Benita (McGinnis) McCormick – Page 6 – Many Branches, One Tree

Not So Wordless Wednesday: Much Ado about Benita, Part 2

Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Second of a two part series The caption, as written in Benita’s scrapbook, reads, “Me and my dog in the play.” Art Institute of Chicago, 1910. In 1910, two years after playing the male lead in the Girls’ Life Class production of Romeo and Juliet, my grand … Continue reading

Talented Tuesday: Much Ado about Benita, Part 1

Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Benita McGinnis, far right, in the title role in the Girls’ Life Class production of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Fullerton Hall, Art Institute of Chicago, 1908. To the ham go the parts. That seemed to be the case for my grand aunt Detty (Benita McGinnis), … Continue reading

Motivation Monday: Studying Under the Master of Art Nouveau

Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Alphonse Mucha at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, circa 1907 – 1909. Photograph from Benita (McGinnis) McCormick’s scrapbook. One of the photographs in my grand aunt Detty’s (Benita) scrapbook of memories was of her professor, Alphonse Mucha, whom she regarded highly and considered an … Continue reading

Lighthearted Days at the Art Institute of Chicago

Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Benita McGinnis experimenting with mirrors. She captioned this “Five ways to fun!” Circa 1908 – 1910 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, known more simply as the “Art Institute,” sought to give its students “a firm foundation for the professional practice … Continue reading

Not Standing in the Shadows

Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Benita McGinnis and her classmates in the 1908 Women’s Life Class of the Art Institute of Chicago were anything but shrinking violets. Women’s Life Class Party. Benita McGinnis is at top row, second from right. Art Institute of Chicago, 1908. From Benita (McGinnis) McCormick’s … Continue reading

Friday’s Faces from the Past: Keeping the Lion Warm on a Winter Day

Benita Elizabeth (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) My grand aunt Benita — Aunt Detty as our family knew her — kept a large scrapbook with fascinating photographs of her life and the people she knew. Among the photos was the one below of her classmates from the School of the … Continue reading

Encounters with a Legend

Benita Elizabeth (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Benita McGinnis, Chicago, Illinois, circa 1910 Passionate about art, my grand aunt Benita McGinnis had shown promise as a young artist. When she was still in her mid-teens, she was admitted to the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago in … Continue reading

Wishful Wednesday: A Father and Daughter’s Hopes and Dreams

Thomas Eugene McGinnis (1855 – 1927) Benita Elizabeth (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Sisters, Alice and Benita McGinnis, Chicago, Illinois, about 1905. I love this portrait of the young McGinnis sisters, which I found in my grand aunt Benita … Continue reading

Thankful Thursday: The End of the Breadcrumb Trail

Thomas Charles Gaffney (1874 – 1937) Cora Alice (Terrill) Gaffney (1879 – 1951) Agnes Evelyn (Gaffney) Johnson (1902 – 1977) Ernest F.W. Johnson (1900 – 1958) Last of a four part series Agnes Evelyn Gaffney Unlike her parents Thomas and Cora (Terrill) Gaffney, Agnes Evelyn (Gaffney) Johnson seems to have enjoyed a loving and stable marriage with … Continue reading

Wishful Wednesday: Happy and Not So Happy Endings

Thomas Charles Gaffney (1874 – 1937) Cora Alice (Terrill) Gaffney (1879 – 1951) Agnes Evelyn (Gaffney) Johnson (1902 – 1977) Third of a four part series I have copies of two photographs of my grand aunt and grand uncle, Benita (McGinnis) and Phillip C. McCormick on their engagement day in 1921. The pictures, taken in the back … Continue reading