Back in 2010, in honor of Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo created a list of writing prompts for each day during the month of March. I didn’t participate in 2010, so I’m going to take the opportunity to participate this year, since Lisa was kind enough to resurrect her prompts for 2012.
Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.
Truth be told, I was named after a character in a soap opera. But my middle name is my grandmother’s given name, Marie.
I do have some unique and unusual names in my tree, two of them being Hulda and Alvina (sometimes Alwine). Hulda and Alvina are sisters, who were both born in Germany.
Read all of my Fearless Females posts.
2 comments:
I was named Frances for my maternal grandmother, Clora Frances Nolen Heard. She had red hair, and was less than five feet tall. She married her teacher, gave birth to 13 children, and raised 12 to be adults. While her husband worked at other professions, she ran the family farm, organizing and directing the labors of her nine sons and three daughters. She said that she hoped that her sons would go to college, but she was determined that her daughters would complete college degrees. In her view of the world, men could be successful with or without higher education, but for a woman, education was essential. Her daughters, including my mother, went beyond their Mother's aspirations, completing graduate degrees in the 1930's. I was one of her 36 grandchildren, and with my cousins, spent wonderful summer days at the FARM with my grandmother. She exerted a powerful influence on all of us. She was the local midwife, helping the sick in a rural area with few doctors. In those days, families cared personally for their dead, and she was often called on to help friends and neighbors with these difficult tasks. In short, the family and community called on my grandmother for help with the most difficult and unpleasant tasks. She sat with the dying and helped prepare the dead. In any and every emergency she was the clear-headed rock, on whom all relied. As a mentor, she was tough, as a role model she was the best. Her influence continues long after her death, extending forward through the generations to her great-great- grandchildren.
Thanks for sharing your story. Your grandmother sounds like a phenomenal woman.
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