One of our ongoing projects is to scan and research each image in our photograph collections. Most of the time, this is relatively (no pun intended) easy.
The majority of our Hostetler glass negatives, for example, came with an original envelope that usually included the name of the person who ordered the images (but who may not necessarily be the person in the image). We take this name—plus any other information on the envelope, the dress, apparent age, and props of the photograph subjects, and the approximate dates of the images in the same carton—and use our genealogical and historical resources to find out more about the person(s) in the picture.
Much of this effort can be viewed at the Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive.
But sometimes, despite our best efforts, “no definitive information” can be located.
So we’ve decided to try a new feature: Have You Seen . . . ?
Every so often, we’re going to post the image (and available information) of a person, place, or thing about which we would like to know more. We would like to invite you to take a good look, and if you have any information, to please share in the comments or through our website. If the information is confirmed, we will do a follow up post and award you permanent bragging rights to your excellent sleuthing skills.
Our first subject today a mother and child who had their photograph taken by the Hostetler Studio in Davenport, Iowa, mostly likely between 1900 and 1910. The negatives were numbered x1178 by the studio and labeled Cabel, Don:
There are four negatives of mother and child. We’ve cropped and enlarged one of them to feature the faces:
Does anyone recognize the mother, the christening blanket, facial features, or some other detail? We would love to know!
