Late last night, the son of my mother’s dance partner, Mary Tan Hai, reached out to me after googling his mother’s name during the time she danced in Chicago and found my 52 ancestors article about Mary and mother dancing together during WWII.
Except, her name really wasn’t Mary Tan Hai. It was changed from something I never knew until last night to protect her from being sent to a concentration camp during the war.
If you recall, I wrote about my mother’s professional ballet and tap dancing career during WWII, here. Mother’s dance troupe partner and good friend, Mary, was Japanese. Her family was interred in the Japanese Detention Camps here in the US. Mary couldn’t communicate with them or her Japanese identity would be discovered and she would be sent away too.
In order to protect Mary, they changed her name and the dancers protected her within the troupe. Mary “became” Chinese. There was no record in the troupe of her Japanese origins, just in case. I don’t know if mother ever knew Mary’s true name.
My mother was born in 1922. After Mom’s fiancé was killed in action, she left the troupe and eventually lost track of Mary, but never forgot her best friend and roommate. She talked about Mary and wondered what happened to her. I presumed when I wrote the article about Mom’s dancing career that Mary had long-ago passed. I searched, but I couldn’t find anything about Mary Tan Hai anyplace. Now I know that’s because that wasn’t her real name.
I was wrong. Mary wasn’t deceased.
Mary’s family is “gathered round her”, her son wrote me last night, as she prepares to pass over. Mary and Mom will reunite soon. Oh, the stories they’ll have to tell. The hugs they’ll share!
Even though I’m at RootsTech today, I quickly found a table on the Expo Hall floor, downloaded the photos from my own blog to my laptop, colorized the photos at MyHeritage, downloaded them and mailed the newly-alive colorized photos to Mary’s son.
A few hour later, I receive a lovely gift in return that I never imagined. Mary, as it turned out, had a photo album with pictures of mother I had never seen. I am forever grateful. After I sort through what I received, I’ll be publishing that information soon.
I’m so glad to know that Mary married, to a serviceman it turned out, had a family and a long, wonderful life. Perhaps Mary can still enjoy these photos, and if not, I know, based on the thank you note that her family is.
Thank you so much MyHeritage for providing this AMAZING tool to allow us to connect and share and remember. For everyone who is interested in colorizing photos, the first 10 are free for people without a MyHeritage subscription, and unlimited free colorization of photos if you do have a subscription. I’ve provided instructions here.
Now, take a look at these beautiful colorized photos!
Mother is middle row right. Mary is back row right, just above Mom.
Update: Mary’s beautiful obituary can be found here. Thank you to her family for the notification.
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This is so wonderful it makes my heart smile! The photos are amazing and I’m happy your family and Mary’s are able to share such memories with each other.
How wonderful you found each other and can share these photos!
A dream come true….and to have new photos of your mom.
Wonderful, wonderful news! I am so happy for both you and Mary’s family.
Okay I officially cried this time. What an amazing thing to do for a family. I heard you tell this story at the wiki booth and held back the 😭
Your Mom was the “prettiest of the pretty” and looks so happy!
I know she still lives within you with all of your precious memories of her.
WOW, how wonderful for you and Mary’s family. The Edgewater Beach Hotel, was that in MS?
Chicago
What a chance virtual encounter!
And brand new photos of your mother too!
The same for Mary and her family, I hope it will brighten her days.
That is amazing, so happy for you! The photo with your mother and Mary on the beach, your mother has her head tilted back with a big smile. I did a double take on that photo. I saw you in her, like you look when you take selfies.
Thank you. Sometimes when I walk past a mirror and unexpectedly see myself, for a minute, I glance her.
Phantastisch!
Such a lovely gift. A lovely memory.
Great story… great results
Roberta, I wanted to let you know that I’m a genealogy buff, but I appreciate much your pics of your mother’s history, quilts, etc.
Thank you. I know they are a departure from DNA. But genealogy is the why behind the DNA😁
Was that the Edgewater Beach Hotel on the Mississippi Gulf Coast? It looks like it could be.
Chicago.
Beautiful pictures and wonderful story! Did you happen to notice that your mom’s note with the last picture says Mary is Japanese? Could that have been a clue that the name Hai was wrong?
She wrote that note to me years later when she was preparing her things for the end.
It probably should have been a clue but I don’t know enough about Asian names to pick that up.
Wow what a wonderful find for you. Are there some setting in the Colorize program to to further bring out the colors?
No, but at RootsTech MyHeritage said they were doing some things to improve the photos.
I’m glad for your good news, Roberta.
Genealogy and genetic research has a way of paying back all our efforts a hundredfold!
How wonderful that your mother & her colleagues gathered round & protected Mary against the hateful laws of the time, just because they were decent people.
Hopefully many stories of similar quiet resistance to the current official bigotry & hatred will come out later when this current regime is no longer ruling the USA…
what a treasure — for both families! Beautiful pics!
How exciting for you!!!!! The photos are absolutely amazing.
Thanks for sharing Roberta. Just wonderful for Mary’s family at this sad time. My extended family are really enjoying seeing the colorised photos I’m sharing…everyone seems to come alive!
Great story. Glad that the two families connected again after all that time even though the circumstances could be better.
Wartime is always horrible anywhere, but I’m glad you eventually made the distinction between widely held meanings of interment and concentration camps. Neither acceptable, but in this case one certainly with a larger and more horrific outcome than the other.
What an amazing story! May Mary’s Memory be forever Eternal! Sharing.
Thank you Roberta! The colorized photos took our breath away. I emailed you some more that I found.
Cody
I will colorize the new ones too. As soon as I get to a computer.
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