Novel Notes of Local Lore

Rosemary Tsukuda was born in Santa Cruz, California on March 10, 1913 to Japanese immigrants. Her father, Chihiro Hayashi, left Japan as a young man in search of adventure. His travels took him [...]

Barbara Bianchi was born in Chicago on February 9, 1922 to Polish immigrants – Wislaw Gawrych and Olga Kobylinski.  Olga worked long, long hours sewing table pads in a factory, and Wislaw worked [...]

Jadwiga Jurkiewicz was born on December 26, 1906 in Pennsylvania to Polish immigrants, but she later changed her name to Judy Jurka. She was one of six children, including two sets of twins, of [...]

Felicia Billings says she began life at a mere two pounds on March 17, 1915. She was born prematurely in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Irenka Jasinski,  a Polish immigrant who worked as a seamstress, [...]

Elizabeth “Jane” Hileman was born on September 16, 1914.  Her parents were Mary Alice Newell and Cleveland Hines Hileman, both of whom had quite interesting stories, as well. Mary was born in [...]

Violeta Salcedo began life during the days of the infamous Pancho Villa. She was born on October 4, 1909 in Mexico to Alejo Abascal and Yamila Villalobos. According to Violeta, her great [...]

Part III: The conclusion of the adventures of Alex Kozel (To read Part I first, click here.  To read Part II, click here) Alek Kozel’s first step in attempting to achieve his new goal was to go [...]

Part II: The continued adventures of Alek Kozel (To read Part I first, click here.) After being fired by his employer, Mr. Chvatal, Alek Kozel went back to Mr. Kratochvil’s boarding house, where [...]

Part I: The adventures of Alek Kozel Alek Kozel was born on September 17, 1913 in Christopher, Illinois to Anton and Anna Kozel, both of whom were Ukranian immigrants.  Anton’s father was a [...]

Jonas “John” Dusek was born on January 3, 1913 to Adolf Dusek and Valerie Janota, both Czechoslovakian immigrants who came to Chicago in 1908.  Adolf worked as a cabinet maker, and Valerie cared [...]