As a follow-up to my first post at Vita Brevis, back in early January, I am happy to report that a likely photograph of my great-grandfather Edward Hughes Glidden (1873-1924) has surfaced – but, initially (and tantalizingly), an accident to the glass plate meant that his face was obscured.
The caption for the photograph reads ”1920. Man in Overcoat walking by Homewood Apartments. Man could be Lt. Glidden, architect and resident of Homewood apts.” on North Charles Street in Baltimore. According to the collection’s online catalogue, the captioner provided the identification for the photograph’s subject, and I wonder if the original notation was for E. H. Glidden, the name he most often used professionally.
With his partner, Clyde Nelson Friz, my great-grandfather built the Homewood Apartments in two stages, between 1910 and 1913. Once construction was completed, the Gliddens – including my grandmother, who was married from the Homewood in 1925 – moved into the building, and it was there that E. H. Glidden died at the age of 51 almost ninety years ago.
I am grateful for the kindness of Susan Graham of Special Collections at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who undertook to have the tape removed to show its subject’s face, as well as the jagged break in the glass negative that required taping to stabilize the image.
I think I spy something of my great-uncle Ted Glidden’s features in his face. He has a prosperous look, this mystery man, with his bemused sidelong look at the photographer. I would be glad to claim him as my own.
With luck, other photos will turn up with Glidden positively identified; in any case, having other pictures to compare with this one would make the identification more water tight. Stay tuned – I hope there will be more to report!
Well done Scott, well done.
Thanks, Jeff!
Fascinating photo detective work, and conservation! Thanks!
Thank you, Trink!
What an amazing restoration! Your great grandfather is my fifth cousin three times removed.
Really? Are you also a Glidden of Newcastle?
My grandmother was Rosella Augusta Glidden, descended from Lyman Joseph Glidden, Sylvester S. Glidden, Charles Glidden 1801-1889, Simeon Glidden, Deacon John Glidden, Richard Glidden, Captain Richard Glidden, Charles Glidden, then Richard Glidden.
Nicely done! I had even better luck last summer, when a kind gentleman from Indiana contacted me regarding a cabinet album he had purchased. He was going to use the photographs for decoration in his home office, but decided to try to return it to a relative when he discovered that many of the more than 50 pictures were labeled on the back. He mailed it to me and refused payment of any kind (wouldn’t even be reimbursed for postage). In it I found the only photograph any one in my family has ever seen of my second great-grandmother Adeline Mann Farrington (1832 – 1900)! Also the only photograph we’ve seen of my great-grandmother’s brother Hugh B. Farrington (1870 – 1902) and his wife Bertha Jane Skinner (1873 – 1918), all of Valparaiso, Porter, IN. Kindness, decency, and generosity still exist!
Wonderful, that glass plate only was broken near his hat so no piecing together of his face made it very clear of him. How fortunate it wasn’t just thrown away, so many glass plates are when re-productions of them are often so perfect. Mary G.
You wouldn’t happen to have information on his business partner, Clyde Nelson Friz, would you? I’m a relative and have been looking for further information on my family.
Christine, I don’t have much, other than what I’ve found online. Anna Clarkson’s blog Tuscany-Canterbury Architecture (https://tuscanycanterbury.wordpress.com/category/clyde-nelson-friz/) was a help as I was researching Glidden and Friz’s partnership.
Christine – I have been trying to track down a relative!!! I have documented over 140 projects that he was associated with – most in Maryland but some in Texas. Love to connect!
Jillian, I’m Christine’s sister and I’ve just recently been looking into Friz history myself. It would be great to connect and see if the three of us could help each other fill in any details!