backstory: I’m back
Hi all. I’m back, pun intended. Hope you enjoyed hearing from other people in the Museum for a few weeks. Truth be told, I was on leave attending to a family matter, and I’m so grateful to my colleagues for jumping in to tell all of their great backstories.
Since I’ve been focused on family over the last several weeks, I thought I’d share a story with you that I came across in some of my absolutely incessant genealogy work.
Back in 1904, my great-grandfather died at the age of 30, leaving behind a wife and three young sons, age two, five, and seven. Geez. Thank goodness, as I discovered, she had family nearby, including at least two brothers and a brother-in-law. Her remarkable recovery from her husband’s passing was made clear to me from the fact that by 1905, just a year later, she was running her own dry goods store. What wasn’t as apparent, however, was her tenacity, which I came to understand when I discovered a newspaper article about her making a citizen’s arrest in 1908. Huh??
Yup, sure enough, someone tried to break into her dry goods store and she “took him” to the police station. Now, the article does say that the culprit was a bit run down and didn’t mind having to spend the night in a cell, but still. She “took him” there? What does that even mean? How?
I like to imagine her bravely and fearlessly defending the livelihood she had rebuilt for herself and her boys. She inspires me. Maybe she can inspire you a little bit too.
Be well.
Tracy Fitzpatrick, Director
Neuberger Museum of Art
