Frances Blakemore
Frances Blakemore (1906 – 1997; also published as Frances Baker and Frances Wismer) was an American-born artist, writer, curator, and art collector who spent more than 50 years of her life in Japan. Early life and career She was born Frances Lee Wismer in Pana, Illinois, to George Wismer, a German immigrant, and his wife Emma. In 1908, after her father won 80 acres of homestead land in a lottery, the Wismer family moved to Spokane, Washington, and opened a lunchroom. Her father died in a car accident in 1915, when Frances was nine years old. Her mother later remarried and moved the family to Mabton, Washington. Frances graduated from high school in 1924. She worked her way through the University of Washington, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1935. During her more than ten years as a part-time student, she taught private art classes, worked as a substitute art teacher at the university, sold handmade jewelry, illustrated children's books, and designed graphic art for ...
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Pana, Illinois
Pana is a small town in Christian County, Illinois, United States. A small portion is in Shelby County. The population was 5,199 at the 2020 census. History The area around Pana was first organized as Stone Coal Precinct in 1845. The county's precincts became townships in 1856, and Stone Coal Precinct became Pana Township, Christian County, Illinois. In 1856, the village of Pana was incorporated. The name "Pana" is believed to have been derived from the indigenous tribe, the Pawnee. It developed at the intersection of east–west and north–south railroads, and had supplies of fuel and water for the steam engines of the railroad. This became a center of coal mining in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In April 1899 what is known as the Pana riot broke out after a violent confrontation between black and white miners. Initially a white man was killed (by a policeman, it was later discovered), and white union miners attacked black replacement workers who had been recruite ...
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