Photo Friday – Dennett & Peterson

Ethel Wight Collection – Part 158
Photo Friday
By Don Taylor

This week, for Photo Friday, I identified the people in the last two envelopes from the Ethel Wight Studio Collection[i]. The envelopes typically contain the name of the person who paid for the photos, not necessarily of the individual portrayed in the image. As such, it is vital to analyze the pictures and information to identify the individual therein.[ii] Ultimately, my goal is to reunite the photos with family members who may have never seen the image.

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Virginia & Constance Dennett, Feb 1943.

This negative envelope says, “Virginia Parks Dennett – Feb 1943 (Saco).”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• Last month, I reviewed a 1941 photo of Virginia Parks Dennett. This photo is clearly of the same young woman two years later.
• Sadly, the 17 Jan 1946 Portland Evening Express reported that Harrison, Virginia, and Harrison’s brother Clifford died in a bus-auto collision at Oak Hill, Scarboro. It indicated Harrison & Virginia had a daughter, Constance.

I am sure this photo is of Virginia and her daughter Constance, taken in February 1943.

Ancestry has six public trees that refer to Virginia L. (Parks) Dennett. I am only posting this photo here because I haven’t found Constance in any Ancestry Trees.

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Alice Mary Peterson, circa 1935.

The envelope this negative was in says, “Miss Alice Peterson, 41 A Chestnut St #533.”

Why I believe this to be the individual.

• The 1935 Portland City Directory lists Irving W (Helen B) Peterson living at 41a Chestnut, Apt. 4.
• The 1930 US Census lists Irving and Helen Peterson living at 43 Alder Street. With them is their 11-year-old daughter, Alice. (There are also two other daughters, H. Jane and Margaret I.)
• Alice Mary Peterson, daughter of Irving William & Helen Blanche (Dyer) Peterson, was born on 12 March 1919 in Hartford, Connecticut.
• This photo, taken about 1935, appears to be of Alice M. Peterson when she was about 16 years old.

Ancestry has 24 public trees that refer to Alice Mary Peterson. Family Search has profile GZVB-66Y for Alice. I uploaded this photo of Alice to her Family Search Memories.

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Conclusion

I would love to hear your reaction if any of these photos are of your family member. Especially if this photo is of a loved one for whom you hadn’t seen this photograph before.

Due to software limitations, the images uploaded to Family Search, Dead Fred, and Flickr have higher quality than those linked here.

For all postings of the Ethel Wight Collection, please see here.

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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.

[ii] These images were converted to positives using a lightbox, a Nikon camera and computer software.