“Family Archaeologist” explores a century of family letters, diaries, and artifacts, and how they illuminate history and our shared humanity. To get an overview of the blog, click: “Welcome to Family Archaeologist”
LATEST BLOG POSTS
An FBI Investigation???
Munitions are processed at Kingsbury Ordnance Plant during World War II. Photocourtesy of LaPorte County Historical Society Museum In last week’s post, “War and Bigotry” I shared a letter from Fred Gartz (my dad) to his mother detailing his summary firing from the Kingsbury Ordinance Plant. No one would tell him why he was [...]
War and Bigotry!
La Porte, IN Courthousepostcard Fred sent to his family In the post, Explosive News, we heard that my dad, Fred, a chemist, quit his job with Lanteen to make almost double the salary as a blasting powder blender at the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant in LaPorte, Indiana. He started the job on March 30, 1942. [...]
Like a bolt out of the blue!
On March 22, 1942, Lil has written that she felt “like a hussy” kissing both Burt and Fred and four months after dating the two of them was feeling the stress of indecision. Just a week later, something clicked. March 28, 1942 Burt and I went [out]. Had a pretty nice time. Had a flat tire [...]
Explosive News!
We’re following along in the diary of Lillian Koroschetz as she dates two guys: Fred and Burt. Her present quandary is whom she will marry. To start at the beginning of her amorous adventure, click on Falling in Love––70 Years Ago and scroll forward. After being “damn mad” at Fred for not asking her out New Year’s [...]
Merry Christmas and a look back 101 years ago today
Merry Christmas, Everyone—and Happy Holidays. I’m thinking of all of you celebrating with your families and the impressive posts and research so many in the family history and genealogy community have done over the past year to share their stories and knowledge. I’m also thinking back to 101 years ago, when my grandfather, Josef Gärtz, boarded [...]
Whom shall I marry? Indecision is a killer!
A vintage postcard Lil sent to Fred from her visit to Milwaukee, in August, 1941—when she and Fred were in the throes of falling in love. After being “Damn Mad at Fred” for not taking her out on New Year’s Eve, Lil doesn’t write in her diary for a couple months. I’ll tell you a little [...]
New Year’s Eve, 1941 “Damn mad at Fred”
Lil Koroschetz’s diary entry, 12/31/1941 Last week I posted Lil’s entries into the new diary she had started on the eve of 1942, three weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II. If you’d like to see how the war had already begun to affect every-day Americans, see Lil’s ruminations [...]
Pearl Harbor Day—A diarist’s response to war
December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor was bombed seventy years ago today. My mom, Lillian Koroschetz, started a brand new diary on New Year’s Eve, 1941 reflecting back on the previous year and the effects the barely three-week-old war was already having on the every-day lives of Americans. See this link at Naval History and Heritage for a thumbnail [...]
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