Josephine: From Washington Working Girl to Fisherman's Wife, A Memoir 1917-1959 - Softcover

Buchholz, Margaret Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1593220626 ISBN 13: 9781593220624

Publisher: Down The Shore Publishing, 2023

Synopsis

During World War I, before women had the right to vote in America, a young Josephine Lehman Thomas answered the patriotic call from Washington, D.C. and became one of the pioneering ''government girls,'' leaving her home in Michigan for adventure in the nation's capital. Through explored diaries and letters, her daughter, Margaret Thomas Buchholz, gives us an amazing chronicle of a trailblazing woman. Josephine worked for legendary journalist Lowell Thomas and traveled the world until the Great Depression dropped her and her new family, struggling to get by, on an island off the coast of New Jersey.

This fascinating personal history reveals the optimism of the early 20th Century, the emerging professional woman, the thrill of adventure travel and a sense of success, followed by the crash of the economy, losing everything, and ultimately happiness in a simple life by the sea.

About this title

About the Author:

MARGARET THOMAS BUCHHOLZ is co-author of Great Storms of the Jersey Shore, author of New Jersey Shipwrecks: 350 Years in the Graveyard of the Atlantic, and editor of Shore Chronicles: Diaries and Travelers Tales from the Jersey Shore 1764-1955, among other books. Her essays about the Shore have also been included in anthologies and collections. Buchholz was publisher of the Long Beach Island newspaper The Beachcomber from 1955 to 1987 and is still an editor. She currently lives year-round in her childhood home (described in this book) in Harvey Cedars, New Jersey, on Barnegat Bay, where her family has been coming since 1833.

Review:

''Josephine is an amazingly good writer whose work deserves to be read.'' -- Frederic D. Schwarz, former Senior Editor, American Heritage Magazine

''Margaret Buchholz's loving account of her mother's adventures from World War I until the 1950s, paints a beautiful portrait of a woman ahead of her time, and the deep mother/daughter relationship and their shared bond to Barnegat Bay. Josephine was one of the pioneering women ''government girls'' in D.C. After the war, she worked as a writer/researcher for the famous travel author and radio personality, Lowell Thomas, before she took up island life as a fisherman's wife. Margaret Buchholz's prose flows with the hypnotic ebb of the tides and I found myself mesmerized as well as charmed.'' -- Laura Shaine Cunningham, author of the memoirs Sleeping Arrangements and A Place in the Country.

''From the colorful and beautifully written diaries of her mother Josephine Lehman, framed by her own painstaking research, Margaret Buchholz has crafted a luminous biography of a spirited woman and her journey through the first half of the 20th century. Life dealt Josephine both extraordinary opportunities and devastating setbacks, and she navigated them all with panache. I loved reading this book.'' -- Mary Walton, author of A Woman's Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot.

''The words and thoughts of gifted letter-writer and diarist, Josephine Lehman, capture the excitement and challenges of women working in Washington, DC during WWI. Jo was a true trailblazer when she answered the call for patriotic young women to work in our Nation's capital during a time of uncertainty and turmoil. I loved hearing firsthand about Jo's adventures and experiences. Even though her words were written during another time, they are relevant and timely today. Washington has changed a great deal for the female government employee and we owe our start to brave and exciting women like Jo.'' -- Krysta Harden, 21st Century ''Government Girl''

''I love the way the author weaves rich material with her own observations. All to the good effect of recapturing Jo's life. A labor of love but also a real contribution to history, this story of a latter day Jo from Little Women.'' --Daniel Horowitz, Mary Huggins Gamble Professor of American Studies Emeritus, Smith College.

''Through diaries, letters, dogged research and a keen, exacting memory, Buchholz writes the book her mother might have written had she not had children. In a marvelous reversal of nature, a daughter gives life to a mother.'' -- Helene Stapinski, author of Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History --Advance Reader Reviews

About this edition

• Publisher: Down The Shore Publishing
• Publication date: 2023
• ISBN 10: 1593220626
• ISBN 13: 9781593220624
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240