More About the Real Hazel

Now that the paperback and Kindle editions of Becoming Hazel have been released on Amazon, I thought it was the perfect time to share a bit of background information about Hazel and about the series, “Inherited Treasures”.

Hazel is based on a real person – my great-grandmother – and Becoming Hazel describes how she got her start as a pianist accompanying silent films as well as a champion of women’s causes. She overcame many challenges to do what she wanted to do, including the wishes of her parents and the expectations of society. But she also had to overcome some rather significant physical problems.

When I discovered the photograph I’ve attached here, it was among hundreds of others. I had no idea who the women in the photo might be because I knew of nobody in our family who had attended Yale at the beginning of the twentieth century – certainly not a woman. I tossed it into a box of photos to be sorted later. When I went through the photographs again, I happened to turn it over and noticed there was faint writing on the back. Unfortunately, it was in pencil.

But using a bright light and a strong magnifying glass, I finally saw it. I turned the photograph over again, and there she was – the line of women began with the tallest at the left and descended sharply down to a small figure on the right. She looked like a child compared to the rest of them, but I was certain they were all about the same age after reading the rest of the list on the back:

Iris Snyder, Programs
Willa Barnett, Cashier
Eleanor Kiper, Tickets
Joy Denherst, Singer
Christine Edwards, Tickets
Leticia Hatten, Publicity
Hazel Cunningham, Piano

This is truly one of my “Inherited Treasures”, a real moment in Hazel’s life captured by a photographer. Although I cannot be sure, the story I’ve written around the photograph is that these are members of Hazel’s Senior Class, and this represents a fundraiser for Senior Boys who have been accepted to Yale for the fall and spring terms. It seems likely because Hazel was certainly not college bound. There is a reference to the event portrayed in this photograph in Becoming Hazel when Cora chides her daughter for a “missed opportunity” to meet an eligible suitor.