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| Kathleen O'Boyle's wedding, 1960: Eva (2nd from left), Kathleen (3rd from left). CLICK TO ENLARGE. |
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| Eva Tanguay Dibbert (middle), daughter Frances (left), daughter Ruth (Kathleen's mother). |
Excerpts from my interview with Kathleen O'Boyle, granddaughter of Eva Tanguay. Interview conducted on October
21, 2011.
"I was born in
1941. My mother was Eva's daughter, Eva Ruth Holdsworth, but she went by Ruth. When I was young, we lived in Lawrence, at
209 Andover Street. But I have lived in Michigan for many years now."
"The last time I saw Grandma was about 1980. She was quite a stinker. She always had a cigarette in her mouth.
She loved to gamble. She was just full of the devil. We took our kids out to California in 1980. We visited my sister and
her husband. Our son Todd was about 15 years old. We spent some time with Grandma. One day we went to the zoo. We walked past
the chimpanzee cages, and one of them was shaking the cage like crazy. All of a sudden, he pooped in his hand and threw it
at Grandma. And she said to Todd: ‘Damn it. Pick it up and throw it right back at him.' Things would come out of her
mouth that were hilarious."
"She
was a wonderful seamstress. I got married in 1960, and she came to Michigan to make my bridesmaid dresses. When she moved
out to California, she worked in a bridal shop, and she sewed on all those tiny sequins and beads on wedding dresses."
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| Eva Tanguay Dibbert, 1975. |
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| Eva Tanguay, 1911. Photo by Lewis Hine. |
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| Published March 12, 1982. |
It is unlikely that Eva Tanguay remembered
being photographed by Lewis Hine; but if she did, she probably attached no significance to it. But she would have remembered
what came to be called the "Bread and Roses Strike," whose centennial will be commemorated in Lawrence in 2012.
Surely she would have heard or read at some point in her life about the strike and its historical importance. If she returned
to work at the Ayer Mill after the strike ended, her wages would have increased, thanks to the courage of her co-workers,
mostly women. Whatever role she played, however small, she made history; and thanks to Lewis Hine, we are now witness to that
fact.
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| New York Times, March 9, 1912. Continued at right. CLICK TO ENLARGE. |
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| CLICK TO ENLARGE. |
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