Connie Acito & Two Adams Girls.

Photo Friday
By Don Taylor

This week for Photo Friday, I identify two more negatives from the Ethel Wight Studio Collection[i]. The images were converted to positives using a lightbox, a Nikon camera, and computer software.

Miss Connie Acito

The photo envelope, “Miss Connie Acito – 66 Cumberland Ave. Portland – #256.”  The photo is by “Ethel Wight Studio, Portland, Maine.”

There was a Constantina Acito, born about 1914 in Italy, who lived at 240 Washington Ave., Portland, ME with her parents, Donato and Anna Acito. She had a sister Antoinette Acito.

Constantine F. Acito also appears in the 1943 Portland City Directory, living at 240 Washington Ave.

It would be nice to find Connie on Cumberland Ave sometime in the 1930s to confirm the identification. However, it appears that Constantina’s father, Donato, frequently moved, having lived at several locations during the 1930s.

I have not successfully found any other individual who could be called “Connie Acito” in Maine during the 1930s. So, I’m confident this photo is of Constantina F. Acito, daughter of Donato and Anna Acito.

Constantina, Donato, Anna, and Antoinette are not identified in Family Search. However, they do appear as a family unit in the Grant Family Tree on Ancestry.

I added her photo to her memorial on Find-a-Grave.

Children of Mrs. E. B. Adams

The back of this photo says, “Mrs. E. B. Adams – 12 Crosby St Portland – 2 Girls – #888.”  The photo is by the “Ethel Wight Studio.”

The 1939 Portland City Directory shows Earle B. Adams living at 12 Crosby Street in Portland. His wife was Dorothea M. Adams.

Family Search indicates that an Earle Bishop and Dorothea M. (Thompson) Adams had two daughters, Earlene Ann Adams and Mary Ellen Adams, born in 1931 and 1934. The two girls in this photo appear to be about 3 and 5, and the photo was taken about 1936, so I’m confident these are Mary Ellen (younger) and Earlene.

Additional searches found no similar family units.

• Earlene Ann Adams (1931-2014) – Family Search ID: LBPR-F1G
• Mary Ellen Adams Coughlan (1934-2014) – Family Search ID: LBPR-5KB

Endnotes

[i] The Wight Studio was in Portland, Maine. Many thanks to Ethel Wight’s family for access to and permission to use the collection of their great aunt.