Lady in the Dark
July 1944Dearest Reader,
The film my grandmother saw in 1944 was Lady in the Dark, starring Ginger Rogers. Although she remembered it as Woman in the Dark. Released in 1944, Lady in the Dark tells the story of Liza Elliott, a successful magazine editor suffering from anxiety, mood swings and troubling dreams. The movie explores her struggle with what was then called psychoneurosis, following her through a series of psychoanalytic sessions in which a doctor helps her uncover childhood trauma buried beneath her polished exterior. The film was one of Hollywood’s early attempts to portray mental and emotional conflict on screen. For 1944, the film’s frank depiction of inner turmoil and psychoanalysis made it both unusual and modern.
Dr. Nancy Watson
Washington
Read More From Nancy
Lt. Douglas McKee Missing in Germany
Among the wartime newspaper clippings preserved by my parents is this article about Lt. Douglas McKee of Martinsburg, West Virginia. The reason this one would have been saved is because Martinsburg was my father’s hometown, and throughout their lives my parents kept newspaper articles that helped preserve the stories of communities that shaped their families. The article reports […]
The G.I. Bill: A New Promise for a Generation
Among the papers my parents left behind is this Veterans Administration application for educational benefits under the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the G.I. Bill. At first glance, it is simply a government form. But in many ways, it is one of the most important documents in twentieth-century American history. Signed into […]
A Christmas Card
In a box of saved letters and photographs, I found a Christmas card my grandmother sent to my father in 1943. The front is not decorated with wreaths or candles. There is no snow, no manger scene, no holly. Instead, it bears an American flag, The Liberty Bell and a white eagle: symbols of a nation […]
