Good Morning fellow shut-is!
For the most part, I am attempting to follow the instructions for 'flattening the curve' of corona virus cases by staying in the house. I have grocery shopped only once a week, on Monday mornings this week and last and have contact with my friends mainly through e-mail and telephone, no more lunches out.
Today, however, I got a letter from my cousin Patty with an article from the Inquirer, March 30, 2020. It was about female yeomen in the US Navy in World War I. These women were the first American women to serve in the US Navy and they performed clerical tasks.
Laurie Adie became the first female member of the Living History Crew of the Cruiser, Olympia, docked in Philadelphia, which is appropriate because the first woman to serve as a yeoman with the US Navy was also from Philadelphia! Her name was Loretta Perfectus Walsh and she was also the first female Chief Petty Officer. There were 11,000 female yeomen serving.
My cousin and I both have early family history with the US Navy as her godmother served with the Naval Hospital in the 1940's and 50's and my mother worked at the Navy Yard during WWII while my father was in the Navy. One of my brothers often works at the Navy Yard to date as an Ironworker.
Laurie Adie also portrays Frances Benjamin Johnston, a pioneering woman photographer whose photographs are on display on the Olympia including one of Admiral George Dewey aboard the Olympia.
Like Laurie Adie, I believe costumed interpreters can really give people a feel for the people and the times at historic sites. Once when Laurie Adie was in costume at Fort Mott, a man came to visit the site and was stunned because he had a photo of a female ancestor in the same uniform and now he knew what it meant! Adie and her husband are also World War II costumed interpreters.
I have often felt that I would like to portray a dressmaker of the turn of the century which is what my grandmother and great-grandmother were in Philadelphia, but it may be that the time has passed me by. At 74, I am becoming too disabled to stand too long or to climb steps - my problems are mainly knees, spine, and vision. But none of that can stop me from learning!
A note: As we are sheltering in place, I have seen more netflix, amazon prime, and HBO programs than I ever imagined I would. Recently I have watched the series CHERNOBYL. Not that I would recommend more disaster viewing at such a time as we are living in with the Covid 19 Pandemic, but this is a powerful series, though truly hair-raising! My daughter was born three years before Chernobyl, and I remember being terrified about the future for her.
Last Sunday there was an interesting article in the Sunday New York Times Magazine about disaster tourism at Chernobyl in the Dead Zone. Sometimes real life can be like science fiction! Knowing what radiation does, it boggles my imagination that anyone would want to tour the 'dead zone' of a nuclear reactor disaster site.
On a happier note: The sun is out! Among our instructions for this time is one that advises us to get out and exercise, alone, at least once a day. I have been taking my dog for a one mile walk every day since I adopted her and I have been delighted to see the daffodils, the ground cover pinks and purples (whatever they are called) and the flowering trees showering us with pink and white petals.
My sincere hope for you to stay safe and well in these difficult times!
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com
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