Family Photograph 26

1916

This is the last picture of the Stember family before Natalia and son Victor ( age three) left Russia for America. Natalia's husband was working in New York selling tractors made in Russia and heard of the impending Revolution in Russia. He contacted Natalia and told her to come with Victor to New York to wait out the war and then they would come back.  It was not to be of course and the Karlovich Voinov family of Russia became the Charles Warren family of America. Charles lost his Russian tractor selling job and played piano at the silent movies to support his family until he secured an administrative position at a bank in NYC.  He died at age 53 of a heart attack walking home from the bank one day. Natalia became involved with the theater and when the wife of the artist, Nadja Stember, later came to America to join the Warrens, she sewed costumes for the theaters in NYC.

The artwork that can be seen in this photo is of the daughter also named Nadja in 1914 in a white blouse #95 and #213 the Van Dyke reproduction. The back of a nude is #218. 

Great-Grandmother is shown here in her uniform of the head nurse for a hospital for wounded soldiers.  She was a volunteer and worked alongside the Empress Alexandra and two of her daughters.  

The following is an excerpt from her diary describing the events during World War One.

Page 112-113: 'I quickly volunteered, finished the course, and was immediately assigned to the New Hospital in Tsarskoye Selo.  The New Hospital was one of the royal palaces hurriedly equipped as a hospital and presided over by her Majesty, the Empress. Her two daughters, the Princesses Olga and Tatiana were two of the nurses there.  It was run very efficiently...................Since I was particularly adept at complicated bandaging, I was assigned to this duty. Princess Tatiana liked to help me and we became a very good team.  She was a charming person,,,intelligent, modest and seriously regarded her work, forgetting that she was the Tsar's daughter.  She had no aversion to any kind of work.'