Hastings, Jane Hope, 1902-

Jane Hope Hastings was born Katherine Kelenen in Budapest, Hungary, on April 16, 1902. Her mother and father left for the United States in 1907 or 1908, leaving their three daughters in convents. A year later the girls left with an older cousin, landed at Ellis Island, and took a train to join their parents in St. Louis, Missouri. Shortly thereafter, Hastings' father returned to Hungary and her mother eventually remarried. When Hastings graduated from high school she immediately left for New York City to pursue an acting career. She changed her name to "Jane Hope," a nickname given her while she was auditioning. She soon got involved with the Columbia Laboratory Players of Columbia University's drama department, appearing in several plays and becoming an understudy for stage director David Belasco's productions. Her marriage to the writer Parkhurst Whitney, however, ended her acting career, and she began to do publicity work for the publishing company J.H. Sears to supplement their income. In 1941, with her marriage failing, Hastings took the advice of a friend and applied for a position with the newly formed United Service Organizations (USO) through the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), one of the six agencies responsible for the USO. Her first assignment after a brief training was in Falmouth, Massachusetts, to direct the USO for Camp Edwards. She subsequently served for 14 years with the USO in Alaska, Brazil, and Puerto Rico, among other assignments. She retired from the USO in 1955, and was later married to Harold J. Bennett and George Sands Hastings. Jane Hope Hastings died in Connecticut in 2006.