Researching an old family photo...
Hello! I am researching an old family photo that my family has but no one is sure what/who this photo is of. Some of the basic information we do know about our ancestry is:
1. My Great-Grandmother was born Prešov, Slovakia around 1893 and arrived in the U.S. (settling in Pennsylvania) in 1910. She married my great-grandfather (who arrived in the US from Slovakia in 1907) in 1911. Most of my ancestors in Pennsylvania were coal miners. You can see some insignias, although they are quite blurry, on some of the men's uniforms in this photo...that I think could help identify what group they were a part of and thus help us figure out which of our ancestors this is a photo of. Can anyone help with ideas about this photo?
Here is a link to the image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K_B0UjAsskN-Npgdyw5aoMWCqqWOX4FB/view?…
Thanks in advance for any help or insights!
Hi Will,
AI suggests this photo dates from around 1910-1915, partly based on clothing, specifically citing the boy's large bow tie and the girl's oversized hairbow. AI also locates the photo as most likely in the US in a state like (specifically mentioning) Pennsylvania or Ohio, due to the architecture. observing that the wooden porch attached to a brick building and the decorative screen door are characteristic of North American working-class or industrial towns in the early 20th century. Do you have any family in your tree who had three children all under the age of say eight during 1910-1920? Did either your great-grandmother or great-grandfather have brothers who also lived in the same area around that time? My assumption is that the woman is the mother of the children, one of the men is the father, and the other men might be brothers of either the mother or the father. It's at least a starting point.
You might contact historical societies in the area of PA where your great-grandparents lived for help in identifying the uniforms.
I highly recommend you contact Lisa Alzo, a professional genealogist with Slovak roots in PA -- she just might be able to identify the uniforms (from a band? fraternal organization?) or give you ideas of other PA resources. Lisa has published two possibly relevant Arcadia books -- Slovak Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh's Immigrants -- and has given many well-received presentations at our CGSI conferences. I'm sure would be happy to help. Here's her website: https://lisaalzo.com/
carol