Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Object Identification Number |
1996.143.068 |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Donor |
Hansen, Rita Neergaard |
Description |
Large black and white photograph of a Christian Neergaard in a yard, crouching behind tall plants. He is only visible from the waist up. The man is wearing a white shirt and dark bow tie. He has dark hair and a handle bar mustache. There are two buildings behind him. To the viewer's right is a building with white siding and a cement foundation. There is one door. The building to the viewer's left side is sided the same way with eight windows and part of the roof visible. The plants Christian is crouching near have tall spiky leaves. Some of the plants are in bloom. |
Print Size |
9 7/8 x 7 |
Creation Date |
ca. 1920s |
Place of Creation |
USA/Wisconsin/Kenosha |
Associated People |
Neergaard, Christian |
Search Terms |
Neergaard, Christian gladiola garden yard home Kenosha, Wisconsin gardener flower |
Date Received by Museum |
1996 |
Provenance |
This photo is of Christian Neergaard, the donor's father, in his gladiola bed in the 1920s. This was located in the family's back yard. Christian Neergaard blew these photographs up as he did a lot of camera work. Peder (b. March 5, 1847, d. Apr. 4, 1923 in Kenosha) and Kirsten (Simonsen) Neergaard were farmers from Nødager (the Grenaa-Æbeltoft area of Jutland) with their three sons, Christian, Achton, and Sophus. They came to the U.S. on the ship Thingvalla in 1888 (Christian was 17, Achton 15, and Sophus 13), and docked in Canada. Peder and the boys worked with maintanence of the Canadian railroad, living in a boxcar with Kirsten as housekeeper. They ended up on the West Coat, came across the border into Washington state, lived in Kent for awhile, and then worked their way east to Wisconsin. They stayed in Neenah for a time, and then settled in Kenosha. Kirsten died in 1905. Peder wrote to Kirsten's sister Maren and asked her to come to America to help keep house. Maren came with a friend, Olivia Poulsen. and Olivia and Christian married in 1907. In 1908, the donor's sister Kirsten was born, and Rita followed in 1912. Olivia died in 1930. In 1937, Kirsten and Rita took Civil Service exams and were called to work for the government in Washington, D.C. Their widower father, Christian, went with them. In 1940, when the Nazis invaded Denmark, the U.S. government established a Consulate in Reykjavik, Iceland (at that time part of Denmark), and Rita was chosen to go there for two years. During her service, the Consulate in Iceland was elevated to a Legation. After her assignment in Iceland, Rita was transferred to the Legation in Stockholm, Sweden and was there for a year before returning to Washington, D.C. In 1944, Rita's father Christian died. When the war ended in 1945, Rita and Kirsten were asked to go to Copenhagen, Denmark on separate assignments. Rita had known Roy Hansen through the Danish church in Kenosha, Wisconsin for many years, but Roy's service in the Army and Rita's service in the Foreign Service had precluded their relationship. Rita and Roy married in December of 1950. Kirsten, Rita's sister, died in July of 1987. Rita died in the summer of 2009. |
Images |
169\1996143068.JPG |
Accession number |
1996.143 |