Frank Carlson Library

Marie Coleman was just 18 months old when her mother died. It was 1922, and her father was unable to care for Marie and her seven brothers and sisters. So he took them to an orphanage in Abilene, Kansas, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia. There Marie would stay until 1934, when she was sent to live with her grandmother. From our perspective in the 21st century, it was another world -- but this is no Dickensian tale of wretched squalor....