Lives are lived in layers–historic, cultural, media, material, political and environmental layers surround us and influence what we can and can’t do. 

Michael and Ella McLaughlin were both children of Irish immigrants who came to 

America during the 19th century Great Irish Famine. Despite their humble roots, Michael and Ella founded an international company that produced great wealth along with the opportunity play golf at prestigious clubs. Michael McLaughlin won the Pebble Beach Golden Vase tournament three times: 1920, 1921, and 1923. No one had done that before. No one has done it since. Ella, also a golfer, won several women’s tournaments, including the Colorado Women’s Golf championship in 1919.

We can understand how these two people did the improbable by examining the layers of their lives.

• Layer 1: The time in which the McLaughlins lived: 1880 – 1940
•  Layer 2: The eras in which the McLaughlins lived:
  • The Progressive Era 1890 – 1920
  •  Great Depression 1929 – 1939
• Layer 3: Why Ella and Michael McLaughlin’s story matters today.