The last of the three photos sent to me by my cousin. I added a sepia filter, straightened and cropped this one but left it with the trio centered. That was the standard way photos were taken back then, making sure to get your subject centered in the photo. At least nothing is 'growing' out of any of their heads.
My Nana on the left was 58 years old then. She had been a widow for nine years and despite Social Security legislation being passed in 1935, she had virtually no income. With a 4th grade education, she had only worked in a silk mill for a few years before her marriage at age 18. My coal-miner grandfather never received a pension when he died of MS and Black Lung. She only had health benefits when Medicare was passed in 1965. Nana was totally dependent on the good will of her daughters and daughter in law. She lived with one or the other from 1947 until she died in 1972.
Without family, I wonder what happened to other women like her.
No comments:
Post a Comment