My Roots: Two Three Dear Pictures

At the top is a picture of me in my first party dress, the photo long since cut out of some forgotten scrapbook. The shadow in the foreground is my aunt Myrna taking the picture, something she did often because she thought I was cute. I still have the dress, shown above. This cherished little heirloom is more than seventy years old, like me. The memory of wearing it that first time is still as fresh as though it was yesterday.
This may be the earliest photograph of me. Holding me is my maternal grandmother, Anna Bennett, who I always called "Dah". Looking on is my maternal grandfather, Albert Bennett, who I always called Pa. Dah is all swede, first generation in this country, austere and no nonsense. Pa was Scotch-Irish-German, and liked to have a couple of beers at the pool hall and play his fiddle on Saturday night. They raised me in my early years on the South Dakota farm where this picture was taken. Note the spoke-wheeled, dented automobile behind them.	This picture shows (l-r) Papa Gene Olander, my paternal grandfather; Pa Bennett, my maternal grandfather; my dad, Warner Olander, wearing an overcoat against the South Dakota winter chill and holding a cigarette; and, peeking around my dad's arm, my mother, Lucille Bennett Olander. Papa Gene was all swede; my dad, through his mother, was swede, Sioux, and Cherokee. The 1930-something Ford was my dad's. He always had a cool new car.

Two Rare Photos

Life Magazine Contact Sheet
September 17, 1954
Photographs by Loomis Dean

Modern Screen Magazine Photo
May 27, 1954
Photographs by Bert Parry