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Mom's Turn on Stage: The Cleveland Folk Festival

Mom is third from right in this newspaper clipping. In a stroke of serendipity following last week's post on my Grandpa's involvement in Cleveland's Theater of Nations, I ran across an email I had sent in an attempt to identify the newspaper and date for the clipping above. 1 My mother, Anna Kozlina Gilbride (1937-2010), is pictured third from the right, seated on the floor. Since I was fortunate to learn the background surrounding Grandpa's role in The Colleen Bawn , I thought I'd check the newspaper websites again to try to find this clipping and finally date it. And I did find it, in the 5 February 1952 edition of The Cleveland Press ; Mom was 14 years old in this photo, lots younger than I had imagined! 2 The caption states that Mom was performing as part of the Croatian Slavulj Society. Slavulj—Croatian for "the Nightingales"—was founded by Joseph Gregorincich and operated from 1937 to about 1951. The group began as a singing and drama club and later ...
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SWAGGER


31 Days of Writing Family History Challenge

January 2, 2022:   My Dad - Joseph John Gilbride, Jr. (1937-2018)


By Nancy Gilbride Casey

This is by far my favorite photo of my father, Joseph John Gilbride, Jr. It was taken about 1955, when he was about 17 or 18. The photo was taken by his uncle, Pete Gambino, and I'm guessing it was taken at one of the Cleveland Metroparks, given the woodsy background.1

Dad always said that Uncle Pete was a great photographer, and I can see why he thought so. Pete truly captured Dad's young swagger, a trait he carried throughout his life. 

Dad quit high school in the 10th grade and at 17 he enlisted in the Air Force.2 Maybe he was thinking of what adventures lie ahead. Dad seemed always on the lookout for the next big opportunity—a trait sometimes both optimistic and frustrating to himself and those around him.

The photo also captures familial resemblances. I see in his face echoes of both my brother Joe and my son James. It's amazing how children can be the reflections of their parents and sometimes even grandparents or other ancestors at different points in their lives, proof that lies in the photos we are lucky enough to keep.


Bonus Photo: My great uncle Pete Gambino, Dad's photographer.3



NOTES

1 Joseph Gilbride, photographed by Pete Gambino, about 1955. Personal collection N Casey [address for private use], 2022. Photo in album belonging to my father Joseph Gilbride, who gave me the album and provided identification of photos.

2 U.S. Department of Defense, Enlistment Record - Air Force, Joseph John Gilbride, Service # AF 15 528 204, 31 August 1954; National Archives Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

3 Pete Gambino, photographer/date unknown. Personal collection N Casey [address for private use], 2022. Photo in album belonging to my father Joseph Gilbride, who gave me the album and provided identification of photos.

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