Happy Birthday, Samantha!

121 years ago Samantha Parkington was born on this day in 1895. It is not realistic to assume that Samantha would still be alive today, but there are still so many exciting things that she would have been able to witness in her lifetime!

Samantha was often excited about the changes that the turn of the century was bringing to America, and she was there to see many events that earlier generations would have only dreamed of. The United States went from 44 to 50 states in her lifetime. The Boy Scouts began in 1910, and I think it very likely that her Uncle Gardner would have been involved with his son, William. Samantha would have read about the tragedy of the Titanic sinking in 1912 along with the rest of the world, though it is likely that she would have personally known some people on board as a young lady growing up in New York society. The same year also brought about the beginning of the Girl Scouts, something I have a feeling might have been spearheaded by her Aunt Cornelia after the start of the Boy Scouts two years before. 

Samantha would have been alive for the very first Mother's Day in 1914, though she likely wouldn't have been a mother yet at almost 19 years old. She also would have witnessed the start of the first World War that year though the United States would not be involved for another 3 years. 

In 1920, at the age of 25, Samantha would have celebrated with her aunt as the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in the United States. She, no doubt, would have been among the first in line to exercise that right in the next elections. She was witness to the first trans-Atlantic flight by Charles Lindbergh in 1927, and possibly took her children to see Disney's first Animated feature, Steamboat Willie, in 1928. She might have attended the opening of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, watched as the skyline of that city changed drastically in the course of her life, and would have cheered on Amelia Earhart as she flew across the Atlantic solo. 

Samantha would have lived through the Depression, and read about the Hindenburg Disaster. She likely would have witness World War II and the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. So much history would have happened in her lifetime, that it really is something to be celebrated! 

Happy birthday, Samantha!

Don't forget to check out my post about The Birthday Project. It's a very fun way to learn about American history that happened during Samantha's lifetime, and how she might have reacted to it.