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Writer's pictureTheFormidableGenealogist

Lost & Found Photo

A recent addition to my collection is this photo. Once upon a time, all the names must have been written on the back. But the photo was later cut to a smaller size, which cut off some of the names.

group photo, 1935
Group photo. It looks like "1935" is written over a pair of shoes in the lower right.

The names I can read or figure out:


Back row, starting with fourth person from the left: Gordon Carl, Irvin Pugh, Hillary Etzel, Otto Bahlburg, and Wilford Perkins


Middle row, starting with the fourth person from the left: Nancy Spurlin, Mildred Munson, Raymond Lundeen, Curtis Guthrie, and Ruth "Sheppie" Shepard


Front row, starting with the third person from the left: .... B. Smith, ...atherine Giese, ...gie Minkiewitz, ...ia Henningsen, ...ance Pugh, and Eva Dow


That's eight names short, which are the left-most individuals in the photo. The names are the only clues to where this photo may have come from.


Otto Bahlburg--back row, second from the right--is the subject in the photo whose face is the most obscured, but his unique name is a quick way to help us identify more about this photo. Otto was a student at Salem High School in Salem, Oregon, and was a member of the class of 1936. There are a few of the school's yearbooks available online, with 1936 being the earliest and 1955 being the next. Many of the club photos in the 1936 yearbook are taken on steps, which look identical to the background in my photo. Indeed, many of the other names on the back of my photo appear in the Salem 1936 yearbook. However, my photo does not appear in the 1936 yearbook. I suppose the notation on my photo is really '1935', and that it was published in that volume.

Class photo 1936
1936 Yearbook Photo, North Salem, Oregon

The relatively small size of the group in my photo indicates that it could also be members of a club or organization. The woman in the front row, third from the left, must be Mary B. Smith, based on other photos of her. She was an English teacher in addition to the faculty adviser for the Movie Club and the school's chapter of the National Honor Society.


As with all our lost and found items, let us know if you see your family member among them.



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