My great-great-grandmother Nancy Henderson was the eldest of several motherless children raised by the dashing, soldier-turned-frontiersman, Hezekiah Henderson. Tragically, Nancy’s mother died giving birth to her on the shores of the Wabash River in 1861, the same year the Civil War began. Hezekiah, a decorated Black Hawk War veteran, likely left baby Nancy with relatives to serve in the war. When the war ended, he retrieved his young daughter and journeyed westward in search of new opportunities. By the time they reached Algona, Iowa, Nancy had traveled for weeks—either jostled on a wagon or walking alongside it.

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Peggy Guggenheim was a woman of art, audacity and adventure who was used to making headlines and pioneering her own path. One of her enduring legacies is the role she played shining the light and exposing Europeans to new American art at the 1948 Venice Biennale.
After a 6-year hiatus, due to the second world war, the Biennale recommenced in 1948 with many empty international pavilions. Lots of countries were struggling with their own economic scars and unable to participate. Peggy, a wealthy American with a unique gallery of contemporary art in New York City, was invited to curate a show of her collection in the empty pavilion belonging to Greece.