Stanley Armour Dunham
Encyclopedia
Stanley Armour Dunham was the maternal grandfather of U.S. President Barack Obama
. He and his wife Madelyn Payne Dunham
raised Obama from the age of 10 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
, the younger of two sons to Ralph Waldo Emerson Dunham, Sr. (December 25, 1894, Sumner County, Kansas
- October 4, 1970, Wichita, Kansas) and Ruth Lucille Armour (September 1, 1900, Illinois - November 25, 1926, Wichita, Kansas). His father's ancestors settled in Kempton, Indiana
in the 1840s, before relocating to Kansas. His parents were married on October 3, 1915 at a home on South Saint Francis St. in Wichita, and opened The Travelers' Cafe on William St. situated between the old firehouse and the old Wichita City Hall.
On November 25, 1926, at age 8, Dunham discovered his mother's body after she had committed suicide. Following his mother's suicide, his father placed Stanley and his older brother Ralph Emerson Dunham, Jr. in the care of their maternal grandparents in El Dorado, Kansas
. A rebellious teenager, Stanley allegedly punched his high school principal and spent some time drifting, hopping rail cars to Chicago, then California, then back again. Dunham married Madelyn Lee Payne
on May 5, 1940, the night of Madelyn's senior prom
.
on January 18, 1942, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and served in the European Theatre of World War II
with the 1830th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Company, Aviation. During D-Day, this unit helped to support the 9th Air Force. They were deployed in France six weeks after D-Day. Stanley’s older brother Ralph Emerson Dunham, great-uncle to Barack, landed at Normandy's Omaha
Easy Red beach on D-Day plus four. Before the Invasion of Normandy, the brothers once met accidentally while Stanley went in search of rations at the Hotel Russell
in London, where Ralph happened to be staying. Madelyn gave birth to a daughter they named Stanley Ann
, who was later known as Ann, at St. Francis Hospital in Wichita on November 29, 1942. During the war, Madelyn Dunham
worked on a Boeing B-29 assembly line in Wichita
.
and then eventually back to El Dorado, Kansas
, where Stanley managed a furniture store. In 1955, Stanley and Madelyn moved to Seattle, Washington
, where he worked as a salesman for the Standard-Grunbaum Furniture Company, and where their daughter Stanley Ann attended Eckstein Middle School. They lived in an apartment in the Wedgewood Estates in the Wedgwood, Seattle neighborhood. In 1956 they moved to the Shorewood Apartments on Mercer Island, a Seattle suburb, where they lived until 1960 and where their daughter Ann attended Mercer Island High School
. In 1957 Stanley began working for the Doces Majestic Furniture Company.
, where Stanley found a better furniture store opportunity, and Madelyn started working at the Bank of Hawaii
in 1960, and was promoted as one of the first female bank vice president
s in 1970. In 1970s Honolulu, both women and the minority white population were routinely the target of discrimination.
In Barack Obama
's memoir, Dreams From My Father
, he mentions, "One of my earliest memories is of sitting on my grandfather's shoulders as the astronauts from one of the Apollo missions arrived at Hickam Air Force Base after a successful splashdown." After the Obama marriage fell apart, the young Barack spent four years with his mother and stepfather
in Jakarta
, Indonesia
. He returned to Honolulu at age ten to live with his maternal grandparents in the Makiki
district and enrolled in the fifth grade at the Punahou School
. The tuition fees for the prestigious preparatory school
were paid with the aid of scholarships. Ann would later come back to Hawaii and pursue graduate studies; she eventually earned a PhD in anthropology
and went on to be employed on development projects in Indonesia and around the world helping impoverished women obtain microfinance
. When she returned to Indonesia in 1977 for her Masters' fieldwork, Obama stayed in the United States with his grandparents. Obama writes in his memoir, Dreams From My Father
, "I’d arrived at an unspoken pact with my grandparents: I could live with them and they'd leave me alone so long as I kept my trouble out of sight."
in 1992 and is interred in the Punchbowl National Cemetery. His widow Madelyn took care of their daughter in Hawaii in the months before Ann died in 1995 at age 52.
and Irish
and other European
ancestors who settled in the American colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The most recent native European ancestor was Falmouth Kearney, a farmer who emigrated from Moneygall
, County Offaly
, Ireland
, during the Great Irish Famine and settled in Jefferson Township, Tipton County, Indiana
, United States. Kearney's youngest daughter, Mary Ann (Kearney) Dunham, was Stanley Dunham's paternal grandmother.
Stanley Armour Dunham’s distant cousins include six US presidents: James Madison
, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter
, George H. W. Bush
and George W. Bush
. Through a common ancestor, Mareen Duvall
, a wealthy Huguenot
merchant who emigrated to Maryland
in the 1650s, Stanley Dunham is related to former Vice-President Dick Cheney
(an eighth cousin once removed). Through another common ancestor, Hans Gutknecht, a Swiss German from Bischwiller, Alsace whose three sons resettled in Germantown, Pennsylvania
as well as the Kentucky frontier in the mid-18th century, Stanley Dunham is President Harry S. Truman
's fourth cousin, twice removed.
Ancestry chart source: New England Historic Genealogical Society
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. He and his wife Madelyn Payne Dunham
Madelyn Dunham
Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham was the American maternal grandmother of Barack Obama, the 44th and current President of the United States of America...
raised Obama from the age of 10 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Early life
Dunham was born in Wichita, KansasWichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, the younger of two sons to Ralph Waldo Emerson Dunham, Sr. (December 25, 1894, Sumner County, Kansas
Sumner County, Kansas
Sumner County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 24,132 for the 2010 census. Its county seat is Wellington. Sumner County is part of the Wichita, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was named in honor of Charles Sumner, a U.S...
- October 4, 1970, Wichita, Kansas) and Ruth Lucille Armour (September 1, 1900, Illinois - November 25, 1926, Wichita, Kansas). His father's ancestors settled in Kempton, Indiana
Kempton, Indiana
Kempton is a town in Jefferson Township, Tipton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 335 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Kempton is located at ....
in the 1840s, before relocating to Kansas. His parents were married on October 3, 1915 at a home on South Saint Francis St. in Wichita, and opened The Travelers' Cafe on William St. situated between the old firehouse and the old Wichita City Hall.
On November 25, 1926, at age 8, Dunham discovered his mother's body after she had committed suicide. Following his mother's suicide, his father placed Stanley and his older brother Ralph Emerson Dunham, Jr. in the care of their maternal grandparents in El Dorado, Kansas
El Dorado, Kansas
El Dorado is a city situated along the Walnut River in the central part of Butler County, located in south-central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,021. It is the county seat and most populous city of Butler County...
. A rebellious teenager, Stanley allegedly punched his high school principal and spent some time drifting, hopping rail cars to Chicago, then California, then back again. Dunham married Madelyn Lee Payne
Madelyn Dunham
Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham was the American maternal grandmother of Barack Obama, the 44th and current President of the United States of America...
on May 5, 1940, the night of Madelyn's senior prom
Prom
In the United States and Canada, a prom, short for promenade, is a formal dance, or gathering of high school students. It is typically held near the end of the senior year. It figures greatly in popular culture and is a major event among high school students...
.
World War II
Dunham enlisted as a private in the U.S. ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
on January 18, 1942, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and served in the European Theatre of World War II
European Theatre of World War II
The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
with the 1830th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Company, Aviation. During D-Day, this unit helped to support the 9th Air Force. They were deployed in France six weeks after D-Day. Stanley’s older brother Ralph Emerson Dunham, great-uncle to Barack, landed at Normandy's Omaha
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
Easy Red beach on D-Day plus four. Before the Invasion of Normandy, the brothers once met accidentally while Stanley went in search of rations at the Hotel Russell
Hotel Russell
The Hotel Russell is a four star hotel, located on Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London, owned and operated by the Principal Hayley Group.The Hotel Russell was built in 1898 by the architect, Charles Fitzroy Doll. It is distinctively clad in decorative thé-au-lait terracotta, and was based on the...
in London, where Ralph happened to be staying. Madelyn gave birth to a daughter they named Stanley Ann
Ann Dunham
Stanley Ann Dunham , the mother of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, was an American anthropologist who specialized in economic anthropology and rural development. Dunham was nicknamed Anna, later known as Dr. Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro, and finally Ann Dunham Sutoro...
, who was later known as Ann, at St. Francis Hospital in Wichita on November 29, 1942. During the war, Madelyn Dunham
Madelyn Dunham
Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham was the American maternal grandmother of Barack Obama, the 44th and current President of the United States of America...
worked on a Boeing B-29 assembly line in Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
.
Post-World War II
After two years of military service in Europe (1943–1945), Dunham was discharged from the U.S. Army on August 30, 1945. After the war, the family moved to Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
and then eventually back to El Dorado, Kansas
El Dorado, Kansas
El Dorado is a city situated along the Walnut River in the central part of Butler County, located in south-central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,021. It is the county seat and most populous city of Butler County...
, where Stanley managed a furniture store. In 1955, Stanley and Madelyn moved to Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, where he worked as a salesman for the Standard-Grunbaum Furniture Company, and where their daughter Stanley Ann attended Eckstein Middle School. They lived in an apartment in the Wedgewood Estates in the Wedgwood, Seattle neighborhood. In 1956 they moved to the Shorewood Apartments on Mercer Island, a Seattle suburb, where they lived until 1960 and where their daughter Ann attended Mercer Island High School
Mercer Island High School
Mercer Island High School is a public high school located in Mercer Island, Washington in the U.S., as part of the Mercer Island School District....
. In 1957 Stanley began working for the Doces Majestic Furniture Company.
Hawaii
The Dunhams then moved to Honolulu, HawaiiHonolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
, where Stanley found a better furniture store opportunity, and Madelyn started working at the Bank of Hawaii
Bank of Hawaii
The Bank of Hawaii Corporation is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is Hawaii's second oldest bank and its largest locally owned bank in that majority of the voting stockholders reside within the state...
in 1960, and was promoted as one of the first female bank vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
s in 1970. In 1970s Honolulu, both women and the minority white population were routinely the target of discrimination.
In Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's memoir, Dreams From My Father
Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by United States President Barack Obama. It was first published in July 1995 as he was preparing to launch his political career, five years after being elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review in...
, he mentions, "One of my earliest memories is of sitting on my grandfather's shoulders as the astronauts from one of the Apollo missions arrived at Hickam Air Force Base after a successful splashdown." After the Obama marriage fell apart, the young Barack spent four years with his mother and stepfather
Lolo Soetoro
Lolo Soetoro, also known as Lolo Soetoro Mangunharjo or Mangundikardjo, was the Indonesian stepfather of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America.-Early life and education:...
in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. He returned to Honolulu at age ten to live with his maternal grandparents in the Makiki
Makiki
Makiki is an area of Honolulu, Hawaii located northeast of downtown Honolulu generally stretching east to west from Punahou Street to Pensacola Street and north to south from Round Top Drive/Makiki Heights Drive to Lunalilo Freeway. Punchbowl, an extinct tuff cone, and Tantalus, tower over the...
district and enrolled in the fifth grade at the Punahou School
Punahou School
Punahou School, once known as Oahu College, is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Honolulu CDP, City and County of Honolulu in the U.S. State of Hawaii...
. The tuition fees for the prestigious preparatory school
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
were paid with the aid of scholarships. Ann would later come back to Hawaii and pursue graduate studies; she eventually earned a PhD in anthropology
Cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans, collecting data about the impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural realities. Anthropologists use a variety of methods, including participant observation,...
and went on to be employed on development projects in Indonesia and around the world helping impoverished women obtain microfinance
Microfinance
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
. When she returned to Indonesia in 1977 for her Masters' fieldwork, Obama stayed in the United States with his grandparents. Obama writes in his memoir, Dreams From My Father
Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by United States President Barack Obama. It was first published in July 1995 as he was preparing to launch his political career, five years after being elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review in...
, "I’d arrived at an unspoken pact with my grandparents: I could live with them and they'd leave me alone so long as I kept my trouble out of sight."
Death
Dunham died in Honolulu, HawaiiHonolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
in 1992 and is interred in the Punchbowl National Cemetery. His widow Madelyn took care of their daughter in Hawaii in the months before Ann died in 1995 at age 52.
Ancestry
Dunham's heritage consists of EnglishEnglish American
English Americans are citizens or residents of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England....
and Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
and other European
European American
A European American is a citizen or resident of the United States who has origins in any of the original peoples of Europe...
ancestors who settled in the American colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The most recent native European ancestor was Falmouth Kearney, a farmer who emigrated from Moneygall
Moneygall
Moneygall is a small village on the border of counties Offaly and North Tipperary, in Ireland. It is situated on the R445 road between Dublin and Limerick. At the time of the 2006 census, the village had a population of 298. Moneygall has a Catholic church, five shops, a post office, a national...
, County Offaly
County Offaly
County Offaly is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Offaly County Council is...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, during the Great Irish Famine and settled in Jefferson Township, Tipton County, Indiana
Jefferson Township, Tipton County, Indiana
Jefferson Township is one of six townships in Tipton County, Indiana, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 1,486.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, Jefferson Township covers an area of .-Unincorporated towns:...
, United States. Kearney's youngest daughter, Mary Ann (Kearney) Dunham, was Stanley Dunham's paternal grandmother.
Stanley Armour Dunham’s distant cousins include six US presidents: James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Through a common ancestor, Mareen Duvall
Mareen Duvall
Mareen Duvall was a French Huguenot and an early American settler.-Background:He was born Marin duVal, at Nantes, France in 1625 and arrived in the Province of Maryland on August 28, 1650...
, a wealthy Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
merchant who emigrated to Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
in the 1650s, Stanley Dunham is related to former Vice-President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
(an eighth cousin once removed). Through another common ancestor, Hans Gutknecht, a Swiss German from Bischwiller, Alsace whose three sons resettled in Germantown, Pennsylvania
Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Germantown is a neighborhood in the northwest section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, about 7–8 miles northwest from the center of the city...
as well as the Kentucky frontier in the mid-18th century, Stanley Dunham is President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
's fourth cousin, twice removed.
Ancestry chart source: New England Historic Genealogical Society
New England Historic Genealogical Society
The New England Historic Genealogical Society is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845. A charitable, nonprofit educational institution, NEHGS is located at 99-101 Newbury Street, in Boston, Massachusetts, in an eight-story archive and research center....
External links
- "Family precedent: Obama's grandmother blazed trails'" USA Today, April 8, 2008
- "Remembering Madelyn Dunham" Honolulu AdvertiserHonolulu AdvertiserThe Honolulu Advertiser was a daily newspaper published in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the largest daily newspaper in the American state of Hawaii. It published daily with special Sunday and Internet editions...
, November 15, 2008, includes photo gallery and memorial service video