Dames
Friday, October 30, 2020
Online via Zoom
OCTOBER PROGRAM
“The Lady in Gold: Who Knew? Surprises from Inquiries into My Family History”
With Louise Smith, amateur genealogist
Every Journey Begins at Home
The Illinois Society’s October program brought close to 90 Dames and their guests together to learn more about one woman sleuthing out family roots with time and patience, creating her own meaningful points of access into self-discovery. From a deeply personal viewpoint, guest presenter Louise Smith delighted our audience as she kindly shared her quest into her ancestry. She savors a trove of information teeming with historical personages of the Jewish diaspora during the tumultuous first half of the 20th century, including Sigmund Freud, Mark Twain, Arnold Schoenberg, Bloch-Bauer heirs (of Gustav Klimt fame) and a raft of Viennese-assimilated haute bourgeoisie. Hers is a personal saga of loss and redemption rooted in Vienna, Czechoslovakia, Israel and points across America, including California, Illinois and Wisconsin. She spoke of shameful anti-Semitism, tenacious persecution, the plunder of looted art expropriated by the Nazis and the legal maneuverings for its rightful restitution. Through her genealogy peregrinations, Louise serendipitously uncovers unknown relatives who are now in close contact as they cherish their treasured family legacy.
Dames and Guests
Attending were: Edith Rasumussen Ahern; Lee Allen-Russell; Darlene Ayers; Carol Barbour; Nancy Berchem; Anne Berkely; Sydney Blattner; Peggy Bodine; Cami Burgess; Carla Carstens; Mary Carter; Mamie Case; Marion Christoph; Judy Cook; Christy Coon; Ellen Corley; Nancy Dorr; Diane Eubanks; Carolyn Faucett-Knox; Betsey Faulconer; Mary Fields; Carla Funk; Anna Gjerlow; Cheryl Hammock; Amy Hardwicke; Freddie Hayes; Minnie Marie Hayes; Caroline Heintzelman; Jane Hotchkiss; Julia Jackson; Susan Kelsey; Judith Konen; Anne Tower Krauss; Julia Kyle; Jane Lahey; Claudia Lane; Barb Leiter; Suzanne McCullagh; Phoebe McMillan; Ginny McTier; Susan Michaelis; Mary Morton; Mary O’Hara; Rosemary Olson; Janet Velde Paine; Pat Paul; Jean Perkins; Ann Potter; Barbara Potter; Roberta Roe; Katherine Saville; Nancy Schultz; Cammie Schumacher; Karen Seda; Joan Shannahan; Peggy Snorf; Diane Weinberg Stilwell; Edna Strnad; Nina Strnad; Cynthia Szczepanski; Louise Tausché; Kathy Taylor; Noren Ungaretti; Jane Velde; Ellen Waller; Tracy Whitehead; Sonya Wolsey-Paige; Courtenay Wood and Martha Zimmerman. We were joined by twenty-two Fortnightly members, also our guests.
