The family papers, 18801-1969 (Scattered) and undated, documents the lives of Anna, Julia and Mary M., all of whom were Michigan teachers, with a focus on Mary's nursing experience, during which she served as a Red Cross and U.S. Nursing Corps member with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. The collection is organized by format: Papers including obituary of Mary’s mother, also named Mary who died in 1944, various correspondence, pins, poem, and Mary’s AEF card from Siberia, vaccination record and wallet in the front of Box 1. Amongst the pins is a 1908 President Taft brass campagna swastika, to attach to a watch fob. Photographs of men, women, school children at schools where Mary or her sisters taught, nurses, nursing, nursing school, an operation, family, friends, colleagues, families, animals, some buildings, and vacations fill the rest of Box 1 through Box 3. In the 1940s-1960s Mary vacationed in Florida where she and friends and family visited various tourist cities including Tarpon Springs and Orlando. There are photographs of diverse animals and birds including elephants of an unidentified circus. Mike the cat predominates in the animal photographs. There are photographs of a man and woman in wheelchairs. There is an oversized folder of teaching and nursing certificates and high school diplomas and two oversized volumes of Mary’s nursing experience in France in World War I, one of which is very artistically organized with AEF on the front cover made from photographs of AEF nurses and soldiers. Most of the materials are undated.
Biography:
Mary M. Bourgeois was born on September 25, 1884. She lived in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, most of her life. Mary graduated from Central State Normal School (CSNS), now Central Michigan University, with a two-year teaching certificate in 1903 and with a three-year teaching certificate in 1907. She taught school in District #8, Rathbone, Gratiot County. Mary also graduated from the Buffalo Hospital of the Sisters of Charity Training School for Nurses with a Medical and Surgical Nursing certificate in February 1917, and received a Registered Nursing certificate from the University of the State of New York in May 1917. During World War I, she served in the Red Cross. Mary died on June 15, 1974, at the age of 90. Mary had three sisters whose lives are documented in the collection: Amelia, Julia, and Anna.
Amelia Bourgeois was born on November 14, 1880, in Buffalo, New York. She moved to Mount Pleasant with her family. Amelia taught at several county schools and was a librarian for many years. She died on April 24, 1968, at the age of 87 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Mount Pleasant.
Julia L. Bourgeois received a three-year teaching certificate from CSNS in 1905 and a life-time teaching certificate in 1914. She died in May 1919.
Anna L. Bourgeois was born on May 19, 1886, in Williamsville, New York. She graduated from the local high school in 1901. Anna received a three-year teaching certificate from CSNS in 1905, and a life-time teaching certificate in 1914. She retired from teaching in Detroit (Mich.). Anna died on March 2, 1976, at the age of 89.
The parents of the Bourgeois sisterts were Louis Peter Bourgeois and Mary Louise (Monin) Bourgeois of the Monroeville Indians. The former Mary Louise Monin was born in Buffalo, New York, on January 23, 1852. Louis Bougeois was born on March 24, 1849, in Erie County, New York. Louis and Mary Louise were married and had five daughters, Amelia, Mary M., Anna L., Louise (died in infancy), and Julia L. (died in May 1919). Louis came to Union Township in 1892. He had two brothers, Ferdinand, who lived in Mount Pleasant, and Augustine, who lived in Sterling, Michigan. Louis died on September 12, 1920, and was buried in Calvary Cemetery. Mary Louise died in 1944. (This information is from the collection.)
