Fearless Females - Margaret Upton Waning

Margaret Upton - 15th birthday

17th June 1930

One of the genealogy blogs I read regularly suggested posting a photograph of a "Fearless Female" family member as Tuesday's post.  Well, to start off the series, who else would I nominate but Margaret Upton Waning?  I won't attempt to enumerate her many acts of courage - such as enduring a series of shots in her eye for the treatment of her macular degeneration!

I choose to honor Grams as a "Fearless Female" for her cross country car trip the summer of 1937. She drove her father's new Nash thousands of miles; from Oregon back to Blooming Prairie, Minnesota; on to Spring Creek, Pennsylvania; and finally Rochester, NY - visiting McAdam and Upton family members along the way.  

Long before interstate freeways came to be, Margaret made the journey on narrow, two-laned paved, gravel, and dirt roads.  She safely piloted the Nash which also carried her mother, Elsie, and her two younger sisters, Ellen and V'Ona.  She also was responsible for the daily maintenance of the auto. She mentions in a postcard about the vehicle over-heating. 

Later this summer I will write a more detailed post about this iconic journey!