3. Nan's Education

Changes in Schools, Change of Name

Nan Dorland suffered severely from chronic stomach ulcers as an adult, to the point that she underwent abdominal surgeries throughout her life. Her health problems may have had their roots in childhood anxieties. Nan's family moved frequently and, by my count, attended eight schools in ten years. Changing schools can be stressful for children, disrupting their academic performance as well as their emotional functioning.


Nan in Grade 9.

Among the papers that Nan's distant cousin Martin W. Beerman shared with me was a list of schools that Nan attended from Grade 1 through high school, prepared by Nan's father Ernest Danke. Beerman had obtained it from John Danke (1950-2015) - Nan's son with John Albrecht. The column on the right of this list shows the Danke family's home addresses over the years, and has helped me to piece together Nan's school years.

The list of Nan's schools prepared by her father, Ernest Danke. Source: Martin W. Beerman.

Ernest compiled this list in his efforts to prove Nan's US citizenship. He and his second wife, Ida (Nan's stepmother) had adopted Nan's son John after her death in Toronto, Ontario in 1950. By 1954 they were attempting to procure "derivative" American citizenship (citizenship granted to foreign-born children adopted by United States citizens) for the boy.

Ernest Danke sent letters like this one to all the schools his daughter Nan attended. Source: Martin W. Beerman.

I will only highlight a couple of the schools Nan attended. While in Grades Three and Four, 1920-1911, Nan attended Laughlin Falconer School, 3020 North Lamon Avenue, Chicago. It was built in 1918 in the Falconer Historic District on land that Nan's maternal grandfather, George C. Hield had subdivided for a residential development. The Falconer District promoted single-family home ownership for Chicago residents, many of whom were immigrants who could walk to work in the nearby manufacturing and industrial areas. Nan and her parents lived in this neighbourhood, about a 3-minute walk from Falconer School.

Freshman Year at Ward-Belmont College

The most stressful school move for Nan took place in 1925-1926 when she was sent to the Preparatory School (high school) of Ward-Belmont College, an all-girls boarding school in Nashville, Tennessee. She lasted, perhaps, one year. Maybe Nan was sent to boarding school due to her mother's ill-health (although Eva Danke did visit her daughter at least once - in November 1925, according the to school's newsletter, The Hyphen). Maybe Nan had become a handful at age 14. Or perhaps Nan's parents simply wanted the best education for their only daughter.

Ward-Belmont College campus sited on a former antebellum estate, c. 1910. Source

An article in the Nashville newspaper The Tennessean on September 14, 1924 claims that Ward-Belmont College was "easily the leading college of the land in many respects." Its high standards for learning, excellent faculty, high moral atmosphere, and healthy environment meant that "men from all over the United States desire most of all to have their daughters brought into contact with the Southern culture, and nowhere can it be found as in this city, the Athens of the South, and at Ward-Belmont College."

I contacted the Alumni Association at Belmont College for her school records but unfortunately a fire in 1972 destroyed all administrative records from the 1920s. I did, however, locate the 1926 yearbook for the College - Milestones - which included her school photo.

Ward-Belmont yearbook, 1926. Nan's Grade 9 photo is second row, far right.

"Along with the rich heritage of cultural and religious values from the two finishing schools for young ladies which combined to form Ward-Belmont," three members of the school's alumni wrote in 1971, "came also the heritage of high moral standards and stringent requirements for deportment which were, perhaps, unparalleled in any comparable school for girls with the possible exception of convents.” Discipline was strict. School rule infractions included wearing makeup, wearing high heels to class, chewing gum, and having a radio in one's room. Smoking and drinking were cause for immediate expulsion. "No infringement of regulations escaped notice or punishment." Benedict, Sarah Bryan, Ophelia Colley Cannon, and Mary Elizabeth Cayce, “The Bells of Ward-Belmont: A Reminiscence,” in Tennessee Historical Quarterly, 30 (4), 1971, pp 379-382.

Illustration from Ward-Belmont College yearbook, 1926. Source

This strict southern finishing school may not have suited Nan. By Grade 10 she was back at home with her parents in Illinois attending a public high school. The family had moved to 2372 Burton Avenue, Highland Park, about 25 miles north of Chicago, and just north of Evanston.

Move to California

Hollywood Union High School, 1927. Source

In the spring of 1927, the Danke family moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, perhaps due to Nan's mother's declining health. This would have been a difficult move for 16-year-old Nan, who completed her sophomore year at Hollywood Union High School. (The name changed to Hollywood High School in 1940.)


Yearbook [Poinsettia] photo of 16-year-old Nan (top row, second from left) in the girls’ choral club at Hollywood Union High, 1927.

Theatre Training in California

In 1928-1929 Nan attended the Marta Oatman School of Theater, one of the best drama schools in Los Angeles. Dedicated to the discovery and development of talent for stage, screen and radio, Marta Oatman had established her school in 1920. Many actors and actresses made it in Hollywood after graduating from Marta Oatman's school, including Lucille LeSueur, better known as Joan Crawford.

"The first months of work in the adult drama classes are given over to personal development to awaken latent powers in the student and to build to correlate emotions and bodily agents in creative thinking, acting and speaking," the Los Angeles Times reported on June 1, 1929. "After that work is covered, practical technical work continues until the student is ready for play production.”

Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1928

While Nan was attending Marta Oatman's school that two major events occurred. Her mother passed away on November 18, 1929, and she changed her name from Annette Danke to Nan Dorland.

Nan was cast in a variety of stage productions while at theatre school. For example, in July 1930, 18-year-old Nan was using her new name in a one-act play produced by Theater Mart in Los Angeles. She played the role of Sadie McGork in a play called "The Land of Manana" by Jimmy Mac. A reviewer wrote that she played her part "with ease." (Inside the Facts of Stage and Screen, August 2, 1930)

Nan set her cap for a career in radio, heading to Chicago in 1931.

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2. Nan's Family Background

May Fortune Smile on You

Nan was born on Halloween day, 1911. Postcard, c1910. Source

Nan (Annette Evangeline Danke) was born on Halloween in 1911 at the Buffalo, New York home of her affluent parents, Ernest and Eva Danke. Originally from Chicago, the Dankes soon moved back to their hometown. Her father was in the real estate business with his father-in-law, George C. Hield, a millionaire land developer. The two men developed all of what is now the southern part of Highland Park, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of downtown Chicago. Today, Highland Park is ranked as one of the best places to live in America. Source

Nan's birth certificate. Source: Martin W. Beerman.

Nan's Maternal Grandfather George C. Hield (1852-1957)

Nan's maternal grandfather George C Hield was an avid fisherman. Arizona Republic. October 12, 1956.

George C. Hield is one of Nan's more remarkable family members. Hield, born in Janesville, Wisconsin on November 15, 1852. His mother Mary (Rhodes) had bought the land where their family home was built with $800 in gold that she had kept in a belt around her waist when she emigrated from England to the United States in 1845. [Source: Janesville Daily Gazette, November 7, 1952.]

Hield married Ann Nettie (Annette) Loucks in 1874 and worked for a time as a hay dealer then a telegraph operator in Janesville before moving to Chicago to become a real estate developer. The Hields had five children over the course of 18 years: George (1876- ); Edna (1878-1932) married G. S. Johnston; Florence (1880-1961) married Woodson Upshaw; Evangeline (1888-1928) married Ernest Danke; and Horace (1894-1942) married Duella Hackett.

At least four of the five Hield children were accomplished musicians. For example, Edna, a pianist and organist, was a member of the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, church organist, and accompanist for the San Mateo Philharmonic Chorus in California. Source

In the spring of 1913 Hield purchased 74 acres from 93-year-old farmer Laughlin Falconer for $112,000 with the intention of building "about thirty houses of various designs, including single dwellings of the ordinary type, bungalows, and two flat buildings to cost no less than $2500." He ended up building 98 houses in the district. [Source: Chicago Tribune, April 6, 1913.] By the mid-1920s the number of developers in the Falconer district had increased greatly, with hundreds more bungalows constructed that adhered to the precedents in design, materials, and building placement set by George Hield. Source These bungalows retain their early 20th century appearance today.

Houses built by Nan's father and grandfather in Chicago's Falconer Historic District, 2012. Source

Here is a description of the Falconer Historic District from the US National Register of Historic Places:

"With few exceptions, the bungalows constructed in the district remained modest, uncomplicated housing for working class families, catering specifically to the area's numerous industrial and manufacturing concerns. Despite the proximity to major industrial and manufacturing concerns, the strict residential boundaries of the Falconer district were as effective as any bungalow neighborhood in creating a very different world for bungalow owners to return home to. The bungalows that emerged in the Falconer district between 1915 and 1931 allowed working class families to also share in the American dream of home ownership." Source

Hield's wife Nettie and their daughter Florence worked for the George C. Hield & Company in Chicago. A search of Nettie's name on newspapers.com shows that many city properties were bought and sold in her name over the years. The company's name changed in the 1920s to North Side Realty Company, with it head office in the prestigious Chicago Temple Building at 77 West Washington Street.

The Chicago Temple Building at 77 W. Washington St., Chicago. Nan's father and grandfather's real estate offices were located here. Source

Florida Ups and Downs

Nan's grandfather made millions in real estate. In about 1895 after the birth of their fifth and final child Horace, George and Nettie Hield visited Florida for the first time. "I'm not buying anything," Hield repeatedly assured his wife. But it wasn't long before he was bitten by the Florida real estate bug. They decided to move to Florida, purchasing about 300 acres of land to grow citrus fruit. [Source: Orlando Evening Star, December 7, 1955.] Unfortunately, their fortune was lost in the Florida real estate crash of 1925.

Headline in the Sarasota Herald about the Florida land crash, October 24, 1925.

Hield managed to stay afloat in Florida despite his losses. In 1925 - the same year as the Florida debacle, he bought a 70-acre golf course in Chicago for $100,000, subdivided it and sold the properties for $1,600,000.

Chicago Tribune, April 5, 1925.

That land deal may have allowed him to finance his next Florida land project, Gardena Farms near Orlando at Oviedo, with the goal to make it a model for agricultural development. Hield bought Gardena Farms from J. H. Hall in 1927 under an agreement where Hall managed the property. The tract was divided into 10-acre farm units, each with rich soils for growing garden produce and citrus fruit, carefully planned farm homes, paved roads, and a railroad for transporting farm produce running through the development. [Source: Orlando Sentinel, Sept. 25, 1927]


Gardena Farms in development. Orlando Sentinel, Feb. 5, 1928.

The Hields moved to Orlando in 1927. He and Nettie lived in the Duke Apartments until 1942 when they moved to Phoenix, Arizona.

1942 was a milestone year for George Hield. Not only did he turn 90, he also inherited $30,000 from his old Chicago friend William W. Falconer. With the injection of funds, Hield made a financial comeback in Phoenix after 1942. He first bought a motor hotel then in 1947 built Echo Lodge, a 20-acre resort hotel in the Arcadia district of the city. With his daughter and son-in-law, Florence and Woodson D. Upshaw, Hield also invested in suburban developments in and around Phoenix. He sold Echo Lodge in 1950 for $100,000 when he was 98 years old.

Nan's uncle Horace Hield. University of Arizona yearbook, The Desert, 1917.

1942 was also the year Hield lost his youngest son, Horace. In August of that year, Horace walked into his orange grove near Vero Beach, Florida and killed himself. His death occurred two months after his daughter Janice's wedding and five months after he passed the Florida real estate brokers' exam. [Source: Miami Herald, August 28, 1942.]

Nan knew her maternal grandfather but I have no idea how often they saw each other. In a letter to Ernest Danke dated May 17, 1952, Richard Morenus (Nan's first husband) writes the following:

"Your news of Mr. Hield is most interesting. I recall him as one of the most energetic and able young nonagenarians that I have ever known. He's quite a man. I remember his going over many of his real estate 'deals' with me. If the occasion should arise, please remember me to him." [Source: Martin Beerman via John Danke.]

I was pleased to discover, thanks to photos sent to me by John Danke's friend Rabeea Shhadeeh, that Nan's grandfather got to meet her son John about a year after she passed away in 1950.

100-year-old George Hield with his great-grandson, Nan's and John Albrecht's son John, 1951. Photo courtesy Rabeea Shhadeh

George Hield outlived four of his five children including Nan's mother Eva, dying in Arizona at the age of 104 on May 21, 1957.

Nan's Parents

Nan's father Ernest E. Danke, c. 1925. Photo courtesy Rabeea Shhadeh. Animation by Deep Nostalgia.

Ernest Edward Danke (1886-1964) was born in Chicago to a German father, Ernst F. Danke (1855-1894) and a Scottish mother, Helen Campbell Pollock (1857-1949). He married Evangeline (Eva) Hield on December 8, 1910 in the Chicago neighbourhood of Irving Park.

When Nan was born in October of 1911, the Danke family was living in Buffalo, New York where her father, a Chicago businessman, was working for a short time as an advertising agent for English Woolen Mills Company. The family soon relocated to Nan's father's hometown of Chicago.

By 1917, Ernest was working as a real estate developer with his father-in-law's firm, George C. Hield and Company. The company filled the once-open farmland subdivided by Laughlin Falconer with modest bungalows designed by architect Ernest N. Braucher. These 875-square-foot bungalows were designed for working class homeowners, and cost between $2500 and $3000 to build.

In 1926 or 1927 Nan's father Ernest had amassed enough money to purchase and operate an orchard business in Los Angeles, California. This move may also have been precipitated by the fact that Nan's mother was in poor health.

The Chicago Tribune published this photo of Nan's mother Evangeline Hield on her wedding day, Dec. 8, 1910.

Nan's mother Evangeline (1888-1929), daughter of George Hield and British-born mother Ann Nettie (Loucks) Hield, must have lived a charmed life as a young woman. Like her siblings, she was a talented musician. According to the 1910 US Census, 21-year-old Eva was working as a piano teacher while living with her parents in Chicago. By the end of that year, she was Ernest Danke's wife.

The Danke's wedding on December 8, 1910 was held at the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Irving Park. "The bride wore an Alice blue chiffon broadcloth traveling suit trimmed in otter," the Chicago Tribune reported. "The hat of the same shade was trimmed in a plume and silver. She carried white roses and sweet peas." ("Alice blue" was inspired by President Theodore Roosevelt's eldest daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth.)

Not long after her marriage Eva's health began to decline. She and Ernest had only one child - Nan.

Eva Danke died at the young age of 41 on November 18, 1929 when Nan was 18 years old. Her death certificate shows that she died of a malignancy of the lymph glands called Lymphoma Sarcoidosis which she had suffered from for at least two years. She is buried in the Great Mausoleum of Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Coleus Corridor, Wall Crypt 1006) at Glendale, California, one of the most highly coveted interment places in the Los Angeles area. (Michael Jackson, for example, was buried in the Great Mausoleum in 2009.)

Nan's mother, Eva Danke, c. 1925. Courtesy Rabeea Shhadeh.

Nan's Stepmother Ida Perry (1907-1987)

Ida Perry, c1943. Photo courtesy Rabeea Shhadeh.

Like his father-in-law, Nan's father Ernest inherited $30,000 from William W. Falconer of Chicago in 1942. Perhaps that windfall prompted his remarriage on August 5, 1943 to the vivacious Ida Perry, a 35-year-old captain in the US Women's Army Corps. Ernest was 56 years old at the time of their wedding, which took place in a Methodist Church at Minneapolis, Minnesota. I wonder if Nan and Richard traveled from northern Ontario to attend the ceremony? Ida was only a couple of years older than Nan.

Ida Perry was born in Greene, Butler County, Iowa in 1907. Well educated, Ida attended both Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri and the University of Chicago. She worked for nine years as a legal secretary for a Chicago law firm before being sworn in as an officer candidate in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. Perhaps Ernest Danke met Ida at the law firm in Chicago, as he still maintained a real estate office in the Windy City.

Ida Perry Danke remained in the WAC for the duration of the Second World War. In November of 1943, Captain Danke and 13 other officers left Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, for Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to attend command and general staff school. "Few WAC officers have been selected to attend the school which is one of the highest rated military schools in the country," the Chattanooga Daily Times reported on November 17, 1943. "Following a 10-week course, the WAC officers will be assigned to jobs behind the lines which may include service areas overseas, ports of embarkation, or regimental and battalion commands."

Ida Danke with Nan's son John, 1951. Courtesy Rabeea Shhadeh

After Nan died in 1950 from complications of childbirth, Ernest and Ida Danke legally adopted her infant son John Ernest Albrecht. Their grandson's father John Albrecht of northern Saskatchewan visited his son John at the Danke's 35-acre orange grove in California every year until the boy was about 10 years old.

Ernest passed away in Vista, California on March 27, 1964 at the age of 77 from stomach cancer. Ida died on January 15, 1987 in Carlsbad, California from complications of pneumonia.

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Discovering Nan Dorland