{"id":11751,"date":"2015-10-27T11:10:15","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T15:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=11751"},"modified":"2015-10-27T11:10:15","modified_gmt":"2015-10-27T15:10:15","slug":"is-that-my-dad-newspapers-solve-an-old-photo-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/is-that-my-dad-newspapers-solve-an-old-photo-mystery.html","title":{"rendered":"Is That My Dad? Newspapers Solve an Old Photo Mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like many of you, I am actively on Facebook. I particularly like a group that posts items from the history of Springdale, Connecticut. Springdale is a section of Stamford, Connecticut; I lived and worked there for many years.<\/p>\n

Last month a reader posted this old school photo from a play.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Source: Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hmm\u2026according to the posting, this old photo of a Springdale School play was from 1936.
\nI needed to look closely at this \u2013 my Dad could possibly be in this photo.<\/p>\n

That looked like it might be him in the third row.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Source: Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So \u2013 I reached out to the extended Facebook network for their collective opinions. I posted other photos of my Dad from that time period and asked: Was it him?<\/p>\n

Some thought yes \u2013 some thought it could be, but said the hair was too dark.<\/p>\n

I continued to work back through the many postings on this Springdale page in Facebook \u2013 and then I found this old newspaper clipping listing the names of the pupils in the play.<\/p>\n

\"an<\/a>
Stamford Advocate (Stamford, Connecticut), May 1936<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This old newspaper article described a Springdale School play in May 1936. The time was right. There was my Dad\u2019s name \u2013 misspelled \u2013 but there it was.<\/p>\n

Hmm\u2026and the newspaper article described a \u201cSunbonnet Chorus\u201d and the \u201cOverall Boys\u2019 Chorus.\u201d That accurately described the way these students were dressed.<\/p>\n

So \u2013 could this old newspaper article be confirmation that that was my Dad in the old Facebook photo? Did the Springdale School present the Otis Carrington play Polished Pebbles<\/em> every year, \u2013 or was 1936 the first and only time it was performed?<\/p>\n

[search_box]<\/p>\n

Then yesterday another old newspaper clipping was posted to Facebook.<\/p>\n

Here was the proof.
\nIt was my Dad in the newspaper photo \u2013 cowboy hat, dungarees and all.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Source: Facebook, Stamford Advocate (Stamford, Connecticut), May 1936<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thanks to these old newspaper clippings I could confirm that was him, as well as the names of dozens of other students that were in the school play.<\/p>\n

My tough old Dad \u2013 World War II hero and all \u2013 at age 13 was a star in a school play!<\/p>\n

Great story.
\nGreat photo of my father.<\/p>\n

And now our family has another photo and story for our family history \u2013 and we only have it because it was preserved in the pages of old newspapers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dig in and find your old family stories preserved in old newspaper collections, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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