52 Ancestors: Week 12, Membership

The prompt for Week 12 of Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" is Membership. Since I should have written this during Women's History Month in March, let me mention three maternal ancestors and the organizations to which they belonged.

My maternal grandmother, Eugenia Marolewski, was a member of Mothers of World War II, Unit 125 from Immaculate Conception Church in South Chicago. For a few years she served as president of the group, as well as financial secretary of District 1. From newspaper items, it appesrs that this group was dedicated to supporting veterans. They visited local VA hospitals and provided cookies and gifts at Christmastime. The group welcomed mothers of those who served in World War II or Korea, as well as those who currently had children in the armed services. 

Grandma's sister-in-law, my grandpa Steve's sister Constance Norwich, once served as president of the American Legion Auxiliary South Chicago Unit 493. She was at one time national president of the Polish Legion of American Veterans, Ladies Auxiliary.

Grandpa and Grandma's daughter Henrietta (my aunt Hank) was a member of the Cadet Nurse Corps. A student at the Jackson Park Hospital School of Nursing, she joined the Corps in October 1944, and her service ended when she graduated in October 1947.

Wedding Wednesday - Mystery Marolewski Photo

It's Wedding Wednesday, as suggested by Carol at Reflections From the Fence. 

There's a photo on my maternal line that confuses me. Well, actually, lots of them confuse me. Many of the photos seem to be of a wedding, and depicting the happy couple. But then another photo will depict the same couple, but wearing different wedding garb. I'm concluding that one photo is actually of the couple's wedding, while another is of the couple standing up to someone ELSE'S wedding.

Here's a photo of my maternal grandmother, Eugenia Orbik, and my maternal grandfather, Steven Marolewski. I thought, "wedding photo." Nope.

This is their wedding photo. Different boutonniere for Grandpa; different dress for Grandma. (How did they get that bow on the young girl to stand so tall?)

The men's tuxes all seem to match. The women's dresses complement each other, but do not match.

I wish I had a wedding photo for my paternal grandparents; I've never seen one.
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Here we have what appears to be Eugenia's Holy Communion, although she looks pretty old for that. 

Note the large bow at the waist, and also her shoes. 

More flowers, occasion unknown. However, it appears as though Eugenia is older now. Note the same dress as in the supposed First Communion photo above, except that some of the features have been updated. The large bow is gone, and the sleeves may have been reworked. Also, she has lovely white high top boots. (This photo is on a heavier paper stock, and was torn in half when I got it.)

Next time, I'll share another photo that has me puzzled. Was it common practice for immigrants to re-stage their wedding once they arrived in the U.S.?


On a different note: Congressional hearings take place this week on the Social Security Death Index. It would be a blow if this valuable resource were inaccessible. See Occupy Genealogy on Facebook for information on what's happening with the SSDI, and how you can help.