Skip to main content

Featured

How I Write a Blog Post

Image: Rawpixel   A very kind Leaves on the Tree subscriber suggested to me earlier this year that my readers might like to know my process for writing a blog post. So, Donna, this one's for you! Where I Get Ideas Most of my blog post ideas spring from my research. I might come across a really great document, such as the letter I found in a probate file which I wrote about last week . Or I make an important discovery or just want to document some aspect of my research process, a particular methodology, or a resource that I've used, like the WWII Alien Registrations databas e I discovered on Ancestry. Here are a few examples of other post inspirations: Holidays —For the past few years, I've done four Christmas related posts in December, as I have several family stories , memories , or heirlooms that I wish to share. Courses or classes —I love to learn about new methodologies, record sets, etc., so I often take classes or courses. Writing helps me process what I've lear...
10 comments
Read more
Labels

Mom's Big Trip

Mom, and friends Janet and Zora, in traditional Croatian costumes, taken at Braddock, Pennsylvania, May 1953.
By Nancy Gilbride Casey

"Boy were we surprised. We never expected anything like this hotel." 

A trip to Pittsburgh was the ultimate in excitement for a 15-year old from Cleveland, Ohio, back in 1953, if a letter home is any indication. My mother, then Anna Margaret "Margie" Kozlina, had just checked in to The Penn-Lincoln Hotel in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Mom was a member of a Cleveland-based Croatian dance ensemble, and had set out to perform at a Kolo festival in the Pittsburgh area.

Mom was exposed to kolo by her father's family, who immigrated from Croatia in the early 1900s. A traditional communal dance, it is performed in a closed circle, a single chain or in two parallel lines. One of many European chain dances surviving from ancient times, kolo is spirited and often fast-moving. 1  (Click here to view a video of a kolo dance from the Sv. Jana region of Croatia; 2  my great grandmother Vjekoslava "Louise" Baltorinic, was born in Sv. Jana, near Zagreb, Croatia.)

Mom's postcard and a longer letter capture her wide-eyed thrill at staying in a fancy hotel—on probably her first solo trip away from her family—as well as youthful antics with her friends. Four photos of her troupe taken on a hillside in Braddock, Pennsylvania provide a visual backdrop to her exciting teenage adventure.

It's a wonderful snapshot of a time in Mom's life which she clearly treasured.

Penn-Lincoln Hotel, where Mom stayed in May 1953.

Writing home to the family in Cleveland.




Captioned on the photo reverse: "Friends: Margie, Madeline & Janet. Taken at Bradock, PA, May 30, 1953"

Mom, standing, far left, and the rest of the ladies of the ensemble.

The men of the ensemble, enjoying a beverage!


 NOTES

 1 Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (https://www.britannica.com : accessed 29 Nov 2019, 09:38:00), "Kolo."

2 J.I.M. Video, "Kolo “Croatia “ Croatian Independence 2019 San Pedro," uploaded 27 May 2019; YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMQNUpTmz7I : accessed 29 Nov 2019).  



Until next time... 

Subscribe to "Leaves on the Tree," to receive more family history stories, right in your email box. Click the green Subscribe link above.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment