 |
Margaret Bednar's archival family photograph - 1915 |
Admirable Women
Post victorian women,
sidesaddle adventurers,
educated and free.
Dared to partake, a bit,
in a man's world.
Exceptional individuals
who forged paths
mostly forgotten now
except in sepia images,
looking old fashioned and quaint.
But look closely and you will see
energy, determination and spirit.
Three qualities still valued today.
by Margaret Bednar,
03/01/2011, Art Happens
Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872. I have in my collection a number of photographs and a journal dating 1915. My grandmother traveled from Northern Illinois with a group of friends when she was a young lady to Yellowstone National Park to work for the summer. My grandmother is front and center on the mule.
The photo is a picture taken in the "Garden of the Gods" in Colorado Springs, Co. Click HERE to see google images of this amazing place. I'm thinking this might be a formation known as "balanced rock". The proportions are a bit off from what I can find on the website, but it has been over 100 years and maybe the elements have been at work.
In my very brief research, I found out that the song "America the Beautiful" was inspired by the beauty Katherine Lee Bates saw in 1893 while she journeyed in private wagon to the summit of Pikes Peak. Katherine Lee Bates was a long-time professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and lectured at the summer session at Colorado College.
This is the beginning post of my documenting her experience. I hope to post every Thursday and hook up with "Sepia Satudays" regularly.
1 comment:
That balancing rock looks like a rock in my grandparents mystery cross country trip. I bet they went to Yellowstone.
Post a Comment