Ethel May RADLOFF (nee DAVIES) at age 96 (1981) - in her own voice

From left to right, Frank RADLOFF, Ethel May RADLOFF (née DAVIES), Audrey CHRISTENSEN (née RADLOFF), Harold RADLOFF, Adeline RADLOFF, Wilma SHANKLIN (née RADLOFF); Waupaca, Wisconsin; February 1943. (Howard RADLOFF is absent from photo, probably away in military service at that date)

In the early 1980s, my grandmother and her sisters pinpointed me as the young person in the family most likely to be interested in the family history. In August, 1981, my great-Aunts Adeline AYRES and Wilma SHANKLIN (both née RADLOFF) were inspired to record their mother, Ethel May RADLOFF (née DAVIES) telling about her life, and to send the audiocassette to me.

Here is a brief audio clip (.MP3 format) of my great-grandmother telling about her life at age 96:


Additional audio clips of Aunts Adeline and Wilma will be shared in future.

Family Photo Comes "Home" (Thanks to a Good Samaritan)

Have you ever seen an old photograph in an auction or antique store and felt a pang of sadness because family treasures had become lost to people who would care for them? I have recently come into contact with two people who try to restore those lost artifacts to people or places where they will be valued. 

As Director of the Oshkosh Public Library in Wisconsin, I recently received three letters that had been written in the 1860s by an area farmer to his mother in Michigan. The man who sent them visits sales and antique stores, purchases "orphaned" historical artifacts such as photos and letters, and tries to find suitable homes for them. While the Oshkosh Public Library does not collect such artifacts, our Local History Librarian will offer them to the historical society of the city where the letter writer lived.

A short time after receiving the 19th century letters in my professional role as a library director, I again encountered someone whose hobby is to help historic artifacts find their way to good "homes," although this time I had a personal interest in the matter. Through my account on Ancestry.com, I received the following message one day in May 2018:

Hello, I came across a photo at an antique store in Appleton that states on the back: Grandma & Grandpa Christensen, Property of E.J. Christensen. Matches up with the photo of Jens Christensen on your tree and includes who I think may be Caroline Sorensen. If interested, I can send it to you.

 Of course, I immediately expressed my interest. As it turns out, I pass by the fellow's workplace every day as I commute to and from my own work. We made arrangement for me to pay for the photo (he would accept only what he paid) and to pick it up. 

So, one morning in June, 2018, I stopped by the security desk of his workplace and, for the first time, got to see a photo of both my great-great grandparents together.

Here is the photo of Jens Peter Christensen and his wife Caroline Josephine (nee Sorensen), who immigrated in 1888 from their home near Aalborg, Denmark to Waupaca County in Wisconsin:

And here is the photo of Jens from his profile on my Ancestry.com family tree, which my Good Samaritan saw and recognized in the photo he had purchased:

When I carried my new acquisition and my story to the Christensen family reunion in Waupaca, Wisconsin on June 24, 2018, I was just a little anxious that fifteen people would see it and say "Oh, yes, I have a copy of that photo." I was glad to learn that there is at least one copy of the photo already in the family, but that my "treasure" was also a welcome addition. 

Clara Petersen, Army Nurse Corps, World War I - UPDATE June 2018

On a recent trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary in Madison, Wisconsin, Caroline and I were on Capitol Square and decided to visit the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. Pleasantly surprised that admission was free, we became immediately absorbed in the first gallery exhibition about Wisconsin in the U.S. Civil War, 1861 - 1865. We were fascinated by the information about the effects of injury and disease upon the soldiers in that war.

Moving on to the next gallery, we saw that it contained a temporary exhibition, remembering the contributions of  Wisconsin men and women in World War One:

 WWI BEYOND THE TRENCHES: 

Stories from the Front

My eye was immediately drawn to the far wall of the exhibition gallery, and the red cross flag, in a display of information about Wisconsin women who served as nurses in World War One.

Moving closer, I looked at the nurse's uniform, cap and boots in a display case posed before a stretcher.  Glancing at the wall, I saw this exhibit label:

Imagine my surprise and pride to see the service of my great-great Aunt, Clara C. Petersen, honored in this centennial exhibition of "The Great War."

Here are some other images from the display on Wisconsin nurses in that war:

 

The woman pictured below is Madison native Helen Bulovsky, who worked at Base Hospital #22, just outside of Bordeaux, France, in an area called the Beau Desert (Beautiful Desert). The nurse's cap and boots in the uniform display belonged to her.

This exhibition will be on display until July 13, 2020. 

My original blog post about Clara C. Petersen's service in World War One may be found here.

 

Clara Petersen, Army Nurse Corps, World War I

Clara Petersen (1886-1966) was two years old when her young mother died, leaving father Robert to work the farm near Elba, Nebraska and to raise four daughters, aged 7 to 2. Clara grew to be a strong, independent woman. Trained as a Red Cross nurse, at age 31 Clara volunteered for service in the Army Nurse Corps.

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison holds, among its collections, Clara's uniform and medical kit. When she donated those items, she wrote the following statement about her service:

”I was a member of Base Hosp. 11 which was a Chicago Unit comprised of Augustana St. Mary and St. Joseph nurses and doctors. I was on duty at Camp Upton, Long Island (New York) 3 months before going overseas. While there I was on duty with Base Hospital 11 from August 25, 1918 til January 15, 1919 and transported to Evacuation Hospital 28 which took over the Base 11 when their personnel was sent back to the States. I was with Evac. 28 until they closed about June 1, 1919, returned here in July. While in France stationed at Base Section 5 at Grand Blottereau”.

From the museum's searchable online artifacts collection, here is Clara's hat:

  

and medical kit:

  

Clara continued to care for the health needs of veterans, working at the National Military Home at Wood in Milwaukee during the 1930s. Her Christensen nephews remembered her as their "rich aunt," because she always drove a late model car. With a sister, she invested in rental property in California, where she died in 1966. 

Sources:

• MacDonald, Lyn. The Roses of no man's land: nurses on the Western front. London, England : Penguin books, 2013. Your local public library's interlibrary loan service can help you borrow a copy of this book if you are interested in this topic.

•  United States World War I Centennial Commission 

• wisvetsmuseum.com (To see more photographs of Clara's uniform, go to Collections->Search Collections->Collections Database->Advanced Search by Name of Clara Petersen).

• Portrait from: Yellowstone County, Montana, in the world war, 1917-1918-1919, by William W. Gail.

Os and Jennie CHRISTENSEN farm, early 1940s

Photos taken on Os and Jennie's farm in 1941 and 1942

 

Dated in album as Spring 1941, from left to right. Back row, Clifford ("Kip") Christensen, Robert ("Bob") Christensen, Oswald ("Os") Christensen. Front row, Ron Hardel (son of Jennie's sister Alta), Donald Christensen, Dorothy Christensen, possibly Kenneth Dunn (son of Kip & Os's sister Mabel). One of the horses is "Prince". Identifications provided by Dorothy Inderdahl (nee Christensen), December 2017.

Dated in album as July 1942, left photo is Dorothy Christensen; right photo is Dorothy with Audrey E Christensen (nee Radloff)

 Dated in album July 1942, from left to right: Ron Hardel, Os Christensen, Bob Christensen, Don Christensen. Dorothy Christensen is between an unidentified couple, friends of Os and Jennie Christensen.

Ruth Eliza YOHN, 1905 - 2001

The photo below has been identified as being of Ruth Eliza Jarnick (nee Yohn), 1905 - 2001. Ruth was the daughter of Albert and Lillie Yohn (nee Davies).  Although I do not have an exact date for the photo, the hairstyle dates it to the mid-1920s. 

Photo identified by Janet King (nee Straw), Ruth's grand-niece, December 2017.