Westward. Encounters with Swiss American Women
In the second part of the book four portraits feature the unique world of women from the 18th and 19th centuries. Surviving letters and pictures that Leo Schelbert and others had gathered made these encounters possible. His concluding essay sketches the status of American women in the 20th century and the world in which the women portrayed have shaped their lives.
From the start my project met with genuine interest and much support. My acknowledgements list all the wonderful people and generous institutions without whose help this book could never have been done.
I want to thank cordially above all Leo Schelbert, my wonderful and kind friend and mentor. During the whole project he has laid out the red carpet. During all of its phases he accompanied me on the journey despite the spatial distance. He or his wife Virginia accompanied me on the interview trips across America, and in their house in Evanston they extended their generous hospitality.
Heartfelt thanks also to my husband Jürg who stood by me throughout all the storms of this ambitious project and remained tolerant and truly patient, wise, and supportive. I thank my daughters Annina and Catherina for their joyful accompaniment on my trips, and to Annina especially, for the pictures she took of the women portrayed in the book. As my first reader, Mirjam Weiss always encouraged me and critically reviewed my texts. In the midst of the project Walti Graf Chiriboga passed away whose friendly suggestions were most useful to me. A special thank you also goes to the American-Swiss graphic artist Anna Taylor, who created the book’s masterful design, to Rita Emch and Wendy Everham who served as copy editors of the English edition, and to the dedicated translators Sr. Marianne Burkhard OSB and Leo Schelbert who, as the book editor of the Swiss American Historical Society, also monitored the preparation of the English edition.