Sasha Pasternak was born on March 12, 1946 in Ukraine. His parents were Martyn Pasternak and Alberta Jelen. Jelen, Sasha reports, means “stag” in Polish, and he seems very proud of [...]
Lidka Klimek was born on March 13, 1900—one of twelve children—in what is now Radziechow, Poland. Not much is known of her parents, her childhood, or her early life with her husband, Edmund [...]
Clara Mae Hansen was born on May 14, 1902 in Adrian, Michigan to Henry Engelskirchen and Katherine Burkhart. Henry was of German descent but was born in Mendota, Illinois, and Katherine was [...]
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 [...]
Boris Jankovic was born on June 24, 1906 in Chicago to Andrej Jankovic and Dora Babic, both immigrants from Yugoslavia, though they grew up on neighboring farms in Ohio. When she was seventeen, [...]
Agnes Faraldo was born on April 11, 1917 in Chicago to Feodor Ciesielski and Vera Bergmann. Both Feodor and Vera were born in Chicago, though Feodor’s family came from Poland and Vera’s from [...]
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 [...]
Marta Sirko was born on October 12, 1935 to Yaroslav and Kateryna Sirko, who were Ukrainian immigrants to Brazil. They fled Europe in the early 1930’s to avoid the war they felt sure would soon [...]
Leona Wilson was born in Oklahoma on December 16, 1906 to Nigel Wilson and Elizabeth D’Evers. Nigel was born in England and had a passion for the American Wild West since the time he was a [...]
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 [...]