Womens History Month -- Week 4

March 21 — Describe a tender moment one of your female ancestors shared with you or another family member.

My paternal grandmother, Maggie, was very excited when my twin cousins were born, because they were the first grandchildren by one of her daughters, and she'd always felt unwilling to interfere in the mother-daughter bond with her daughter-in-laws, so she spent several days with my aunt and uncle after the twins came home, and visited frequently thereafter until they were feeling more steady about having two babies in the house.

March 22 — If a famous director wanted to make a movie about one of your female ancestors who would it be? What actress would you cast in the role and why?

None of the stories particularly stand out at first. All have something interesting, but none are super-spectacular stories.

But I think, if I were to choose, it would probably be Oline's story. Act one--losing her father at such a young age, and the family's struggle to make do without a head of house and her jobs as a girl and young woman. Act two would focus on her coming to America, meeting her grandfather (whole story there, though I'm not sure if they ever actually met, let alone how much she knew about her mother's story), then going to work in Chicago. Act three would be meeting Holger, World War I, and marriage. And the final act would be her children, the twenties, and her death in 1929 of pneumonia at the age of 42.

Not sure who I'd get to direct it, though. Someone with a good, subtle hand, who knows how to do turn-of-the-century drama well, and has at least some familiarity with Danish history. Although, I could see someone like Ang Lee doing it. He's got an amazing and subtle touch when it comes to his movies.

As for who would play her? Julia Ormand, I think. Or possibly Stania Katic from Castle. Both have the quiet dignity I think of when I think of my great grandmother.

March 23 — Create a timeline for a female ancestor using your favorite software program or an online timeline generator such as OurTimelines. Post an image of it or link.

A Timeline of Maggie Hillinger's Life

March 24 — Do you share any physical resemblance or personality trait with one of your female ancestors? Who? What is it?

I've always been told I look like my mother, who looks very much like her mother, who looks like her mother, but as I grow older, I think I look more and more like my dad's father's mother, Dora, because I definitely have some of the Germanic features.

March 25 — Tell how a female ancestor interacted with her children. Was she loving or supportive? A disciplinarian? A bit of both?

My great-grandmother Oline didn't have long with her children, but I do know that she was a very self-sufficient woman who not only kept the house very competently, but even knew how to drive, and was constantly on the go, busy and raising three young children. My grandmother had very fond memories of the nine years she had with her mother.

March 26 — What education did your mother receive? Your grandmothers? Great-grandmothers? Note any advanced degrees or special achievements.

Edit
After speaking to my mother, it seems she did get her degree, though I'm still uncertain about her mother. I do know that Maggie never got a degree. It wasn't generally done in her circles in those days.