This trunk belonged to my grandmother Mary Adella Baer Hagan, and it held all of her belongings when she moved from New Ulm, MN to San Francisco, CA in 1951. My grandmother was the first woman on either side of my family history to move somewhere new entirely of her own accord. At twenty-six, she was considered too old for most of the men in her hometown, and she feared that she might become ostracized from the small society of her hometown if she stayed. So she flew to San Francisco, and moved into 148 Lone Mt. Terrace. While in San Francisco, she fell in love with Ned Hagan. They married in the summer of 1954. At her wedding, my grandmother decided to wear a suit that she had made back home, and brought with her in this trunk, lest she convince her new husband that she was not a practical lady. Once they married, my grandparents lived in a tiny apartment in San Francisco that didn't allow babies, so my Aunt Jane was kept in this trunk until they found a better place to live. In 1962, Ned, Mary (pregnant with their only son John), and their daughters Jane, Julia, Colleen, and Molly (my mother) moved to Tacoma, WA, and brought this trunk along with them. This trunk founded a tradition in my family that at the last Christmas before a family member graduates from high school, they receive gifts of a suit and a set of luggage. Mary died in 2008, and Ned kept her trunk until he died in Fall of 2016. Then, it was given to me, and it holds my most precious memorabilia.

– Shannon Constantine

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant