paycheck amounted to $12.50 for thirty hours of work.
Nearly all of it went directly toward the family’s $200 mortgage.
Only fifty cents remained for herself.
Reading those words today puts life into perspective.
For Chloe, that first paycheck wasn’t about buying something she wanted.
It meant helping keep a roof over her family’s heads.
Looking Ahead
The young woman who had once been told there wasn’t enough money for school had now earned an education through persistence, compassion, and the belief of people who recognized her potential.
Those lessons would carry Chloe far beyond the streets of Raleigh.
In the years ahead, her faith would lead her across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii, where another unexpected chapter of her life was about to begin.
If you’ve enjoyed learning more about Aunt Chloe’s remarkable determination, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below and let me know what part of her journey has inspired you most. Then join me for Part 3 as we follow Chloe from North Carolina to Hawaii, where faith, adventure, and unexpected tragedy would shape the next chapter of her extraordinary life.
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