The World Changed : 無料・フリー素材/写真
The World Changed / andrea z
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示 2.1 |
|---|---|
| 説明 | This is my grandmother, Jean Gillis Everingham. The photograph was taken about 10 years ago during a visit to her home in Tucson. She's at the upper end of her 80s here, picking grapefruit in her backyard. Yes, she's standing on a ladder. That's who she was.She rolled into the world at the same time as the first Ford Model T, when Teddy Roosevelt was president. We're not 100% sure how old she is: either 97 or 98. There are two birth certificates, dated a year apart. She was adopted at age 5 (or 6), and it's likely that the county home tried to make her look younger to make her more appealing to prospective parents which would account for the second birth certificate. Jean lived more than half her life in a world that didn't include me. Before I was born, she had experienced two world wars, three other grandchildren, and radical change from the world she grew up in. During her life, she saw enormous changes to the way we live: commercial radio and television, microwave ovens, atom bombs, cars, supermarkets, interstate freeways, commercial aviation and computers. An astonishing amount of what I learned as "history," she actually lived through. An astonishing amount of what I take for granted in my day to day life simply didn't exist when she was born.Her childhood nickname was Toughie, according to her brother. He hinted broadly that he could tell us lots more stories, but feared retailation if he did. (This when he was in his seventies, mind you.) One of my favorites involved the day she tried to create a self swinging hammock by stringing copper wire through a hammock. After it became apparent that the hammock did not swing, but would administer a mild electrical shock, she attempted to lure pedestrians to sit in it. (Thankfully, household current was not what it is today!)If you think she looks like a stereotypical English teacher, you're right! She went to college to become a teacher. While she was there, she accidentally swapped letters that were going to my grandfather and another young man. This led to a marriage proposal from Grandpa Bill. In later years, she hinted broadly that perhaps the swap was not quite as accidental as she might have made it sound. She continued to teach while raising a family at a time when that was not common for women. She gave birth to four daughters, three of whom survive today. The fourth, Elizabeth, died at the age of three, from pneumonia, which was not uncommon in that time. I carry Elizabeth's memory in my middle name. There's a phrase I associate strongly with her: "That's not right." She'd use it when looking at receipts, restaurant bills, scowling at squabbling grandchildren, when a fact was incorrect, or when something was morally wrong. She was also fiercely independent, or stubborn, if you prefer. Both fit. I like to think that she used that phrase when she geared up for a battle on the causes she was passionate about: equal pay for women and mandatory retirement ages were two I remember. When the school board tried to tell her that she wasn't allowed to teach night school for returning Vietnam vets who wanted to get GEDs, she went ahead and did it anyway. (I don't remember if this was one of the times that legal action was involved, or if they backed down when she called their bluff.) She served a number of terms as the teacher's representative from the union to the school board and from that position, changes were made regarding the payment of male and female employees, and also to the mandatory retirement age policy. I think that by the second or third time she refused to retire the school board just gave up without even hiring a lawyer.(continued in the first comment) |
| 撮影日 | 1995-02-01 00:00:00 |
| 撮影者 | andrea z |
| タグ | |
| 撮影地 |