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Rozanne Robertson - Family Memories
Rozanne (Posy) Robertson earned a business administration degree from Northwestern University in 1952, and was a pioneering woman in industry and business management during the 1950s through the 1980s. She worked for a variety of businesses and industries during those years in the greater Chicago area, including Ethicon, Coleman Instruments, G.D. Searle and Boise Cascade, and also did private consulting work. She next worked for the Curtis Mathes Corporation in east Texas as its human resource vice president, then moved to Bloomington with her husband to operate a Curtis Mathes Rent to Own store. Along the way, she often encountered resistance and resentment from some of the male executives with which she worked, but had a very satisfying career none-the-less.
Interview Links
Feature Excerpt
Dirty Jokes
Abstract
Interview Session 01 (Audio)
Growing up in Springfield in the 1930s & 40s, and Northwestern U.
Interview Session 02 (Audio)
Life as a young woman in business management during the 1950s, ’60 & ‘70s
Interview Session 03 (Audio)
Career as a Human Resource manager, successful marriages & retirement
Photos
Caption
Posy Overaker as a young girl while she lived in Springfield in the mid-1930s.
Where:
Unknown
When:
1930s
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Posy Robertson at age fourteen while her family lived in Springfield, Illinois.
Where:
Springfield, IL
When:
1940s
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Posy Robertson at age fourteen while her family lived in Springfield, Illinois.
Where:
Springfield, IL
When:
1940s
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Rozanne ‘Posy’ Overaker’s high school graduation photograph. She attended Springfield High School, only blocks from the state capitol, and graduated in 1948.
Where:
Springfield, IL
When:
1948
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Posy Overaker’s sorority photo. She belonged to the Alpha Chi Omega sorority while attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois from 1948 through 1952.
Where:
Evanston, IL
When:
1948
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Posy Overaker, posing at the Northwestern University swimming pool in 1950, was to be featured in a Life Magazine article about swimming that was never published.
Where:
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
When:
1950
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
This photo of Posy Overaker was taken circa 1950 by a Life Magazine photographer for a planned article about swimming that was never published. Posy did the photo shoot at the Northwestern University swimming pool.
Where:
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
When:
1950
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
David Robertson and Posy Overaker shared a playful moment together while standing on the stairwell at David’s parents’ home in Wilmette, Illinois during the years Posy was attending Northwestern University.
Where:
Wilmette, IL
When:
1950
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Posy earned her MBA Degree from Northwestern University in 1960 and living in Chicago where she was pursuing her career as a young business woman in a largely man’s world.
Where:
Unknown
When:
1960
Ownership:
May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.
Caption
Posy and Ed Kowalczyk on their wedding day in 1971. The two were married in Chicago, Illinois.
Where:
Chicago, IL
When:
1971
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Bim and Posy Flatt relax over dinner with another couple during their cruise down the Amazon in 1994.
Where:
Unknown
When:
1994
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Posy with her aunt Rozanne (Roxie) Parker Kemp and her niece and namesake Rozanne Hadeler Overaker, the daughter of Posy’s brother John and his wife Martha Hadeler in 1995. They were celebrating Roxie’s 90th birthday in Bloomington, Illinois.
Where:
Bloomington, IL
When:
1995
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Posy Flatt took a memorable trip to China in 1997. She is crouching behind the sign during her tour group’s visit to the Tai He Dian Hall Palace in Beijing’s Forbidden City.
Where:
Beijing, China
When:
1997
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Bim and Posy Flatt with Posy’s stepson Mark, from her first marriage with Ed Kowalczyk and Mark’s wife Pattie, while the young couple visited with Posy and Bim in Florida.
Where:
Florida
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Posy and Bim Flatt visited the Key Colony Inn Restaurant in the Florida Keys during their many years living in the Keys.
Where:
Unknown
When:
2000s
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Bim and Posy Flatt owned the yacht “Sandman” during their years living in the Florida Keys in the early to mid-2000s. The traveled throughout the Caribbean as well as the American coastline.
Where:
Unknown
When:
2000s
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Posy Flatt enjoyed her time in the galley of her and Bim’s boat, “the Sandman” during Posy’s years in the Florida Keys.
Where:
Unknown
When:
2000s
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Posy Flatt enjoyed her time in the galley of her and Bim’s boat, “the Sandman” during Posy’s years in the Florida Keys.
Where:
Unknown
When:
2000s
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Rozanne Robertson spent thousands of hours working on transcripts from the ALPL oral history collection, mostly as an editor. Here she is at one of the oral history work stations in the Presidential Library in October 2010.
Where:
Springfield, IL
When:
October, 2010
Ownership:
ALPL Oral History Program Photo
Caption
Rozanne Robertson is joined in Chicago by Mike Czaplicki, one of the project’s interviews as well as chief editor, Mike’s daughter Freya, and Mark DePue, Director of Oral History in June 12, 2017. She was a generous supporter of the Thompson project.
Where:
Chicago, IL
When:
June 12, 2017
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Posy with her third husband, David Robertson during a visit to Allerton Park, Illinois in 2017. She and David had dated while she was a coed at Northwestern.
Where:
Allerton Park, IL
When:
2017
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo
Caption
Posy Robertson attended the Springfield Carillon’s annual festival with her Pastor and his family in June 2018. From left to right are Martin’s wife Angela, daughter Celeste, Posy and Martin.
Where:
Springfield, IL
When:
June 2018
Ownership:
Narrator's Photo