Christian Aquino was born on May 27, 1914 in the Philippines to Alon and Ligaya Aquino. It is unknown what type of work Alon did, but Ligaya cared for their five children: Juan, Christian, Augustine, Jemina, and Yolanda.
Christian went to high school and then to college and earned a BA in education. He then got […]
Regina Dubala was born on March 24, 1923 in Chicago to Lew Wojciechowski and Stefania Mazur, both Polish immigrants. Regina does not remember what type of work her father did, but she does remember that her grandfather was a lawyer back in Poland. Her mother cared for their four children: Casper, Regina, Albert and Lucy.
Regina […]
Shirley Denenberg was born on November 24, 1923 in Chicago to Aleksandr Krasny and Marie Altman. Aleksandr emigrated from Kiev as a young man and found work in Chicago making cigars. Marie was born in Chicago, though her parents were also Ukranian Jews. She and Aleksndr had three children: Shirley and Susan, who were twins, […]
Essie Maguire was born on May 26, 1916 in St. Cloud, Minnesota to Bert Andrysiak and Regina Walsh. Bert was of Polish descent and worked as a farm hand. Regina was of German/Irish descent and cared for their three daughters: Essie, Arlene and Goldie.
Essie attended grade school and two years of high school in St. […]
Mafalda Jedynak was born in Chicago on March 15, 1909 to Mario and Luisa Scarsi, both of whom were Italian immigrants. Mafalda says that there were five children in the family, though she thinks there might have been more that died. The only siblings she can remember are Maria, Angelo, Natalia, and Carlo.
Mafalda went to […]
Sophia Chalupa was born on July 1, 1918 in Chicago to Victor Fiala and Renata Doubek, both of whom were immigrants from Czechoslovakia. Victor worked as a railroad laborer and mechanic in a town near Prague, and after he married Renata Doubek, the two of them decided to immigrate to Chicago in 1908. They settled […]
Gus Anagnos was born on April 1, 1931 in Chicago to Marios and Eva Anagnos, both of whom were Greek immigrants. Marios worked in a bakery, and Eva cared for Gus and his younger brother, Andrew.
Gus attended Lane Tech High School and at some point took an aptitude test at Truman College to determine whether […]
Imogene Ferris was born on April 12, 1903 in Chicago to Xaver and Elena Bergmann, both of whom emigrated from Germany as children. Their families were neighbors in Chicago, and Xaver and Elena often played together in the streets. When they grew up, they married and had six children: Thomas, Imogene, Roberta, Caroline, Estelle and […]
Faye Pesek was born on June 28, 1909 to Archibald Pesek and Rita Vesely, both of whom were born in Chicago and were of Czech descent. Archibald was a type of woodworker, Faye reports, and her mother cared for their three children: Lorene, Faye and Albert. Albert died of pneumonia, however, when he was just […]
Enid Walsh was born on July 10, 1911 in Rend City, Illinois to Bryn Sayer and Nesta Vaughn. Bryn and Nesta were from the same mining village in Wales and married there. Before they started a family, however, they decided to immigrate to the United States, having heard of mining work from other villagers who […]
