"The Prism" is a Blog created to explore the myriad aspects of genealogy and to examine and venerate a spectrum of ancestors, relatives and traditions refracted through the viewpoint of the Blog owner.
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Into Real Pages -- A New Blog-to-Book Producer (December 20, 2020)
Friday, December 18, 2020
Amends (December 18, 2020)
Ellen Forbes circa 1930 with possible nephew and dog |
Amends
by Bernard A. Handler
My grandmother Sarah Clay Forbes departed Leicester, England in 1908 with six kids in tow. She and her children sailed from Liverpool on a ship named the Hartford and arrived in Philadelphia to join her husband, Thomas Albert Forbes, a loom operator. The family settled in Germantown and grew: six more children, and in 1921 a seventh, my mother Ellen, the baby of thirteen.
During the Great Depression the family managed - a rented roof overhead, food to eat, clean clothes to wear, but little else. As the Christmas of ’33 approached Ellen decided to find a Christmas tree for her family’s home on Bringhurst Street. One evening with the help of a friend, she snuck onto the grounds of the First United Methodist Church on the corner of Germantown Avenue and High Street and cut down a tree which she and her accomplice carried back to the Forbes’ household.
First United Methodist Church of Germantown (circa 1905) |
Six years later Ellen became the first in her family to graduate from high school, Germantown High, right across the street from the church, the same school from which my sister Beryl and I graduated in ’65 and ’67 respectively. Ellen first told me the story of the stolen tree several years before she died in 2009. My initial reaction was, “Geez Mom, a church. Why a church?” Her sheepish reply, “They had quite a few so I didn’t think they’d miss one.”
Certainly Esther, the current United Methodist Interim Office Administrator, nor the present pastor, Bob, missed the tree since they were unaware of Ellen’s 87-year-old transgression until Monday, July 27, 2020. On that date, my wife Susan and I stopped by the church office to make a voluntary donation to the church and to confess Ellen’s crime–perhaps in hope of absolution. Judging by the looks on the faces of Esther and Bob, and their positive reception of the background story, Ellen can rest in peace.
Ellen Forbes Handler, thank you for guiding me with love and teaching me that through forgiveness peace is found.
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Copyright 2020, Bernard A. Handler
Published with the permissionof the author.
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Thursday, December 10, 2020
Success, But Support Still Needed: An UPDATE on the United States Cadet Nurse Corps Service Recognition Act
Cadet Nurse Corps recruitment poster |
Cadet Nurse Corps badge |
Cadet Nurse Corps pledge pin |
Since the post of December 5th, many citizens, former Cadet Nurses, and family members of deceased Cadet Nurses contacted the office of Senate Minority Leader, Charles E. Schumer [D-NY], and as a result he added his name as co-sponsor of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps Service Recognition Act on December 7th–making him the 36th co-sponsor. Such a significant and meaningful date to have signed on (Pearl Harobor Day). Thank you Senator Schumer!
Saturday, December 5, 2020
A Long Overdue Recognition of Service--And How YOU Can Help (December 5, 2020)
Today is a special post in lieu of the usual Saturday Serendipity, but it does include this recommended read.
As the COVID 19 pandemic rages throughout our country and our medical system is being stressed to the point of near collapse in many areas of the nation, it is worth pausing to consider that in some respects we have been here before. Just as 102 years ago we suffered at least 675,000 American deaths due to a virulent strain of influenza that challenged scientists, physicians, and nurses, we are again finding ourselves relying on front-line medical professionals to battle a deadly disease–and they are being stretched and stressed to the breaking point.
We have been here before. Beginning 77 years ago and lasting for just over five years the nation called on a segment of its population (entirely women) to come to the aid of the country during a medical care crisis. It was not due to a deadly virus or influenza at that time, but rather to a severe loss of medical personnel as the result of World War Two. After the entry of the U.S. into the war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, doctors and nurses were swept up into service in the war effort in such numbers that the majority of nurses were no longer available to serve the domestic medical needs of the country. As a result, a call was put out to increase dramatically and quickly the number of nurses so that the medical needs of the country could be met while the home front worked to supply and support the military efforts overseas during the war.
Beginning in 1943 and lasting until the end of 1948, about 124,000 women answered the nation's call and pledged to devote essential nursing services for the duration of WWII. These women joined the newly enacted uniformed service known as the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps and received training, financial assistance, and a small allowance in exchange for their open ended pledge of service. It is estimated that Cadet Nurses were soon providing 80% of the critically needed nursing care in civilian, government, and military hospitals during WWII and they have been credited with preventing a total collapse of the U.S. health care system as the war raged on.
But then–and for the last seven-plus decades–the members of the Cadet Nurse Corps have never really received the recognition, appreciation, and honor that they surely earned and deserved. In this respect, the Cadet Nurse Corps was overlooked or forgotten in a similar way that the members of the U.S. Merchant Marine serving to supply our military during WWII were treated for several decades until they were finally recognized by the Merchant Marine Decorations and Medals Act of 1988. [See this previous post on that subject here on The Prism.]
Presently there is pending before the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives two identical bills to rectify this long overdue recognition of the service of the members of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps. IF these bills are passed and included in the year-end omnibus package, the surviving members of the Cadet Nurse Corps and the families of those deceased Cadet Nurses can finally receive the virtually no-cost recognition and honors they so admirably earned and deserve. The text of the Senate bill, S997 is as follows . . .
If you believe the nurses of the uniformed U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps deserve this belated recognition for their contributions to the nation's war efforts and the preservation of the country's health care system during WWII, please contact Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ASAP to voice your support and request inclusion in the omnibus package. Your support can be noted by calling his Washington office at (202)224-6542 or his New York Office at (631)753-0978. It is easy and you can just leave a message if the office is not answering live calls due to the pandemic. It will take less than two minutes to accomplish.
Very few of the 124,000 Cadet Nurse Corps members are still with us and those few are running out of time to receive and see the long overdue recognition the bills provide and that they so richly deserve.
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In the interest of full disclosure . . .
Shirley Carpenter in her Cadet Nurse Uniform circa 1944 |
My mother, who will turn 94 this coming March, was a Cadet Nurse. On July 22, 2016, I blogged about her service in the Cadet Nurse Corps and you can read that post here.
AND FINALLY, as we daily see the agonizingly hard work and emotional toil and stress that our front-line COVID nurses and doctors are dealing with as this pandemic accelerates, it is not too early to suggest that we begin now to consider how their hard work and sacrifice to assure their communities and nation can weather and recover from this horrific pandemic can be recognized and honored. Just as the current bills to recognize and honor the members of the Cadet Nurse Corps allow for the design and production of a medal to award to the Cadet Nurses, we should make sure that a truly grateful nation takes similar steps to honor the doctors, nurses, and other front-line health care workers who served to get us through this pandemic. It is the least we can do. They should not have to wait decades to receive some manifest token of appreciation and gratitude from a thankful nation.
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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew
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Saturday, November 21, 2020
Saturday Serendipity (November 21, 2020)
1. Today is the anniversary of the signing of the Mayflower Compact. Under the Old Style calendar in effect at the time, the Compact was signed on November 21, 1620 as the Mayflower remained anchored in the harbor at is what now Provincetown, Massachusetts. You can read more about the Pilgrims and the Compact here at the History.com.
2. If you have ancestors or relatives that served in the U.S. Army, you should be aware of the opening of one of the nation's newest museums. The National Museum of the U.S. Army opened this month in Fairfax County, Virginia just outside Fort Belvoir. You can read more about the museum here.
3. Jacqi Stevens, of A Family Tapestry blog, discusses genealogy volunteerism and has a suggestion for a needed project for anyone who might be looking, as Jacqi puts it, to "give back" in recognition of all the helpful genealogical resources other volunteers have made possible. Read here Jacqi's post, "Instead of Indexing, Trying Something New."
4. Have you ever thought about donating an artifact, document, or other item to a respository? If so, you should read a recent post, "How to Donate an Item to a Repository" by Marian B. Wood, of Climbing My Family Tree blog.
5. There are two items of interest posted this week by James Tanner, of Genealogy's Star blog. The first is the 5th installment in his series on reading handwritten documents. The second is a post listing a number of FREE virtual classes, webinars, and videos available from the BYU Family History Library. You can read the list here.
6. Have you ever received or inherited a box full of genealogy "stuff?" Most of us have or will at some point. So is there some advice–or even a practical process–for dealing with such usually unorganized treasures? The answer is "yes" and Janine Adams, of Organize Your Family History blog, has written about the challenge and linked to the blog and presentation by Stacy Julian, who first caught Janine's attention on the subject. You can read Janine's post and get a link to Stacy's presentation and .pdf handout here.
7. Finally, if you have been waiting for an opportune moment to obtain books on the Mayflower and the Great Migration, NEHGS/American Ancestor is having a 20% off sale on their Great Migration and Mayflower titles. You can see the titles available here. The sale ends November 25th.
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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew
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Friday, November 20, 2020
Friday Fotos-- A Thank You card from Nora (November 20, 2020)
Saturday, November 14, 2020
Saturday Serendipity (November 14, 2020)
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Heather's Honor Roll Project (Veterans Day 2020)---Wallingford, CT World War II Memorial Part 5---close up panel photos
Yesterday, November 9, 2020, I contributed to the 2020 call for additions to the Honor Roll project of Heather Rojo. My contribution for Veterans Day 2020 continued the process of transcribing the hundreds of men and women from the Wallingford, Connecticut area who served their country during World War II (my father being among them).
Monday, November 9, 2020
Heather's Honor Roll Project (Veterans Day 2020)–Wallingford, CT World War II Memorial Part 5–Surnames M through Q
Wallingford Town Hall |
Wallingford, Connecticut World War II Memorial |
[1] Lyman Hall (1724 - 1790) was born in Wallingford and served as a representative to the Continental Congress from Georgia. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and later served as a Governor of Georgia.
Photographs of the extensive list of names on the World War II memorial in Wallingford, Connecticut were provided to me for transcription by my cousin, Bruce O. Marquardt, of Wallingford. This transcription contribution would not have been possible without Bruce's very kind and willing efforts to make sure I had legible photos from which to do the transcriptions. THANK YOU BRUCE!
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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew
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