Vidunas Family Research: Manhattan

Anne Vidunas Beretsky 1940s

1940 -- Census, Manhattan, New York City

1940

Anna Vidunas 1940 census
Manhattan Borough, NYC

Here we find her in Manhattan working Private Duty as a Registered Nurse. She's living with her roommate, Lillian Miller, who is also a Private Duty Nurse. They are both 23 years old, renting what might be an apartment. Neither one of them attend school anymore, but we see they had four years of college. Anna is from Pennsylvania, and Lillian is from Connecticut. Anna was living in Kingston in 1935.

In Other News:
1940 -- US Army appoints the First Black General; Colour Television opens our eyes
1941 -- The Manhattan Project begins, lasting four years (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

1940s Nurse Uniform pattern

(Robert and Cynthia, 2019)

1942

In Other News:
1942 -- magnetic recording tape is developed; Nuclear Reactor is first built (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

avatar_health077d Grandmasgraphics

(Nilsen, n.d.)

1945

19 February 1945, Death of brother Joseph A. Vidunas (my grandfather)

Her brother Joseph died on 19 February 1945, in Brachelen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, when Anne Mary was 27 years old. His Find a Grave memorial is here

1 Lt Joseph Vidunas, 1945
Find A Grave memorial 56304836

(War Graves, 2010)

26 August 1945, death of mother Mary Sadausky Vidunas Yorski

Her mother Mary passed away on 26 August 1945 in Kingston, Pennsylvania at the age of 60. Anne Mary was 28 years old. Her Find a Grave memorial is here

(Sheffler, 2019)

Harry S. Truman becomes the 33rd President of the United States

1945 - 1953 Harry S. Truman, 33rd President
(Wikipedia -- Truman, 2018)

President Truman Quote: -- "America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand" (Truman, 2018)

In Other News: -- United Nations meets for the first time; US drops the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; hypertext links things together (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

1946

Anne Mary Vidunas and George Beretsky II marry

Ok. So I know, somehow, that they married about this time. But I cannot for the life of me tell you how I KNOW they married. I don't have proof of any kind. If you know where I can find that proof, let me know by using the contact form on the right.

So, apparently I do have a tertiary form of proof that she was married before 11 June 1946 because of this little article. She is listed as living on Nesbitt street in Larksville. We will take a look at that address in the next post.

11 June 1946

(Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, The Evening News, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1946)

In Other News:
In 1946 -- The Bikini is barely there; The Cold War heats up
In 1947 -- India and Pakistan emerge from ex-British India; UN partitions Palestine to Jewish and Arab sections; Transistor is developed, leading to my first transistor radio (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

lady+liberty+vintage+graphicsfairy008c

(Nilsen, n.d.)

1948

17 July 1948, Birth of son Donald Beretsky

Donald is my First Cousin once removed. He was born in Kingston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. We will have that secondary proof in the next post.

In Other News:
1948 -- NATO is formed; Israel is inaugurated as a state; Arabs attack Israel on the same day it is inaugurated; 33 1/3 RPM musical recordings hit the turntable
1949 -- Apartheid policy is held in South Africa; Soviets detonate their first nuclear bomb; 45 RPM musical recordings also hit the turntables (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

Vintage-Wicker-Baby-Carriage-Image-GraphicsFairy

(Nilsen, n.d.)

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Resources

Nilsen, B. (n.d.). Grandma's Graphics Avatars. Retrieved December 12, 2019, from Grandmas Graphics: http://www.grandmasgraphics.com/OurTimelines.com. (2018). TimeLines. (Timelines courtesy of www.ourtimelines.com. Timeline formatting and technology copyright © 2000-2018 ourtimelines.com, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED under the Pan-American Conventions.) Retrieved from OurTimeLines.com: http://ourtimelines.com/

Robert and Cynthia. (2019, September 23). 40's Nurse Uniform or Costume Sewing Pattern ... 1940s McCall 7869. Retrieved December 11, 2019, from Edtsy -- PurplePlaidPenguin: https://www.etsy.com/PurplePlaidPenguin/listing/586021111/40s-nurse-uniform-or-costume-sewing?ref=listing_published_alert

Sheffler, C., & Sheffler, T. (2019, June 5). Find a Grave -- Mary V. Yorski. Retrieved December 11, 2019, from Find a Grave memorial 199786142: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/199786142/mary-v-yorski

The Wilkes-Barre Record, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (1945, August 27). Mary Sadausky Vidunas Yorski 1945 obituary. Retrieved December 11, 2019, from Newspapers.com: Newspapers.com

Truman, H. S. (2018). Harry S. Truman Quotes. Retrieved June 2018, from BrainyQuote: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/harry_s_truman

War Graves. (2010, August 6). 1Lt Joseph Vidunas (1 Oct 1911–19 Feb 1945), Find A Grave Memorial no. 56304836. Retrieved December 11, 2019, from Find A Grave memorial 56304836: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56304836

Wikipedia -- Truman. (2018). Harry S. Truman. Retrieved June 2018, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman

Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, The Evening News, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (1946, June 11). Anna Vidunas Beretsky 1946 meeting. Retrieved December 11, 2019, from Newspapers.com: Newspapers.com

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Anne Vidunas Beretsky 1930s

1930 -- Census, 20 Penn Street, Kingston PA
1935 -- Sodality Card Party

1930

Federal Census, 20 Penn Street, Kingston PA

20 Penn Street, Kingston PA

Here we find 13 year old Anna Vidunas living at 20 Penn Street with her mother and step-father Andrew Yorski, brothers Louis and John, and Louis' wife Frances and their two children Louis Jr and Dolores. That's eight people in what looks to be a very tiny house.

If you look at the family above the Vidunas/Yorski household, you find the Markelonis family. Martha is Mary Vidunas Yorski's sister who also immigrated from Lithuania. They lived in the other half of the duplex-type home.

According to Realtor.com, this property was built in 1930, and currently (as of 2010) has six bedrooms and two baths (Klug, 2010).

Vidunas/Yorski family in 1930
google maps

Vidunas Yorski family in 1930
20 Penn Street, Kingston PA
The red arrow is where Anne lived
Yellow is the Markelonis cousins
Google Maps street view, 2012

Historical Insight -- Sears, Roebuck and Company

Anne Mary Vidunas most likely read or shopped from the Sears catalog about this time.

The Sears, Roebuc catalog helped rural families
purchase goods unavailable or too expensive at general stores
Credit: Historic Catalogs of Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1896-1993/Ancestry.com
(Ancestry Historical Insight, 2018)

In 1886, about 65 percent of all Americans lived in rural areas and they were forced to pay high prices at local general stores. But Richard Sears, a railway agent, used his spare time to sell valuable commodities, such as jewelry, along his route (Ancestry Historical Insights, 2018).

Historical Insight -- The Great Depression

During the Great Depression, Anne Vidunas likely faced hardships like joblessness and scant resources while living in Kingston, Pennsylvania in 1930.

Dust storms wreaked havoc on farms across the American heartland, caused the closure of entire towns, and prompted hundreds of thousands to flee their homes for greener pastures along the West Coast. Many became migrant farmers in California (Ancestry Historical Insights, 2018).

April 1936, Cimarron County, Oklahoma
Credit: Arthur Rothstein/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
(Ancestry Historical Insights 2018)

Americans began withdrawing thier money from banks, causing them to fail. Industrial production came to a standstill and unemployment skyrocketed. Unable to pay their bills, hundreds of thousands of Americans became homeless (Ancestry Historical Insights, 2018).

How did this affect Anne? She was about 15 years old, going to school with her siblings.

1935 Sodality Card Party

The images below are of the party put on by the church's Sodality club. She was on the refreshment committee. If you look at the names, you see they are mostly Polish and Lithuanian names. The church was St. Mary's Lithuanian Church, we will see this church in a moment. First, we have to figure out what Sodality means.

(The Evening News, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1934)

(Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, 1934)

Sodality, according to the online dictionary, is "a confraternity or association, especially a Roman Catholic religious guild or brotherhood." According to Wikipedia, it is "... a form of the 'Universal Church' expressed in specialized, task-oriented [group] ...." (Wikipedia -- Sodality, 2019).

(The Evening News, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1934)

(The Wilkes-Barre Record, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1934)

In Other News:
In 1930 -- Pluto is discovered as our ninth planet -- for about 75 years ... Enjoy your status, Pluto!
In 1931 -- Chinese-Japanese war #2 is fought for about 2 years (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States

1933 - 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President
(FDR Presidential Library & Museum, 2018)

President Roosevelt Quote: -- "When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on!" (Roosevelt, 2018)

In Other News:
In 1933 -- Soviet Communist Party purge happens; Armstrong invents FM modulation; Radio Astronomy is developed
In 1934 -- The Longshoreman's Strike -- 35,000 men go on strike for 83 days -- that's a long time to go without food for those families (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

1935

Residence 20 Penn Street, Kingston PA

According to the 1940 census (which we will get to in the next post), Anne was living in Kingston at this time. However, we also have newspaper clippings and yearbook to establish this!

(The Evening News, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1935)

(The Wilkes-Barre Record, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1935)

Anne M. Vidunas graduates from Kingston High School

(Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1935)

1935 Kingston High School yearbook

(Kingston High School Senior Class, 1935)

1935 Kingston High School

(Kingston High School Senior Class, 1935)

Anne M. Vidunas, Senior Portrait
At last I have a photo

(Kingston High School Senior Class, 1935)

In Other News:
in 1935 -- The Dust Bowl event scours middle America; Abyssinian war against Italy lasts for about a year -- they lost
In 1936 -- King Edward VIII (Windsor) begins his -- very short -- reign; Spanish Civil war occurs in which the republican government loses to the Facists ; Helicoptor takes off; The King dies, and King George VI (Windsor) begins, lasting for 16 years (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

1937

(The Wilkes-Barre Record, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1927)

This tiny little piece indicates that Anne Vidunas was visiting her mother Mary Sadausky Vidunas Yorski and her stepfather Andrew Yorski at 20 Penn Street in Kingston PA. Then she went back to nursing school at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC.

We've already seen this home address above, in the 1930 census. Let's look at Mt. Sinai Hospital

Mount Sinai Hospital, Manhattan NYC New York
Google Maps

In Other News:
In 1937 -- Nylon is developed by DuPont; Chinese-Japanese War #3 starts, lasting for about 8 years, with China winning. (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

http://ourtimelines.com/hpages/zcjwar3.html

1938

From the book The Forty-Seven Hundred

(Nowak, 1981)

In Other News: -- Germany annexes Austria (OurTimelines.com, 2018)

1939

1930s Nurse shoes

(Nienaber, 2013)

In Other News: -- Aircraft Jet Engine is invented by Ohain, leading to my father's job as jet mechanic in the USAF; Digital Computer is developed; World War II starts, and the US will join the fight in another couple of years (OurTimelines.com, 2018)