Open case
Who sat beneath this chandelier?
Pointed arches, individual seats, and an enormous chandelier. A Ripple Bros. stereograph gives us a room, but no secure name or purpose.
Read the caseThe Uncaptioned Past
Historical photographs. Open questions.
Evidence worth following.
IdentifiedA mill, a missing name,
A mill, a missing name,
and an answer from home.
A photograph labelled “possibly a mill” finds a name in Swanzey, New Hampshire, thanks to a local historical society.
Identification by Katharine (Kathy) Schillemat
Historical Society of Cheshire County
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Probable identification
The home he dreamed of
An unnamed soldier wrote of hospital work and a future with Frankie. An overlooked biography points to Richard H. Johnston.
Read the case
Identified
The tower beside the dome
A square tower, a pale dome and a period map place an uncaptioned stereograph at Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exhibition.
Read the caseThe past does not always
come with a caption.
We investigate unidentified photographs and other archival mysteries, tracing what can be known and keeping a record of what cannot.
An identification belongs beside its evidence. A good question deserves a place here, too.
How we work