Maranzani, Barbara, “7 Things You May Not Know About the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair,” History in the Headlines, History. history.com/news/7-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-1893-chicago-worlds-fair
World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago Historical Society. chicagohs.org/history/expo.html
Opening the Vaults: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair, The Field Museum. worldsfair.fieldmuseum.org
THE GIANT SQUID
Once thought to be mermen or sea monks, photographs had been taken proving the existence of giant squids by the time Cuddy’s uncle saw one in Newfoundland. Because they’re so elusive, however, we still don’t know much about them, which makes them all the more fascinating.
Roper, Clyde, et al., “Giant Squid,” Ocean Portal, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. ocean.si.edu/giant-squid
OPTICAL ILLUSIONS
When we view optical illusions, our brains are tricked into seeing something that isn’t actually there. Often confusing, sometimes unbelievable, and almost always lots of fun, optical illusions teach us about how our brains work.
“Lots and Lots and Lots of Illusions,” National Institute of Environmental Health Science. kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/illusions/lots_of_illusions.htm
Orwig, Jessica, “10 mind-melting optical illusions that will make you question reality,” Business Insider. sciencealert.com/10-mind-melting-optical-illusions-that-will-make-you-question-reality
And here are some optical illusions from the 1800s:
Livewire Puzzles. puzzles.ca/optical_illusions.html
The best part about research is stumbling upon things you don’t know and want to know more about. For even more information about research, writing, and Stan, visit my website, alisondecamp.com.
IMAGE CREDITS
Author’s personal collection
1.5, 1.6 (left, center, and right), 1.8, 1.9, 2.5, 2.10, 3.Title, 3.3, 3.5, 3.11, 4.3 (right), 5.3, 5.11 (left), 6.Title, 6.1, 6.2, 6.5, 7.2, 7.4 (bottom), 7.6, 8.2, 8.5, 9.Title, 9.1, 9.2, 10.1, 10.4, 10.5, 11.2, 13.Title, 13.1, 15.3 , 16.1, 17.2 (right), 18.5, 18.7, 18.8, 18.12, 19.Title, 20.1 (left), 21.Title, 21.2, 25.2, 25.5, 28.3, 28.6, 28.7 (top and bottom), 28.8 (top and bottom), 28.9, 29.2, 30.Title, BM2.1, BM2.2
Boston Public Library
2.8, 3.7, 3.15 (right), 3.19, 3.20, 4.Title, 4.2, 4.3 (center), 5.1, 5.2, 5.5, 5.7, 5.10 , 5.11 (right), 7.Title, 7.1, 7.4 (top), 8.Title, 8.6, 8.8, 8.10, 8.11, 9.3, 10.Title, 10.3, 10.7, 11.Title, 11.5, 12.3, 12.4, 12.6, 13.2, 15.2, 17.Title, 17.5, 17.6, 20.3, 21.4, 23.Title, 23.3 (bottom), 24.2, 24.5, 25.4, 26.1, 26.2, 28.Title, 28.2
British Library
2.3, 2.7, 3.2, 3.10, 3.14, 5.Title, 8.7, 12.1, 14.2, 15.5 (right), 18.4, 25.3, 26.Title
General public domain
2.6, 2.9, 3.17, 8.9, 15.Title, 15.1, 16.2, 17.3, 18.Title, 18.2, 18.10, 19.1, 20.1 (right), 20.2, 20.4, 22.Title (right), 22.1, 23.1, 23.2 (bottom), 24.1, 24.4, 25.1, 28.4, 29.3
George Eastman House
1.10, 3.6, 4.1 (left), 4.3 (left), 14.Title, 22.Title (left), 23.3 (top), 28.1
Library of Congress
1.Title (bottom), 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.7, 1.11, 1.12, 1.13, 2.Title, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.11, 3.1, 3.4, 3.8, 3.9, 3.12, 3.13, 3.15 (left), 3.16, 3.18 (left), 3.18 (right), 3.21, 4.1 (right), 4.4, 5.4 (left and right), 5.6, 5.8, 5.9 , 5.12, 6.3, 6.4 (left and right), 7.3, 7.5, 7.7, 8.1, 8.3, 8.4, 10.2, 10.6, 10.8, 11.1, 11.3, 11.4, 12.Title, 12.2, 12.5, 13.3, 13.4, 14.1, 14.3, 14.4, 14.5, 15.4, 15.5 (left), 15.6, 16.Title, 17.1, 17.2 (left and center), 17.4 ,18.1, 18.3, 18.6, 18.9, 18.11, 20.Title, 21.1, 21.3 (top and bottom), 21.5, 23.2 (top), 23.4, 24.Title, 24.3, 25.Title, 27.Title, 27.1, 28.5, 28.10, 29.Title, 29.1, 30.1
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
1.Title (top)
Wellcome Library, London
1.1
Alice (my mother’s mother)
Somehow I won the jackpot in the awesome grandmothers contest, which is a contest that doesn’t actually exist, but I feel like I’ve won it anyway.
It’s not a coincidence that Stan’s mother’s is named Alice. Just like Alice in the book, my grandmother Alice married at the ripe old age of fifteen and had my uncle Stan a year later. And then she was basically on her own to raise him. She did an incredible job, even making sure he attended Michigan Agricultural College (now known as Michigan State University), where he graduated with a degree in engineering. By this time Alice had married my grandfather and had my mother, Joan.
Even though Alice had very little education herself, attending college was nonnegotiable for both her son and daughter. Alice’s thinking was if you educate the man, you educate the man, but if you educate the woman, you educate the family. Alice also wanted her daughter to be able to support herself if need be. She was a feminist way ahead of her time.
Marie (my father’s mother)
My grandmother Marie also valued an education. After high school, she approached her father about attending secretarial school, and he said absolutely not—women should be in the home, not in the workforce. Fortunately, Marie didn’t listen. Instead, she worked and sent herself to school in Ypsilanti, Michigan. After graduation she answered an ad for a secretarial job in South America. On her way to board the ship, she stopped in Florida and ended up staying there, eventually meeting my grandfather Otto.
Marie never stopped working; she wasn’t content staying at home, and rather than marrying someone like her father, she chose a man who valued her strength and intelligence. This was a woman who drove herself to the hospital when it was time to deliver her first baby, and loved reading so much that she spent precious money on the Book-of-the-Month Club.
I see a lot of these women in Geri and Mad Madge, and it’s what I love about them—women who won’t take no for an answer. I also love Stan’s begrudging admiration for the women in his life—whether he quite realizes it or not, he’d be lost without them. These are women who ignore insecure men who are too small-minded to see their worth. My grandmothers’ example is the reason my sister and I always believed we could do anything and be anything. It’s why I’m a writer and my sister is a world-renowned expert in milk quality (it’s a real thing!). It’s why my brother married another strong woman. And it’s why you, whether you’re a boy or a girl, should believe you can do anything and be anything, too.
© Erin Summerill
Alison DeCamp is a graduate of Michigan State University and a former middle and high school language arts teacher. She spends her time with her husband and teenage children; working at Between the Covers, a bookstore in Harbor Springs, Michigan; visiting schools; and writing (of course). You can find her online at alisondecamp.com.
My Near-Death Adventures Page 15
