Valentine Conrad was born on February 26, 1910 in Chicago to Wilma Sheppard and Frank Knauz. Valentine’s early life was rather convoluted, as her mother was married three times. Wilma’s first marriage apparently only lasted three months before she divorced her husband. She then married another man by the name of Frank Knauz with whom […]
Irene Bailey was born on October 7, 1906 in Letts, Iowa to Andrew and Gertrude Roth. Andrew farmed about 150 acres of land, and Gertie cared for their seven children: Roland, Molly, Bert, Kathleen, Irene, Sophie, and Emmet. Irene was raised Methodist and was able to attend high school. After she graduated, her dream was […]
Blanche Eustace was born on July 12, 1904 in Council Bluffs, Iowa to Richard Chambers and Edith Norbis. Richard was born in upper New York State in a town called Watertown, and his family apparently came to America over 200 years ago from England. Similarly, Edith’s family could also trace their origins to Plymouth, England. […]
Margaret (Maggie) Devinson was born on January 10, 1902 in Sault St. Marie, Michigan. Her parents were John Williams and Bridget Kennedy, both of whom were born in Canada. John was of English descent, and Bridget was Irish (though Maggie never wanted anyone to know that, preferring to call herself English.) John worked as a […]
William Jefferson Sanders was born on January 16, 1921 in Tennessee to Lamar and Ivory Sanders. William reports that he has many brothers and sisters and many half-siblings as well, but that he can’t remember exactly how many. He attended two years of high school, and when he was twenty-one, he married his childhood sweetheart, […]
Winifred Hughes was born on June 1, 1905 to Italian immigrants and was one of eleven children. Winnie attended grammar school until she was just nine years old when she came down with an unknown childhood illness that left her deaf. She did not receive any schooling after that and taught herself to sometimes read […]
Beatrice Wills was born on February 17, 1917 in Chicago to Emil and Petra Schmidt, both of German descent. Emil worked as a coal and ice man, and Petra cared for their two children, Beatrice and Agatha. The family lived on the northwest side of Chicago and were members of the St. Alphonsus parish. Both […]
Gustaw Szwarc was born on July 13, 1916 in the tiny village of Gulin, Poland. His father, Jacek, worked in an office, and his mother, Wera, cared for their seven children – five boys and two girls. Gustaw was one of the middle children and attended school until the eighth grade. He then got a […]
Fanny Jones was born on May 19, 1926 in Kentucky on a farm. Her parents, Ike and Gertie Stores, had seven children, but not much is known about them except that they were of German and Irish descent and were strict Pentecostals. Fanny apparently received a very sketchy education and, according to her granddaughter, Elizabeth, […]
Mi-Jeong Kuk was born on January 7, 1909 in Korea. Her father, Won-Shik Kuk, was a poor farmer and her mother, Seo-Jin Kee, raised three children: Mi-Jeong and her two brothers. Mi-Jeong says that in Korea at that time a wife did not take her husband’s name, but kept her own.
All three children, of whom […]
