Tragic Mother’s Day

Jacksonville native to talk about parents’ abusive relationship.

JACKSONVILLE, IL – Jacksonville native Nan Hocking-McDonough will show her documentary, “Mother’s Day,” about the abusive relationship between her father, a former Jacksonville mayor, and her mother. “Mother’s Day” is a daughter’s effort to give voice to the silencing and suffering her mother endured.

 The presentation is the next in the MacMurray College Speakers Series, “Perspectives on Social Justice.” It will be 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25 at the Thoresen Recital Hall in the Springer/Putnam Center. Springer/Putnam is on the southeast corner of Clay and State streets in Jacksonville on the MacMurray College campus. The event is free and open to the public.

 Her father, Milt Hocking, a former mayor of Jacksonville, and her mother, Phyllis, lived in an abusive relationship for almost four decades. Her mother’s suicide on Mother’s Day 1984 also resulted in the accidental death of her father at their home. Dr. Hocking-McDounough, a faculty member and administrator at Cambridge (Mass.) College, will discuss the documentary and domestic abuse in general will answer questions. “Mother’s Day” will also be available for sale.

Request interpreting services 72 hours prior to event at dss@mac.edu or call 217.479.7123.

Click here for the full Speakers Series lineup.