N is for Nevins: Guest Post

 

My youngest daughter when she heard about my a to z challenge theme this year asked if she could write about one of the Radium girls.  Since I don't know very much about the radium girls I asked her if she's be willing to write a guest post about one of them.  She chose Charlotte Nevins Purcell who she will be portraying in her high schools spring play, These Shining Lives.  

Charlotte Nevins Purcell

Radium Girl 

                                                                Years lived before 1921: Fifteen

                                                                Years lived after 1921: Sixty-seven

Charlotte Nevins Purcell was one of the dial painters who worked at the now infamous Radium Dial company in Ottawa, Illinois. She was one of the many women working at the company (now known as the 'Radium Girls') who painted watch faces with radium powder, which wasn't widely known to be harmful at the time. Because of this, she was also one of the many women who suffered from radium poisoning as a result of their work. Charlotte had to have her arm amputated because of the radium, which allowed her to live longer than many of the other women whos poisoning had taken effect in more vital areas. 

" A relative said: ‘She was pretty outspoken. She told people what she thought about things ... she spoke her mind about a lot of things.’ That perhaps explains why Charlotte played such an important role in the Illinois lawsuits. She and Catherine Donohue were ‘spokesmen for the other women’." - Kate Moore, author of The Radium Girls, wrote about Purcell

Charlotte Purcell was evidently the kind of person who would not give up and would not stand for injustice.  According to family members, she once tied one end of a jump rope to a fence in order to be able to jump rope with only one arm, because of her amputation. This shows how she never let anything stop her, which is truly inspiring.

Thanks daughter! For more A to Z challenge click here.

M is for Merman

         Ethel Merman

"The Undisputed First Lady of The Musical Comedy Stage"

                                    Years lived before 1921: Thirteen

                                    Years lived after 1921: Sixty-three 

                                                    

If I was struggling for a Z in this years A to Z challenge I may have been able to get away with Merman as she was born Ethel Zimmerman and removed the "zim" from it when she went into show business. Merman who studied to be a stenographer found that for her , there was no business like show business, which became her signature tune.  Merman is best known for her Broadway performances in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy and Hello Dolly.  

 

Annie Oakley

Sharpshooting star Of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show

                                         Years lived before 1921: Sixty-one

                                         Years lived after 1921: Five

"There's no Business like Showbusiness" Merman's signature song was from "Annie Get Your Gun" which is a musical about the life of Annie Oakley. Born Phoebe Ann Mosley in 1860 the 6 of 9 children to a Quaker family in rural Ohio.  She learned to hunt and trap at an early age out of necessity due to their family's poverty. Annie was a skilled shooter and was known locally for her expertise with a gun.  She met her future Frank Butler  husband, a travelling sharpshooter  when she was beat him in a shooting match.  He began courting her after his defeat and they were married in 1882 and joined Buffalo Bills Wild West Show in 1885.

A TO Z Easter Eggs

A To  Z Extra

Ethel Merman 28 years of "There's No Business Like Show Business" at Dave Out Loud. A rousing video splicing multiple performances of Merman's signature song including an appearance on The Muppet Show. 

   After you've looked at the additional content on my other blogs head back to The A to Z challenge and  continue exploring. .  

                                                    

Ethel Merman 28 years of "There's No Business Like Show Business"

L is for Lincoln

 

Robert Todd Lincoln

                                                                Years Lived Before 1921: Seventy-Eight

                                                                Years Lived After 1921: Five

Robert Lincoln was the first child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln and the only one who survived past the age of 18. He served as secretary of War under James Garfield and then Chester A. Artur after Garfield's assassination.  In 1889 Lincoln became the U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom. He was the last U.S. minister to the U.K. His predecessor was the first U.S. ambassador to the U.K. Lincoln served 15 years as president of the Pullman Car Company after the death of George Pullman.

Lincoln was 21 when his father was assassinated and was present when his father died.  In his role as Garfield's Secretary of war he was a witness to Garfield's assassination. In 1901 Lincoln was in Buffalo attending the Pan-American exposition as part of his duties as President of Pullman when he witnessed the assassination of William McKinley.  

K is for Kid

In 1890, The Philadephia Quakers baseball team of the National League changed their name to the Philadephia Phillies and have been so for almost 125 years,  That 1990 team had not one but two players on it that are on my a to z challenge pf people living in 1921.  Neither of those players are remembered  for being baseball players.  One was Baseball player turned evangelist Billy Sunday who was featured here way back on April 2nd.  The other is William Jethro "Kid" Gleason who was the manager of the infamous 1919 Black Sox.  

              Kid Gleason

Years lived before 1921: Fifty-Five

Years lived after 1921: Twelve