Abstract:
This thesis documents the life and times of my paternal grandmother, Mary Alwayne Bartolet from October 1926, when she was born, until the present. In addition to discussing her fascinating life, it will put that life in a historical context, focusing on the events and trends of the 19206-1950s as she moved from childhood to life as a young woman. Her story includes a very conservative religious background and a stormy rebellion against that upbringing, as she became a part of the New York "jet set" in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Although in many ways she experienced an unrepresentative life for a young Midwesterner, her trajectory can tell us much about American family values and ideals of mobility in the mid twentieth century.
