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 […]
Stefan Zabek was born on May 10, 1914 in Poland to Roman and Olga Zabek. Roman owned and worked a small farm, while Olga cared for their six children: Stefan and Ada (twins), Teodora, Sara, Waclaw and Renia. Stefan attended the equivalent of grade school and then quit to help on the farm. Stefan recalls […]
Bessie Skalicky was born on March 11, 1901 in Polhora, Slovakia, a village at the foot of a mountain near the Polish border. Her parents were Jozef and Aneta Jelen. Jozef worked as a lumberman, and Aneta managed their farm and raised their six children, two of whom died, however, one being Bessie’s twin brother, […]
Michal Havelka was born on March 28, 1898 in Chicago to Michal Havelka, Sr. and Ivana Beran, both immigrants from Czechoslovakia. Michal’s father worked as a house painter, and the family lived on Pulaski Avenue in the city. Michal says he can still remember when Pulaski was a dirt road and horses and buggies were […]
Evelyn Feldman was born on October 31, 1922 in Chicago to Russian Jewish immigrants, Aron and Riva Mayer. In Russia, Aron worked as a tailor, but once in Chicago he went into the “junk business,” which involved going around with a horse and wagon collecting, buying and selling used goods or metal scraps. Riva stayed […]
Lois Wright was born on March 23, 1911 in Chicago. Her parents were Thomas Wright, who was on the Chicago Board of Trade, and Ida Carroll, who stayed home to care for their eight children: Pearl, Thomas Jr., Joseph, Roger, Frank, Mary, Lewis and Lois. Three of the boys – Thomas Jr, Frank, and Lewis […]
Irene Miller was born on November 4, 1913 in Chicago to Slawomir Kotwica and Maria Pestka, both of whom were Polish immigrants. Slawomir made a living as a tailor, and Maria cared for their eight children: Louise, Josie, Ralph, Jack, Louis, Irene, Dick and Kenny. Maria actually gave birth to an additional three babies, but […]
Sadie Margaret Perez was born on January 21, 1931 to Mississippi sharecroppers, Leland Brown and Flora Jefferson. Flora often worked in the fields beside Leland despite the fact that she had fifteen children: Dwayne, Jeannette, Abraham, Lila, Della, Rosalie, Elbert, Forrest, Irma, Eula, Winnie, Sadie, Alton, Dewey, Merle, and Clinton. Usually only seven children were […]
Annie Flemming was born on November 18, 1900 in a small town in Wisconsin. Her parents, Myrtle Jones and Howard Gilman, were of English and Irish descent. Howard worked in a flour mill, and Myrtle worked in a tailor’s shop and also cared for their four children: Minnie, Ralph, Annie and Hazel. According to Annie, […]
