Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, known as Sally, grew up in Marathon County, Wisconsin. As an adult she spent a short time working in Washington D.C. before returning to Wausau to marry and raise a family. This series of posts takes us page by page through the photo album of her teen years and young adulthood. She was an active and vibrant gal. These photos show her doing things she could no long do when her mobility became limited in the following decades.
She collected photographs. Lots and lots of photographs. She took most of them and posed in many. This series gives us a glimpse of Sally’s young life, through her own pictures.
New friends and new sights in Washington
The 38th page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of photos taken in Washington DC as well as some postcards she collected. She arrived in Washington in November 1931 and started exploring on her days off work.
Architecture and scenes
Location: Washington, District of Columbia
Date: 1931-32.
Washington friends
Anne and I
Sally and her friend Anne posed on a dock. The sign read, “boat leaves her hourly – a wonderful trip for 35₵.”
Pictured: Anne ____ and Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.
Location: Near Washington, D.C.
Date: 1931-32.
Sally and friend
Sally rocks with friends.
Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, right.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Date: 1931.
A friend
Here is that lady again who was perhaps one of Sally’s new friends.
Pictured: Unidentified.
Location: 1931.
Date:
Sally
Sally, rocking on the lawn. It is possible that this is where Sally lived during her time in Washington, D.C.
Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Date: 1931.
Ain’t she cute?
Sally and her friend Pearl.
Pictured: From left, Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner and Pearl.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Date: 1931-32.
Merle, Helen, and I
Sally, center, poses with friends Merle and Helen near a frozen fountain.
Pictured: From left, Merle ____, Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, and Helen _____.
Location: Washington D.C.
Date: 1932.
Sally and Helen
Sally, center, poses with friend Helen.
Pictured: From left, Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner, and Helen _____.
Location: Washington D.C.
Date: 1931-32.
Sally
Donning her fur coat and shades, Sally was sightseeing.
Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Date: 1931-32.
Winter
Sally is pictured with signs of winter around her.
Pictured: Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Date: 1931-32
Many thanks to Uncle Chuck Krueger for gifting Sally’s photo albums to me. I suppose I’m the only one who is obsessed enough with family history to spend hours and hours doing something with them. Of course, I thought I should find a way to share.
I didn’t join the Krueger family soon enough to meet Sally. She died 15 May 1983, just two weeks after I started dating her grandson (now my husband). I’m sad that I missed getting to know her. I’m glad that she left a legacy of photos that help me see a side of her that maybe even her own family didn’t get to see.
Many of the faces and places in the photographs are not labeled. If you can help identify someone or someplace, correct any mistake I may have made, or otherwise add to the story, please contact me, for example by submitting a comment. Thanks.
The Aschbrenner Family
- Publication date: February 2022
- Pages: 728
- Formats:
- This books explores Aschbrenner family history. Friedrich August Aschbrenner had a son, named Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner, who immigrated to Marathon County, Wisconsin. This book traces thousands of descendants of the immigrant. Detailed biographies are provided for the families of our direct line from Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner through Frederick Wilhelm Aschbrenner and Frederick August Helmut Aschbrenner to Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner.
- Winner of the Wisconsin Historical Society 2023 Board of Curators Genealogy/Family History Book Award.
Leave a Reply