Tag Archives: Photographs

A research exercise updated

October 13, 2015American History, Collections, Research MethodsA Genealogist's Diary, Critical Analysis, Object Lessons, PhotographsScott C. Steward

Nine Vita Brevis readers took the plunge and sent in a set of complete answers to Monday’s research challenge. Thank you all for participating!

The winner had ten answers correct out of eleven; not a single person identified Monroe Salisbury (1876–1935), who played the second-billed Earl of Kerhill in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1914 western The Squaw Man.[1] Only one person correctly identified Milton Sills (1882–1930) as Gloria Swanson’s co-star in The Great Moment (1921); the general feeling among respondents was that Wallace Reid (1891–1923), who acted with Swanson in DeMille’s The Affairs of Anatol and Sam Wood’s Don’t Tell Everything (both 1921), was the man in the picture. Continue reading A research exercise updated →

A research exercise

October 12, 2015American History, Collections, Research Methods, TechnologyA Genealogist's Diary, Brick Walls, Critical Analysis, Object Lessons, PhotographsScott C. Steward

I tried this for July 4, and thought it might be fun to try it again: I have several photos of Hollywood actors and actresses associated with a director and a film, and I wonder if some Vita Brevis readers can square the circle and identify the photos’ subjects. Continue reading A research exercise →

The horse he rode in on

October 5, 2015American History, Family Stories, Genealogical WritingBrick Walls, Critical Analysis, Family papers, Family stories, Object Lessons, Photographs, SerendipityJan Doerr

Every family history researcher hopes diligence and persistence will bring forth enough details of an ancestor’s life to fill out a void on the family tree. There is always hope that serendipity will produce unexpected history gold in letters, diaries, or journals. Charles Merrill Lee (1860–1887) is one of those relatives who stand in the background of family research until the odd paper comes to hand or an old memory nags at the brain.

My grandmother always called him “Uncle Charlie.” Born in Maine, Charlie was four years younger than her father Fred Lee. Uncle Charlie was seldom mentioned, in my presence anyway, and usually in regretful tones. My questions were unanswered, and a search of the usual public records yielded little information. Continue reading The horse he rode in on →

A family of photographers

September 22, 2015American History, Family Stories, Research MethodsA Genealogist's Diary, Critical Analysis, Family stories, Object Lessons, Photographs, SpotlightScott C. Steward

Canon Inc — Franchot Tone filming “Trail of the Vigilantes” (1940). Photo by Roman Freulich

One of the pleasures of collecting old photographs is the (perhaps unsurprising) genealogical content they embody – or maybe that’s just me. The focus of my recent collecting has been Hollywood photographs of the 1910s, ‘20s, ‘30s, ‘40s, and even ‘50s; I find my interest drops off at about 1960. To some extent, my collection process is driven by the genealogist in me, as I like to buy images of Hollywood wives (and their husbands) or husbands (and their wives). For someone like Joan Crawford, who married three of her co-stars, such a policy leads quickly to further purchases. Continue reading A family of photographers →

What’s in a photo?

September 17, 2015American History, Collections, Family Stories, Research MethodsCritical Analysis, Family papers, Family stories, Object Lessons, Photographs, Research tips, SpotlightPenny Stratton

Ella 1 — Click on the images to expand them.

I have been looking at lots and lots of photos lately – mostly of my mother-in-law, Ella Mabel Corke. Her recent death at 99 – almost 100 – prompted a sifting of hundreds of photos. Ella’s family always seemed to have a camera at the ready, so her long, full life is well documented pictorially. I found myself studying two particular photos closely. Continue reading What’s in a photo? →

The figure in the photograph

September 3, 2015American History, CollectionsBrick Walls, Critical Analysis, Family papers, Object Lessons, Photographs, Research tipsJan Doerr

Recently, while going through my family’s photos and albums, I laid out the various tintypes, cabinet cards, ambrotypes, albumen prints, and daguerreotypes on a long family tree chart drawn on paper and covering my dining table. I placed a tintype or daguerreotype next to each name. One cabinet card – of a pretty woman posing for her portrait, the hoop a faint outline supporting her skirt – crept into my hand, although I had no place to put it.

I have no idea who she is. Continue reading The figure in the photograph →

Remember me as I was

August 24, 2015Family StoriesCritical Analysis, Family stories, Object Lessons, PhotographsJean Powers

Jean 1 — Joan Whitty, St. Mary of the Annunciation School graduation photo, circa 1951.

When my mother was diagnosed with ALS in 2009, our family had the first of many discussions about her end-of-life plans. Never one to shy away from difficult topics, Mom expressed her wishes with characteristic cheerful directness. She wanted everything done with the least fuss and greatest economy.

The one decision that gave her pause was the photo to accompany her obituary. She didn’t want to be remembered as she looked in the late stages of ALS, but she also felt it would be “phony” to run a photo of herself in young adulthood, before marriage and motherhood. And from this question came a series of conversations between myself and my mother that I carry with me as my own appearance changes along with my sense of who I am. Continue reading Remember me as I was →

A serious young couple

August 21, 2015American History, Collections, Family StoriesA Genealogist's Diary, Family papers, Family stories, Object Lessons, PhotographsScott C. Steward

Among the prizes in my grandfather’s box of family papers is a small double daguerreotype case containing images of my great-great-grandparents, Gilbert Livingston Beeckman (1824–1874) and Margaret Atherton Foster (1832–1904). While I have seen several images of Mrs. Beeckman, including a Fagnani pastel of her as a young bride, I have no other representation of G. L. (or G. Livingston) Beeckman, for whom my grandfather Gilbert Livingston Steward was named. Continue reading A serious young couple →

A letter from home

August 20, 2015American History, Collections, Family StoriesA Genealogist's Diary, African American Research, Critical Analysis, Family papers, Family stories, Object Lessons, PhotographsScott C. Steward

One of the envelopes in my box of family papers turns out to contain material on my great-grandfather Campbell Steward (1852–1936) as a boy, as well as a letter written to his married daughter in Europe shortly before his death. Another item caught my eye: a vivid yellow envelope addressed to “Mr. Campbell Steward” in New York City, with a letter inside mailed from Goshen, New York, and dated 12 January 1871. Continue reading A letter from home →

A great spectacle

August 10, 2015American History, Collections, Research MethodsA Genealogist's Diary, Brick Walls, Critical Analysis, Object Lessons, Photographs, SpotlightScott C. Steward

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) was one of the great spectacles of the silent period; it was also one of the first movies to be produced by the newly amalgamated Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer film corporation. The uncredited cast list reads like a Hollywood Who’s Who of the 1920s (and later): among the (future) stars said to have participated in the film are John and Lionel Barrymore, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Marion Davies, Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.), Clark Gable, Janet Gaynor, John Gilbert, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Harold Lloyd, Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy, Colleen Moore, Mary Pickford, Sally Rand, and Fay Wray.[1] Continue reading A great spectacle →