Talented At An Easel

Talented At An Easel
100 Year Birthday Remembrance
Dorothy Frances Stewart, BFA

Sterling Silver Pin designed by my mother between 1937 and 1940 (inscribed RISD)
collection of the author, scanned with Flip-Pal scanner

1937 "Outside the Sculpture Class" wearing smocks
with two friends, collection of the author

(1935)The Cranstonian,  Cranston High School (East) p. 78
Ancestry.com School Yearbook Collection (blog post)

If she were alive today, my mother, Dorothy Frances (Stewart) Broadfoot would be one hundred years old. (7 January 1916-3 Jun 2002). It is plausible that she could have lived to be 100 since her mother lived to be 98 and her great grandmother lived to be 99 but Mom's health was not good near the end of her days.

She knew all four of her grandparents and the previously mentioned 99 year old great grandmother.
(Below: 1916 portrait of my mom with my grandmother in 1916)

Telling the story of my mother's life would be remiss without mentioning that she was a talented artist. Her high school yearbook (see screen shot above), states she was, "Very talented at an easel and before long we shall be reviewing her works of art".

It was finding that yearbook quote that made think that I had not learned about her education beyond the 8th grade. In those days, small neighborhood grammar schools that went to the 8th grade were the rule but children went to a parochial school for the same period of time. My mother went to a grammar school on nearby Norwood Ave. until she graduated from the 8th grade. This is why the 1940 census was so popular, it showed that many children went to work after the 8th grade. Many of our ancestors considered themselves lucky to go to school until 14 and only a select group went to high school. My mother went to Cranston High School (East) while her brother went to a private boarding school.

After high school, my mother attended a junior college called Lasell in Massachusetts (Lasell College) probably for two years. According to the article on Wikipedia, they offered a specialty in fashion. It was a boarding school and she hated it. I had a hard time getting her to talk about it.

After that, she attended the nearby Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island and majored in Fashion Design and Photography. At that time, "certificates of completion" were given when your course of study was finished. I don't know why. But, in 1990, the college told her (by mail) that she was eligible for a degree. All of us were surprised. When it came in the mail we found out she earned a "Bachelor of Fine Arts".  It is quite a big document and I must remember to re-scan it better with my Flip-Pal.

I know that my mother worked for Bachrach, a portrait studio and society photographer, covering events in Hartford, Connecticut after college. When men began to enlist in WWII she returned home to help out by working in her father's business. (This 1940s era photo of my mother was probably taken at that studio) Photo by Artistic  Photo Co. 103 Westminster St. Providence RI,

She always encouraged me to be creative and for that, I am grateful every day.

Happy Birthday, Mom! 

Close to Home: a Genealogy "Go Over"

Winter Sunshine colored by by Midge Frazel, 2015-2016

Close to Home: a Genealogy "Go Over"

As I participated in the genealogy-do-over last year (in the pioneer group) to help me manage my Scottish records, photographs and gravestones, I have anxiously awaited the production of the new workbook ($3.99) that Thomas MacEntee has produced. (Kindle edition) (PDF edition) Further information can be found here. Thomas has taken a year's work of feedback and lengthened the time for each part of the do-over and produced videos in a YouTube channel for us to learn from. A very good deal for $3.99. I purchased the PDF format (so I could print pages as needed) and moved the PDF into Kindle format for easy reading on my iPad.

I was not idle while I waited, as I purchased recommended (type in the fields) genealogy forms and organizing sheets to be ready. Last summer, I returned home to take some more photographs of places in my childhood. I firmly believe that photos both heritage and contemporary are needed to tell a story. 

This past month, I reviewed a previous blog post and re-wrote it to fit my purpose. I will be writing about my experiences in this blog and in my other blog, Granite in My Blood. You will have to read them both to get the full picture.

I will be researching, writing and gathering artifacts in Evernote and Pinterest but I will not be reporting on them daily. 

My project will be called Close to Home and fits into the second classification of Thomas's book which is a "Go-Over". 

Close to Home Project Description

Researching the first five generations from me has taken the most time in my life as a genealogist. It is my firm foundation and should be as organized as as it can be before I am no longer living. 

The first time I learned a what genealogy was I was shown my maternal grandfather's family Bible. From there, I was shown photographs of past generations and heirloom artifacts that I would someday inherit. 

There was no one but me left to inherit. This was my New England family and there were a lot of surnames for me to investigate. From that point on, I began to learn about my maternal grandmother's family from the photographs she inherited. 

Some years later, I asked my father about his family and he and I quickly discovered that my paternal grandparents information was not held with just one generation like my maternal family had done. My father's oldest sister had a few photographs and much to my surprise I had older members of his family that were living that I didn't know. 

It has been a sixty year journey of discovery for me. 

Sentimental Sunday: Ordinary Days in the Family

Family Photo Collection of Midge Frazel
Funny Family Stories

It is funny how history repeats itself, isn't it? On 25 March 2011, I wrote a blog post about this photo, which I took with my camera, of my father coming into the house on a cold and snowy winter night. I discovered today that the post, written in my other blog, Granite in My Blood, is missing the photo because Blogger used to let me post photos directly from Flickr to Blogger. I think as time goes on this will be a big problem for me and other long term blogger who have a lot of blog posts.

The condo that I live in now is the first place I have lived since marriage that there is a garage. During bad weather, our car isn't covered with ice or snow in the harsh Massachusetts weather. The temperature in the garage is warmer than outdoors (but still cold). 

My father was very picky about putting his car in the garage every single night. It occurs to me that now that I don't own a car, my husband feels the same way about putting the car in at night. I didn't think much about keeping the car warm so it will start until today when my daughter's car wouldn't start because it was left outside and not put in the garage overnight. 

Family stories with photos will be what future generations will not have if the story and the photo are not kept together. They will have the photo and not the story.

I must think about that as I work on my revised do-over. But, for now, you can laugh at this funny photo of my dad in his pjs and bathrobe with his coat and hat on. I am so glad I took this photo. It is in an archival bag and it is scanned and backup-ed in two places. However, it is not dated and the story is not with it.

By the way, this photo has a name. It is called the "Oh, sh*t!" photo because that's what Dad said when he noticed the car was not "put away". 

Miss you Daddy.

Happy New Year 2016

Photo by Midge Frazel, 2016

With a new year comes new ideas and improvements on old ones. I am developing a new approach this year for a special project that I have been trying to get done for the five years since I moved to my new condo. It is beginning to be a struggle to manage new family information and still be devoted to my gravestone work.

I have given up my membership in the APG as I am now a retired professional genealogist. It is an organization that has given me new friends and a lot of support and is well worth the membership fee. I am continuing my memberships in the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists and the Rhode Island Genealogical Society and as those organizations continue to grow and improve they will be beneficial to my research.

I am a Find My Past Ambassador along with many other genealogists who blog so I am hope to spend more time searching for things to help my personal work as well as report on things that help others who read my blogs.

I also hope to help my fellow genealogists stay organized and use technology effectively in their work. This will take a lot of caffeine, I am sure. I am reading Thomas MacEntee's new workbook for the revamped and improved 12 month Genealogy Do-Over and Kerry Scott's How to Use Evernote for Genealogy to start my year. Stay safe this New Year's and enjoy your long weekend.

Did you see my new paper planner? 

Sentimental Sunday: The Rest is Gravy

Photo by Midge Frazel, 2015

And the Rest is Gravy....

Family History in the Kitchen

(See the Milano Slices in this photo? Well, the rest about the gravy. You may substitute a glass of wine in your photo as the results would be the same. It's something to make cooking more enjoyable. Cooking, ugh.)

For several years, I cooked the full turkey dinner following the lead of my maternal ancestors. Now I like to call it "mtDNA" cooking. In my mother's composition book of family recipes, there is nothing about cooking large meals. My maternal grandmother, who lived to be 98, was a good cook and made the meals until she was too old to do so. Starting in 1989, I cooked turkeys. I did this, for Thanksgiving until 2006, when we bought a turkey breast or purchased the full dinner offered by the local grocery store. That turned out to be a good choice because it gave me exposure to what other people thought a Thanksgiving dinner SHOULD include.

Notes on Turkey cooking, photo by Midge Frazel, 2015.

But, since this is about gravy, I should stick to the topic. This is my mother's directions for making chicken gravy. Mom was an artist not a cook and many recipes are just this confusing. I think my grandmother told her what to do over the phone. My mom was the queen of the double boiler NOT the roasting pan.

Dot's Recipe Book, 1950 to 2002

The photo of Roche's Bros. Turkey gravy and the bottle of Kitchen Bouquet just keeps telling family stories forever. The gravy used to be labelled, "Holiday Gravy" I thought that was pretty funny, don't you? Well, they are back to turkey gravy now because there is no meat called Holiday. Seriously, people are just that clueless.

The first year here in Stow in 2010, I went to my local Roche Bros in Acton, MA to buy a new bottle of Kitchen Bouquet when I noticed a young woman, in distress looking at the cans and jars of gravy. Her mother, knowing she did not eat anything with fat, assigned her the gravy to bring, hoping she would realize it was a by product of cooking poultry. She told me that her mother was going to judge her cooking harshly because it was her DUTY to start being the holiday cook and stop slacking off. 

So, I showed her the "Holiday/Turkey" gravy and Kitchen Bouquet seasoning in my cart. She picked up her own bottle and followed me to the refrigerated case of prepared foods. She picked up the container of gravy and put it in her cart. I told her how to add a tiny bit of pepper, the right amount of Kitchen Bouquet to the gravy and mix well. Then, she should cook it in the microwave, put it in her own container and take it to her mom. 

I wonder if her mother asked, "How was your turkey?"

So, remember those genealogists of the future, while eating your Thanksgiving meal because leaving behind a piece of your own history may help others who follow you for as the saying goes, "the rest is gravy".  

Sentimental Sunday: Yrs Affect

Yours Affectionately, Uncle Walter, Photo collection, 1971

Yrs Affect
(Yours affectionately)

As a Find My Past Ambassador, I spent some time reading about the 1939 Register recently released. With most of my family from the British Isles were already in America prior to 1939, I browsed thorough my tree and found, of course, a relative living there during my research period of the early 1970s when I still had living family to write letters to in England about my Scottish family from Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. 

On 22 June 1971, I received a answer from my letter to Walter and Ruby Broadfoot. Walter was the first born son (1902-1989) of my great grandfather, John Broadfoot (1853-1926) and his second wife Helen Tait (1862-1943). If you read the letter, you will get the feeling that Walter was delighted that a young person has asked him for family information. Although he was too young to remember my grandfather, it was so exciting to hear from him and to fill in the blanks for my monumental mason great grandfather who is the inspiration for my Granite in My Blood blog. My grandfather lived with Helen's family before he came to America.

Find My Past's direct link to the 1939 Register found 3,259 Broadfoot surnames included. I was very surprised! I narrowed the search directly to Walter P. Broadfoot and discovered the right family despite the surname listed as Braodfoot. From Walter's letter, I knew his wife was Ruby Cutler and that her sisters lived with them in 1971. Walter and Ruby had no children. Intrigued by three people in the household, I had to unlock the record. The next family in the unlocked document turn out to be Ruby's mother and father (Cutler) and sister Florence (Named as Florrie in the letter). I still don't know who John D. Wells was but he may have simply been a boarder. There's always more to research...

1939 Register from Find My Past, 2015

I am thankful for seeing Ruby's family in the Register as she sent me a kiss for luck in Walter's letter from so long ago. I hope someday to find out where they are buried.

Take Note

OfficeMax, Garden City, Cranston, RI, August, 2015

Take Note
and rethink your original work...

Sometimes you have to be pushy about your genealogy research and get your point across in a BIG way. Since I have been sick for over a month, no amount of caffeine can make me a high energy genealogist for the upcoming holiday season. But, I have been able to do some research, make some project plans and do a little scanning. I have done a LOT of thinking about what I want to accomplish starting in January. 

I think I am better off planning instead of trying to write blog posts in November and December because I know you have not got time to read them. Am I right?

Sometimes a display like this one can catch your attention and get your brain moving in the right direction. I didn't buy any of these big note pads but they would be great for charting out a project or working out complex family relationships. As I was shopping, I took this quick photo to remind me. Do you do that?

Slowing down and taking a look at research you have not added to in years can give you new insight. Let me give you an example. My mother told me where she went to high school and then she told me that her only 17 months younger brother went to Dean Academy in Franklin, MA. 

I ASSUMED she meant for his post high school education since today this school that still exists as a two year post high school institution. 

I was WRONG. What she was telling me is that he boarded at an academy for his high school years instead of going to a local public school as she did. I only realized this when I found his yearbook in the Ancestry collection of yearbooks and then returned to the Web page for the school and read the history. 

I didn't need coffee to wake me up and tell me how wrong I was when I made an assumption. Don't let this happen to you! I will kick off  2016 with a report of what I found and how it fits in the total picture of my uncle's life.