Clik here to view.
The moment that I knew…
May 15, 1911: L-R Katarina Gärtz, Lisi Ebner, a cousin This photo of my grandmother, Lisi Ebner, and her future sister-in-law, Katarina Gärtz, dated May 15, 1911, was in our family photo collection for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Life and Death Abbreviated
Grosspold Family Book This is a repost that was originally published on this blog on Dec. 7, 2010 My grandmother kept a photo of her hometown church tucked into the hymnbook she brought with her from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Blended Family Breakthrough
This post was originally published on December 13, 2010 Maria Schuster marries Samuel Ebner May 22, 1899recorded in the Church “Family Book” in Grosspold, Romania Samuel Ebner, my great-grandfather,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hidden Message Behind Women’s Work
Jickeli Household Help. Lisi Ebner seated 2nd from left. Mrs. Jickeli, center in black. This post was originally published on December 19, 1910 This photo hung in my grandmother’s house for her entire...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Channeling the Dead to Life
Missler Wallet with Josef’s Gärtz’s diary inside. Note: “Missler” was a ticket agent in Bremen, Germany, but for years people thought it was the name of this “ghostship.” Scroll down to the “Missler”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Terror atop the train!
This post was originally published on Christmas Eve, 2010, on the centennial of my grandfather’s departure for America, and his diary record of his harrowing journey. Josef Gärtz, 1909 or 1910, age 20...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Threats to the Dream-Vienna to Bremen
This is a repost, originally published on 12/28/10. Josef wrote both in his diary and to Lisi about his terror atop the train from Pressburg (Bratislava) to Vienna, one corroborating the other, but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Out to Sea
12/30/1910—First page of letter from Josef to Lisi on F. Missler stationery This post was originally published on Dec. 31, 2010, 100 years to the date that Josef Gärtz boarded the ship for America....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Atlantic Crossing in Winter
Friedrich der Grosse from NorwayHeritage.com This post was originally published on Jan. 5, 2011. Crossing the North Atlantic in the heart of winter was a grueling experience, as Josef reports in his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Landing the Dream
This post was originally published on Jan. 11, 2011, and the the references to the 100th anniversary are based on that date. Today is the 100th anniversary of Josef Gärtz, my paternal grandfather,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Seeing Santa
My online friend, Shirley Hershey Showalter, inspired me to write this post about a favorite Christmas memory. I signed up to get her free ebook called How to Write a Memoir, and now I get her weekly...
View Article“I know how to misuse a brain cell…” World War II buddies
Air Corp Cadet, Frank Gartz, writes to his former high school chum, Ted Symon. Check out how Frank views his rigorous training and the casual, raw communication from one Air Force Cadet to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Martin Luther King Day-Dream Speech: a remembrance
Martin Luther King made his “I have a dream” speech on August 28th, 1963. Millions of Americans heard his poetic demands for racial justice. Whites were either rapt in the power of his metaphor or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Perfect Valentine gal to commitment-reluctant guy
An adorable Valentine for a gal to send! (Scroll down to see entire card) Lil was already madly in love with Fred, but he found it hard to express his emotions. (Sound familiar?) So what’s a girl to...
View ArticleBirthing a book with She Writes Press
The good news is that my book will be published next April-2018. Hooray!! The bad news is – getting a book ready to be published is a grind! I’m lucky to have a wonderful publisher in She Writes Press....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Race and change in 1960’s West Side Chicago
Well, the mystery of who bought the Young-Parker house has been solved. As more or less expected, the colored moved in today 6-22-63 From the diary of Lillian Gartz June 22, 1963 This diary entry Mom...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“Would you panic if a Negro moved next door?” Sat. Evening Post
In July 1962, a few months after I graduated from grade school and one year before the first black family moved onto our block, The Saturday Evening Post, a venerable magazine of the time, ran an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Discovery in attic: long-hidden letters & diaries
Standing under naked beams in the attic’s dim light, we discovered a large box labelled in my mother’s neat printing: “Lil and Fred’s Letters and Diaries.” I ripped off the packing tape and folded back...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“…threatened with Negro Encroachment.”
Color-coded map of our immediate neighborhood, shown as yellow, just west of Garfield Park (in white). Redlining just north and east. “…district threatened with Negro encroachment” is a direct quote...
View ArticleClik here to view.
An Era of Riots – 50 years ago
Two of the nation’s deadliest riots exploded 50 years ago–in July 1967, within two weeks of each other. Image from Newark riots. Started July 11, 1967. Photo by Don Hogan Charles for the New York Times...
View Article
/fit-in/580x348/filters:format(webp)/english-betterindia/media/media_files/2026/09/17/balaghat-3-2026-09-17-18-46-40.png)
