Getrude Fitzgerald with Children - El Paso, Texas

The image shows Gertrude Fitzgerald with two of her Children. She was born April 1, 1876 in Fulton, Illinois, and married the engineer Benjamin Fitzgerald in 1896. His job led the family to various locations in Latin America, especially in Mexico. During that time, Gertrude became interested in photography and started to take pictures of her family and the people and places where she lived. After the beginning of the revolution in 1910, Gertrude and the children, Nellie and Gerald, became refugees from the turmoil. They finally left Mexico in 1915 and moved to El Paso, Texas, where the status of the family soon changed. Benjamin Fitzgerald could not find work in the area and left to work for his father in Louisiana. Because of health problems Gertrude stayed in El Paso. The couple separated permanently in 1916. Gertrude found no market for her photography, but continued taking pictures. In El Paso she worked in retail businesses including the Popular Dry Goods Company and the White House. Gertrude Fitzgerald died on September 26, 1956 in El Paso, Texas.

Area: Central / Downtown