I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.
I began this project back on February 16, 2009. Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe and share their family history documents.Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.
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This week I transcribe a newspaper article describing a 1922 automobile accident involving a distant cousin.
The Evening World (Thurs, Aug 10, 1922) page 3
Five Girls Hurt When Wild Auto Runs Into Them
Machine Had Sidewiped Another and Leaped to Newark Sidewalk
Five girls were hurt, one of them seriously, when two automobiles sideswiped, one of them crashing into a group of girls on their way to work at Monmouth Street and Waverly Avenue, Newark, to-day.
Miss Frieda Rasnick, sixteen, of No. 80 Monmouth Street, is in the Newark City Hospital suffering from cuts, shock and internal injuries. Two others are in the Beth Israel Hospital suffering from shock and body bruises. They are Miss Eva Fige, eighteen, of No. 32 Avon Place, and Miss Cecilia Cruvant, seventeen, of No. 28 Avon Place.
The girls were pinned against the brick wall of a factory building by the car of Dr. Harry Simon of No. 119 Spruce Street, when Simon lost control of the machine and drove onto the sidewalk. The other car was owned and operated by Abraham Karetnick of No. 17 Quitman Street, Newark.
The two other girls injured by Simon's car ran off and their names were not learned by the police.
Karetnick told police he was driving west on Waverly Avenue and Dr. Simon was going north on Monmouth Street when they sideswiped. Both men are being held pending the outcome of the Rasnick girl's injuries.
Miss Celia Eisenberger, seventeen, of 22 Hillside Place, Newark, walked into the Fourth Precinct Station House, cut and bruised and wearing a dress torn almost to shreds. She told the police she was one of the two girls who ran from the scene of the accident after she had been pineed against the wall by Dr. Simon's car.
Dr. Simon, under arrest at the station, dressed a number of cuts and bruises which the girl sustained in the accident. She said she had gone home, but had later decided to go to the police to report the accident. She returned home after her wounds were dressed.
The following day, the story appeared in the German-language New Yorker Volkszeitung Aug 11, 1922 edition, page 2.
1. I share the German language newspaper image without transcription, but it's clear they identify Cecelia Cruvant as age 14. While that seems young to be on her way to work, who's correct? According to her 1994 entry in the SSDI, Celia Kruvant Feld was born in 1905, so in 1922 she would have been 17. She was the second cousin of my paternal grandfather. It was my belief that her branch of the family consistently spelled their surname with an initial-K, but perhaps it wasn't so consistent. Or the newspaper got the spelling incorrect, which wasn't uncommon.
2. I like how the newspaper notes that the doctor involved in the accident helped dress the cuts and bruises of one of the girls at the police station. It should be noted that there were two drivers involved, and the newspaper account is careful not to place blame.
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1 comment:
Interesting article. One of my great grandfathers died when hit by a car in 1932. Ironically the driver worked at an auto dealership.
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