Emma Willard (1897 - 1976)

Emma's immediate relatives including parents, siblings, partnerships and children in the Willard family tree.

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Fred Willard

Fred Willard

Fred Willard

Fred Willard

Fred Willard

Mary Willard

Fred Willard

Mary Willard

Mary Willard

Mary Willard

Mary Willard

Mary Willard

Mary Willard

Mary Willard

Mary Willard

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Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Emma's lifetime

In 1897, in the year that Emma Willard was born, on September 21st, editor and publisher Francis P. Church responded to a letter to the editor from Virginia O'Hanlon, 8 years old. Virginia's father had told her that "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." So she wrote to the Sun, asking if there was a Santa Claus. Church responded with the now famous editorial "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".

In 1928, she was 31 years old when Mickie Mouse was born! He first appeared in Disney's Steamboat Willie, along with Minnie. Although they were in two previous shorts, this was the first to be distributed. Steamboat Willie took advantage of the new technology and was a "talkie" - music was coordinated with the animation. It became the most popular cartoon of its day.

In 1935, she was 38 years old when on August 14, the Social Security Act was signed into law. The purpose was to "provide federal assistance to those unable to work". The law established the Social Security Administration whose primary focus was to "provide aid for the elderly, the unemployed, and children". The Act survived many Supreme Court challenges and the Administration continues until today.

In 1947, at the age of 50 years old, Emma was alive when in June, the Marshall Plan was proposed to help European nations recover economically from World War II. It passed the conservative Republican Congress in March of 1948. After World War I, the economic devastation of Germany caused by burdensome reparations payments led to the rise of Hitler. The Allies didn't want this to happen again and the Marshall Plan was devised to make sure that those conditions didn't arise again.

In 1976, in the year of Emma Willard's passing, on August 4th, a mysterious illness struck an American Legion convention in Philadelphia. Within a week, 25 people had died and 130 people had been hospitalized. It was the first known instance of what came to be called "Legionnaires Disease."