Text: My great grandmother, Mary Ann Morahan was born in 1865 in New Jersey. Both her parents were born in Ireland and immigrated in the 1860s.
At 14, she worked as a servant. She married Geroge Johnson in 1885 and moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey. They had two boys and two girls.
Her husband sent the boys to college; they became engineers. Although he could afford it, he refused to pay for the girls to Elizabeth Normal School, the local teacher's.
She took home mattresses to sew in the parlor to earn the money to send the girls to school. Her husband was so embarrassed by the situation that he relented and paid for both daughters to go to college.
They were my great aunts Edna and Ella, who were school teachers until they retired.
Artist Statement: My mother did indeed tell me this story about her grandmother sewing mattresses. The story underscores the power of education and my great grandmother's determination for her daughters to have the same opportunities as her sons. She is just one of many strong-willed women in my family.
The pages are plaster and gauze, using the wire-edge method of binding (although it's bamboo skewers instead of wire).
4 comments:
Leslie, this is a lovely book and a wonderful story. I think our connections with women in our families is so important. I linked to this and another wire edge book from my "links" page, and sent links to the Bay Area Book Artists.
Thank you for your kind words. I am so impressed by your metal books; I saw them at the Jam last year (2007).
I wish I had more stories about my ancestors told to me by my parents and siblings. Unfortunatley I have very few so I have created my own blog just to share snippets about my life. I love to take photos but have not done so recently except for 'snap shots'. I am inspired by your books and your bird paintings!
fanatastic - I love your work!
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