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World War I
The war is officially named "World War 1", after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The first fifty years of my grandmother's life seemed to be tainted by some type of war. She often spoke of the wars and how they either emotionally or financially impacted her. -
Bonnie Quesnel
Bonnie Quesnel was born in Los Angeles, CA. The events of World War I impacted her life from the start. Her family was poor, due in part to the war and many of the efforts going to supporting the war. Her father did odd jobs to try and support the family while her mother stayed home to raise her and her sister. Her mother, a drunk, was mean and abusive to both of the girls. -
19th Ammendment
The 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, was a pivotal point in history and impacted my grandmother greatly, even though she was barely two when the Amendment passed. She NEVER missed an opportunity to vote, claiming it was "her right". -
Stock Market Crash
The Stock Market Crash was brutal on my grandmother. She recalled how her mother would boil potatoes and water every night for supper. They barely survived. She swore to herself that when she grew up she would make enough money to set aside for the "in just in case". She feared all her life another stock market crash. -
Long Beach Earthquake
She lived in Torrance, CA during the earthquake. She felt the tremors of the earthquake. The aftermath of this incident left my great grandmother in a state of panic because she thought it could have been her that died if she would have lived any closer. -
World War II begins
World War II affected my grandmother as it did many others. Her husband went to war, leaving her to cope with boredom. She started her job at Honeywell. When her husband returned from war, dismayed at her newfound financial freedom, he begrudgingly allowed her to stay in the workforce. WWII left him with severe PTSD, which in turn resulted in drinking and abuse. They divorced a few years after his return. -
Honeywell
Bonnie begin working at Honeywell when her husband went to World War II. She worked for Honeywell for forty years. The retirement that she received helped her financially in her later years. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Although this event happened well after my grandmother attended school, her strong stance in regards to any establishment remaining segregated remained firmly in tact. She opposed any type of desegregation, believing that "whites should remain with whites" and "blacks should remain with blacks". A fight in which she was involved with as a teenager with a Mexican teenager tainted her outlook on any ethnic groups being able to get along and intermingle with each other. -
Vietnam War
My great grandmothers son, Ralph Jr., was enlisted in the military. He left for Vietnam and came back a changed man. He never talked of any of the incidences to either one of his parents. He had horrible nightmares and begin drinking a lot. He had a massive heart attack and died in 1982. My great grandmother found my mother a year after his death. My mother only met her real dad twice but Bonnie was very close to him. My great grandmother told my mom how the war ruined "her boy". -
President John F Kennedy Assisinated
My mother recalls how my grandmother, a devout Catholic, mourned for days after John F Kennedy, also a Catholic, was assassinated. While the world was experiencing so much upheaval in regards to the Civil Rights Movement, the assassination provided yet another catastrophic event to all Americans. -
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr's assassination effected people in different ways. She told my mom, "I was getting my hair done when it happened." She confessed later in her life that all of these assassinations made her afraid for her own life. She feared getting shot. In her mind the death of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. also meant it fueled the hate of blacks towards the whites. She was convinced that "all black people hated me". -
Neil Armstrong
There were a lot of "first" during my great grandmothers lifetime, but none of them compared to the first time Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon. My great grandmother told me one day while I was bathing her, "I watched it on my little television. It was in black and white. We didn't have colored television screens back in those days." -
Bonnie Quesnel
My great grandmother died peacefully in her sleep in April of 2017. She was well loved by my mother and I. We took care of her the last few years of her life. She shared with us many stories, letters, and pictures of her life. -
World War II Museum in New Orleans
I visited the World War II Museum while on vacation. She instilled within me a curiosity for history. I spent four hours looking at pictures, reading letters, coming face to face with uniforms, purple hearts, jeeps, planes, and listening to personal stories. Knowing that my great grandmother lived through this part of history helped me understand her a little more. The picture I have attached to this makes me wonder if she wore this to work?
