circa 1907 is a  testimonial to my ancestors and their stories.  It is a tribute to places of the past-(primarily Slovakia and Ireland) from where my great grandparents emmigrated, and to the coal miners and the families of coal miners of west virginia and pennsylvania. Circa 1907 is an exploration of the trans-generational stories, myths, memories, and cultural structures-what has been passed down and lives within the body as well as the mind (consciously, unconsciously, and in between).  In essence, I hope to examine the collective unconscious of the family and to investigate the seen, unseen, the spoken and unspoken familial symbolic structures.  My hope is to investigate the  complexities of my heritage  through documenting my ancestor's stories through writing, genealogy, art, graphics, photos, stories, and recipes, along with contributing to the field of psychology around this issue.  The name of this website, circa 1907, is a tribute to my grandmother, Julia Anna Harto Dugan, who was born in 1907.  For more about her, see below.  

Julianna Harto Dugan

My grandmother, Julia Anna Harto, daughter of slovak immigrants, was born in Montana Mines, West Virginia on December 15, 1907.   She grew up in the coal mining fields of southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.  She was a very bright, warm, and authentic person.  She wanted more for her daughters than hopelessness and poverty.    She struggled throughout her life(beginning at a very young age) with many illnesses (rheumatic fever, diabetes, a varicose ulcer on her leg, hypothyroidism, and heart problems).  She died at the age of 66.  This is one of my favorite photos of her.