The Grande Tour: A United States Department of the Army’s Civilian Career and Travel Experiences in Europe Following World War II, June

In 1949, a twenty-six-year-old Iowa farm girl named Nita Farrier accepts a position as secretary to the Allied Occupation Force in Vienna, Austria. During her time off, she travels extensively throughout Europe, experiencing and recording in her journals the sights and sounds of Europe s most exciting cities. From the Viennese opera where she observes audience members enjoying wine, sausage, and bread during the performance (all the while the performers shoes are squeaking with every movement) to the homesickness that she felt acutely during holidays abroad, her journals describe her experiences in wonderful emotional and sensory detail. She was also a direct witness to many important historical events of the day, keeping minutes at many of the fourpower conferences. The Grande Tour offers a glimpse into the daily life of post World War II Europe through the eyes of a young civilian woman. Her keen observations provide firsthand insight into the events that followed World War II and European culture of that era."

Beginning in 1949, Nita Farrier lived in Europe for two and a half years, serving as a secretary to the US Occupation Forces in Vienna, Austria. Following her death in 2001, the journals of her travels and experiences in Europe were discovered in a loose-leaf notebook. The Grande Tour is a compilation of her journals. Nita began her interest in genealogy at about the age of 25, sparked by a journal kept by her belated mother titled ＂Reminiscences.＂ She became a life-long devotee of the science of genealogic research, seeing herself a much cooler ＂Columbo,＂ unraveling the confluences of societal and family history. In retirement she dedicated a room in her house as the ＂archives,＂ her office from which she perfected her research and published several family histories for distribution. An active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, as well as the Charlotte County Genealogic Society, Nita was passionate about her participation and leadership. She served as editor of the publication ＂Geneagram＂ for eight years. She was awarded the Martha Washington medal by the Sons of the American Revolution for her support, and the William E. Christian award for communications by the genealogic society.