Isadora Duncan

Isadora Duncan,

The Mother of Modern Dance

May 27, 1877 - September 14, 1927

Isadora Duncan lived in the United States, Russia, and Western Europe from age twenty-two until she died. She studied ballet, and eventually created 'Modern Dance'- a way to show beauty- unlike that of ballet.

Isadora taught that the body was meant to show the beauty of itself through dance. Instead of placing her dancers in ballet slippers or Pointe shoes, she had them dance barefoot; instead of placing them in tutus and leotards, she placed them in tunics and flowing dresses.

Isadora Duncan performing

She moved to Europe in 1899, settling eventually in Paris after a year in London. During her time in Paris, she had an affair with set designer Edward Gordon Craig. Her daughter Dierdre was born in 1905; her son, Patrick was born a couple years later, the result of an affair with the Singer sewing machine heir, Paris Singer. She started several schools of dance in Germany, London and Paris.

Unfortunately, both of her children- along with their governess- died in a tragic drowning in 1913, when their car rolled into the Seine. In 1920, she went to Moscow and opened a school of dance. She married a Russian poet in 1922, and on tour in America, they were labeled Bolshevik agents. In '25, he committed suicide.

Isadora and Sergei Yesenin, her poet husband

She moved back to France, and settled in Nice. In '27, her autobiography, My Life, was published. On September 14, 1927, Isadora was strangled to death when her long silk scarf got caught in the spoked wheel of a motorcar. It not only strangled her, it broke her neck. She was fifty.

The dancer of the future will be one whose body and soul have grown so harmoniously together that the natural language of that soul will have become the movement of the human body. The dancer will not belong to any nation but to all humanity."
–Isadora Duncan



Louisa May Alcott

Second in my Strong Historical Woman of the Day Series:

Louisa May Alcott

Author of Little Women

November 29, 1832 - March 8, 1888

The authoress of the classic novel about the four March sisters during the War Between the States is second to grace my series. Louisa May Alcott is one that has written some of the most beloved stories in children's literature, and- having had the opportunity to portray her- she holds as complex a story as Lewis Carroll or C.S. Lewis.

Born on November 29, 1832, Louisa May was the second child of Bronson Alcott and his wife May. Unlike her older sister Anna- who was blue-eyed and blonde- Louisa was dark-haired and dark-eyed, born on her father's birthday.

Raised in Boston and Concord under the teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, Louisa grew to love nature, and the creativity it inspired. She spent many an hour writing plays and stories, acting them out with her sisters Anna, Beth, and May in the woods. When the war broke out, the Alcotts were forced into poverty, and it was then that Louisa's artistic talent as a writer became truly important.

At sixteen, Louisa left Orchard House in Concord and moved to Boston, striking out on her own in order to write and sell her work. She survived on meager writing salaries, writing under pen names for magazines, always sending something of her pay back to her family.

Louisa's Chamber where she wrote Little Women

Orchard House

Another view of the Iconic Orchard House

Much like Jo, Louisa was every ounce the tomboy, prefering to climb trees and run barefoot over darning socks and cooking. She could not be friends with boys until 'I had beaten him in a race, and no girl if she refused to climb trees and leap fences...'

She declared that she would be rich, famous and happy before she died, and that she would do anything to help her family survive. She looked on Anna for wanting nice things, when they couldn't even afford food at times. She regarded May as the spoilt child of the family, and Lizzie as the sweet angel among them.

In May of 1860, Anna married John Pratt, who she had fallen in love with playing opposite in a play. The wedding of Meg marrying John in Little Women is a direct replica of Anna's wedding- including Lizzie resting during the reception.

Anna Alcott Pratt,

the inspiration for Meg March

At this point, like in the novel, Lizzie was weakened by scarlet fever. Having caught it from a family her mother was helping, Lizzie languished for days as her system weakened in 1856. She recovered, but, like Beth in the novel, eventually- and literally- wasted away in 1858.

Regarded as "Little Tranquility" by Bronson, Lizzie was content to play the piano and darn socks. She found simple comforts in life at home, and was Louisa's "better self." Lizzie died on March 14, 1858, finally leaving the pain she had suffered for two years.

Elizabeth Sewall Alcott,

the inspiration for Beth March

We seem to get a sense from Louisa's diary entry that she was both releaved and heartbroken over Lizzie's passing, and that the death of her younger sister brought a cloud of grief over everyone within Orchard House.

"My dear Beth died at three in the morning after two years of patient pain. Last week she put her work away, saying the needle was too heavy ... Saturday she slept, and at midnight became unconscious, quietly breathing her life away till three; then, with one last look of her beautiful eyes, she was gone."

- Louisa's Diary, March 14, 1858

Louisa also shared artistic talent with her youngest sister May, who went to Paris in 1868- due to Little Women's success- and there, married a Swiss businessman she met. She settled there in late 1868, and in 1869, had a daughter.

May Alcott Nieriker,

 the inspiration for Amy March

Sadly, May, like Lizzie, would die young- six weeks after her daughter was born. She requested that Louisa care for the baby, and Louisa gratefully obliged. The authoress nicknamed the child Lulu, and raised her until her death in 1888.

Louisa returned to Orchard House in early '68, now a paid writer. She was approached by her publisher, who asked her to "write a book for girls." At first, Louisa refused, saying that she did not want to write a children's book, that she wanted to be remembered for novels and inspirational characters. Little did she know that she would be remembered for perhaps the most beloved girl's book- and most inspirational character- of her career.

In truth, the only reason she wrote Little Women at all, was because Bronson approached her and handed her an ultimatum: write the book, and survive, or don't write the book, and perish.

She had no choice.

She concieved and turned out the book in incriments; harder to write than most of her other works, Louisa most likely drug her feet througout the whole process. When she finally finished and sent if off to her publisher, she had no expectations of getting it published.


The 1926 cover of Little Women

The novel about the March sisters' coming of age during the Civil War was an instant success. It secured the Alcott's finances for the next few years, along with the sequels, Little Men and Jo's Boys.

Louisa despised the book, and the fact that she would forever be known as the authoress of a "children's book." However, she gave Jo the one thing she never got in life- a happy ending.

At the end of Little Women (now combined with the sequel Good Wives), Jo marries Professor Friedrich Bhaer, and they open Plumfield Estate School for Boys. They also have two sons of their own.

There is also one summer that is not accounted for in Louisa's life- the summer of 1855. No information has been found, leaving a whole host of possibilites to be interpreted. As such, with no information, books themselves have been written about Louisa, and all fill in their own possiblity concerning that "lost summer."

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

by Kelly O'Connor McNees

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott chronicles a possible love affair between the famed Little Women authoress and Joseph Singer, a young man living in a small town in New Hampshire. It shows the struggle Louisa faces between choosing love or a career as an author. Though we all know what she chose, it's still nice to imagine the possibility of a love affair for a woman who wrote happy endings for her beloved characters, but forgot the happy ending for herself.

Louisa May died on March 8, 1888, two days after her father died. Seeing as she and her father were always at constant ends- he wished her to be more like Anna, she was too tomboyish and outspoken- it is somewhat ironic that she followed her father in death. Bronson died on the 6th of March; what is even more ironic- and even borders on creepy- is that both Bronson and Louisa shared the same birthday: November 29.

Having worked as a nurse during the War Between the States, it was assumed then that she had contracted poisoning from the use of mercury during a bout of typhoid. Others have suggested she died from complications ranging from stroke to lupus. However, her last words were,

"Is it not meningitis?"

The Grave of Louisa May Alcott

She is a resident of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, particularly Author's Ridge- along with Nathaniel Hawthorne and her childhood mentors, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Orchard House- the place where Little Women was created- has since been turned into a museum, left perfectly intact, since its days as the home of the Alcotts. She has contributed the most children's literature of any other author- over 30 novels and short stories in all.

"My book came out; and people began to think that topsy-turvy Louisa would amount to something after all ..."
- Louisa May Alcott

Maria Eva Duarte de Peron

The first in my Strong Historical Woman of the Day Series:

Maria Eva Duarte de Peron,

First Lady of Argentina

(4 June 1946 - 26 July 1952)

7 May 1919 - 26 July 1952

Ask someone who Eva Peron was, and they'll most likely say, "Who?"

Ask that same person who Evita was, and- if they're a theater freak, or even if they aren't- they'll probably respond, "The lady that musical is based on."

Ask a true scholar or historian, and 9 times out of 10, they'll say, "Eva Peron, otherwise known as Evita to the world, was the First Lady of Argentina."

The only reason most people know who Evita was, is because of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1970s musical titled Evita, a two-act stage show that chronicles the political, personal- and short- life of Eva Duarte, the simple country girl from Los Toldos Provence of Buenos Aires, who would become the powerful woman known throughout Latin America- and the world- as Evita.

 And while that is good, it also gives over most of the real life of Eva Peron to legend- a legend that has grown since the production of the film in '79, and the movie starring Madonna in '96. Countless books, documentaries, and movies have been made about or concerning Eva Peron, but most- if not all- feed a good majority of detail into the neverending legend that is the First Lady of Argentina.

Having studied and researched Eva Peron myself (as a Chautauquan, I have portrayed her for Spanish classes, as well as for the kids I mentor and countless other audiences), I've found that it's difficult to often seperate the mythology from the reality. I also find myself drawing scary parallels between not only Evita- but other persons I've portrayed- and myself. But that is beside the point.

The youngest of five children, the illegitimate child who would become the Argentine First Lady, was born on 7 May 1919 in Los Toldos. After her father, Juan Duarte, was killed in a car crash in '26, it is stated that Eva and her family were refused access to the church to pay their respects at the funeral, yet versions of this account differ.

In 1935, at age 16, Eva decided that she would become an actress, partially because she enjoyed being onstage. "Even as a little girl I wanted to recite. I was as though I wished to say something to others, something important which I felt in my deepest heart (pg. 21 of La Razon de Mi Vida, The Reason for My Life)." By this point, the family had since moved to Junin (in 1930), and not long after deciding this, Eva left Junin for Bueno Aires.

Eva started off as a model, doing small modeling gigs, before moving to radio and eventually becoming an actress in B-films. Over the next several years, she would continously bounce back and forth between radio, film and stage.

It wouldn't be until 1944, when a radio show brought on by a disaster, would bring her into the path of Colonel Juan Domingo Peron. At a charity event held to raise money for victims of the San Juan earthquake, Eva was one of the celebrities; Peron the one who organized the event. I imagine it was probably love at first sight- or maybe lust.

In 1945, after a year of being with him, Peron resigned from the positions he held in the militarian government, and was taken into custody to an island off the coast of Buenos Aires. A strike ensued, and he was finally returned to Buenos Aires, the people, and Eva. They married in December of that year, and Peron was handed the presidental ticket days later.

It was during that campaign and later election, that the woman formerly known as Eva Duarte would become Eva Duarted de Peron- although Argentina and the rest of the world would simply know her as Evita.

Peron won the election in 1945; this in turn not only gave Argentina a new look on life, but it also gave Eva a chance to become the person who would be the stuff of legends, operas, films, and countless books: Evita.

A girl from humble origins, she despised the oligarchs (the rich), and felt for the working man and his family because she had lived like them. She started foundations for children, gave women the right to vote, got rid of the upper class completely, and became a saint for her descamisados.

She became an icon- fashionably, internationally, locally- that others in the world despised and the Argentines loved. The iconic 'Rainbow Tour' that's shown within the stage production and film of Eva going from country to country in Europe in order to build and strengthen ties with other political leaders was not taken from myth; accounts of her visiting Spain, Italy and various other countries in the so-called 'Rainbow Tour' give insight into how one woman could capture the whole world.

Eva in Spain

She seemed to dazzle all leaders she came in contact with, except- and to use the lyrics from 'Rainbow Tour' from the musical- Italy, who "equate Peron with Mussolini. Can't think why." Even though, by this time, Benito Mussolini was dead- he'd been strung up by the end of World War II, along with his mistress and several allies.

And, in truth, Peron was not only a President, but also a dictator- not as bad as Hitler or Mussolini, but a dictator just the same. No one, however, used that term for the man who had changed Argentina for the better. Although some would say he was no better than either Mussolini or Hitler.

America and England were not on the Rainbow Tour, and Evita most likely would have been laughed at, had she actually gone to both countries. But by that time, her health was beginning to decline; she returned triumphant to Argentina.

But despite her charity work and foundations, she eventually became considered an icon of fascist dictatorship, when in 1950, over 3,000 railroad workers were fired for rioting. Peron saw no other choice but to bring the military into the situation when it got worse.

Dictatorship took control of Argentina in that time, with Peron as the head and, as some would say, Evita as the neck. The great country began to assert itself in the world, with the Peronist party at the forefront; the oligarchs were gone, and things seemed to be looking up for the people.

Eva Peron's Missing Jewels, Located in Italy

Yet, it was known that Eva would spend copious amounts of money on clothing and jewelry; she would squander away mass amounts of money into bank accounts across the world, all the while doing good deeds.

In '51, Peron decided to run for re-election, and Evita, now having reached the peak of her power as First Lady, considered and decided to run as Vice-President. It was also at this time, that Evita was diagnosed with cervical cancer. After a hysterectomy, and with her health rapidly declining, she eventually decided against running for VP, and in a formal statement given on the balcony of the Casa Rosada, she told the Argentine people that she was turning down the bid for VP.

At this point, her cancer had returned, weakening her further. By 1952, Peron had won his second term, and Evita was so weak she could no longer stand without help. She dropped to 36 pounds, and was unable to stand and deliver a speech without Peron holding her up.

The "Spiritual Leader of the Nation" was growing weaker and weaker with each passing day. She gave her last public appearance just days before taking to her bed. On 26 July 1952, at 8:25 p.m., Eva "Evita" Peron, passed away surrounded by her family at the young age of 33.

The whole country mourned the death of the First Lady. She was embalmed and put on display so that the people could see her, and later, placed in a public tomb.

It has been discovered, decades after Evita's death, that the dieing First Lady had a lobotomy to relieve pressure and pain. 'A prefrontal lobotomy is a procedure in which the fibers that connect the prefrontal and frontal lobes to the thalamus are severed. The thalamus is a mass of gray matter in the brain that sends sensory impulses to the cerebral cortex..... treatment of last resort for cases like Evita's, where someone was suffering from intractable pain (http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=eva+peron+lobotomy&view=detail&id=2578F295C0E195CC9C0558B6F841271B60EAA639&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR)'

Embalmers worked in order to preserve the precious corpse of the First Lady; great care was taken to make sure she was perfectly preserved. Even today, I'm sure, the Sleeping Beauty of Latin America looks just as youthful now as she did in 1952 when she passed away.

In '55, after being overthrown, Peron fled to Spain, and Evita's corpse was stolen. For 16 years, it was missing, only to be returned to the people of Argentina in '71. Peron and the corpse- which had resided in Italy for 16 straight years under an assumed name- returned to Argentina in '73. Peron again took office, but later died of a heart attack one year into his third term- '74.

Isabel Peron- Peron's third wife- had both Evita's and Peron's bodies displayed in Buenos Aires before Evita was buried in the Duarte family tomb, under a series of secret compartments. Peron was buried in a cemetery in Buenos Aires, but not before his hands were sawed off and held for ransom in '87.

Since her death, Evita has faded more and more into the category of legend than of actual person. She has become a symbol of hope, hatred, faith, love, lust, fear, and promise for her people. In actuality, she was a complex woman, hungry for power, desperate for control, and willing to stop at nothing and no one to get what she wanted.

She was the face of Fascism; took control of a country with promises and half-fulfilled deeds, worked the strings of the man she stood next to on the balcony, and whispered the rules within his ear. But she was also strong and resilient as she faced Death, putting on a brave front for her people as she faded away and her body gave out on her. And when she finally passed on, the whole country mourned her.

Her funeral and procession held an air of Diana's; loved by the people, she was from the people, for the people, much like Diana was. But the two women divirge dramatically there. Diana was 'The People's Princess'; Evita, 'The Spiritual Leader of the Nation.'

Although both Diana and Evita, were gone too soon.

"I have only one valuabe possession; it is held in my heart, it burns in my soul, it abides in my flesh, and aches in my nerves: it is the love that my people have for me." — Eva Peron

2 World Trade Center, South Tower

2 World Trade Center, South Tower is on the right, 1 World Trade Center, North Tower, the left the South Tower.

The smoke from the impact of Flight 175 striking 2 World Trade Center.

The South Tower was struck at 9:02 a.m. by United Airlines Flight 175, between floors 77 and 85. Unlike the North Tower, not many photos of the South Tower's gaping holes or stranded employees are out for all to see.

The most memorable images of the South Tower are perhaps the ones before the plane's impact, ones of it burning, the collapse, and of course, the jagged wall of steel still standing once the tower has been obliterated to dust.

2 World Trade Center, South Tower, the second hit, and the first to collapse.

The South Tower as it begins to collapse. No one at or above the impact zone- floors 77 to 110- survived the collapse of the tower.

The skeletal remains of 2 World Trade Center, South Tower, days after they fell. Unlike 1 World Trade Center, North Tower, the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. After 56 minutes and 2 seconds, the South Tower fell, the second to be hit, and the first to fall.

Flight 175

United Airlines Flight 175.

2 World Trade Center South Tower was struck at 9:02 a.m. by United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, between the 77th and 85th floors. It killed all onboard the plane on impact, and several on the floors.

United Airlines Flight 175 as it makes it way towards 2 World Trade Center.

Much like Flight 11, those that boarded 175- the 9 crew members and 51 unsuspecting passengers- didn't know that they would also make history by crashing into 2 World Trade Center.

Among the victims:

Reverand Francis Grogan, who gave comfort to those on the plane before impact.

 ".... I think we are going down. I think they intend to go to Chicago or someplace and fly into a building. Don't worry, Dad. If it happens, it'll be very fast....Oh my God... oh my God, oh my God."
- Last call made by passenger Peter Hanson to his father, before the plane impacted into the South Tower.

The Hanson family were on their way to L.A. for a vacation and visit with family when the plane struck the tower.

The aftermath of the impact of Flight 175 striking the South Tower, minutes after the North Tower was struck.

A portion of the jet engine from United Airlines Flight 175 in the intersection between Murray and Church Streets.

1 World Trade Center, North Tower

The "Twin Towers" of the World Trade Center. The North Tower is on the left, the South Tower on the right.

1 World Trade Center North Tower (with the antenna), not long after being struck by American Airlines Flight 11.

Struck at 8:46 a.m., it took almost two hours, or 102 minutes, for the North Tower to burn and then collapse. The impact zone was between floors 93 and 99. One of the most memorable shots from 9/11, is the famous 'Waving Woman of the World Trade Center.'

As for the 'Waving Woman's' identity, people have suggested that she may have been Edna Cintron:

Edna Cintron was a 46-year-old  administrative assistant for Marsh & McLennan brokerage firm.

Another of the famous 9/11 shots of the North Tower shows people- most likely employees from the investment banking/financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald, who lost 658 people- leaning out the windows of the building, trying desperately to get air.

It's impossible to imagine being surrounded by smoke filtering into the offices above the impact zone, and the only way to get even a breath of fresh air, is to press against the windows of the office, eventually becoming stacked like sardines in the windows. Now imagine doing that in the windows of the 106th or 110th floor...

"You're able to see more and more people assembling at the windows as time is passing, not only assembled but they're stacked up against each other. Imagine leaning out of the hundredth and ninth floor of the World Trade Center, no rational person would do that."
    - Eric Lipton, New York Times reporter

The first official victim of the September 11th attacks, was Father Mychal Judge, chaplain of the New York City Fire Department. While giving last rites to another victim, Father Judge was killed by falling debris, and later carried out by firefighters of the department he was chaplain of.

                    Father Mychal Judge             
       (May 11, 1933 - September 11, 2001)
         Photograph by Shannon Stapleton.

As the tower became engulfed in flame and smoke, people on the floors above the impact zone- 91 to 110- began moving to the windows. It's not impossible to imagine what the choices were to the ones trapped on the floors above the impact zone: suffocate and burn up, or jump. It's no surprise that those that chose to jump- "jumpers" as firefighters working that day catagorized them- in a most likely desperate, final attempt to take back some control of their lives, and choose how they would die.

One of the most haunting images of "jumpers" is perhaps that of the 'Falling Man' by photographer Richard Drew:

The man appears symmetrical; he divides the towers, the North on the left, the South on the right. He appears so calm, so accepting of his fate, that it's scary.

"I just remember looking up, thinking, how bad is it up there that the better option is to jump?”
-   Joe Casaliggi, NYFD, Engine 7, 9/11 documentary

Those that jumped fell in 10 seconds, and hit the ground at 150 miles an hour- a fall that doesn't cause instant unconsiousness, but does kill quickly and instantly on impact with the pavement or whatever they landed on. The majority were from Cantor Fitzgerald (floors 101 to 105), Marsh & McLennon (93 to 100) and the Windows of the World restaurant (floors 106 and 107).

Everyone from the 90th floor up to 110th floor perished when the North Tower collapsed- either by jumping or suffocating or being crushed as the towers fell.

The collapse of the North Tower at 10:28 a.m. 1 World Trade Center was the second to fall, despite being the first hit. After 102 minutes, the tower fell, taking hundreds of lives with it.

It's a sight we- as a nation, a world, a generation- will never forget.

Flight 11

                 American Airlines Flight 11.

On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston was hijacked in midair and flown into 1 World Trade Center North Tower at 8:46 a.m. It impacted between the 93rd and 99th floors of the North Tower, killing everyone onboard the plane instantly.

The impact of Flight 11 into the North Tower, with the silhouette of the plane clearly visible.

All 87 victims, flight crew and passengers- minus the hijackers- boarded Flight 11 with no idea that they would later crash into the North Tower not long after take off.

Included among the victims:

"I see water. I see buildings. I see buildings! We are flying low. We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low. Oh my God we are flying way too low. Oh my God!"
- Amy Sweeney's last words to Michael Woodward, American Airlines Manager

Amy Sweeney wasn't supposed to work on September 11, 2001. She took an extra shift for an ill co-worker.

1960s actress Berry Berenson died on September 11, 2001. Her ex-husband, Anthony Perkins of Psycho fame, died on September 12, 1992. It's interesting that the actor and actress died one day and nine years apart.

Sara Low, a 28-year-old flight attendant, was no scheduled to work that fateful day.

The producer of Fraiser, Cheers and Wings, David Angell, was also killed on Flight 11, along with his wife. In a creepy twist, on an episode of Fraiser, filmed four years before 9/11, one of the characters arrives in Seattle on American Airlines Flight 11.

A screenshot of the impact of Flight 11 imploding as it hits the North Tower from the documentary 9/11.

The plane's impact into the North Tower killed all 92 on board, and several in the impact zone of floors 93 and 99.

Landing gear from American Airlines Flight 11 that landed at West and Rector Street.