Linwood Dyer Collection (Part 069)
By Don Taylor

Continuing with the Linwood Dyer Photo Collection, two photos are from “High School Graduation Portraits.” I have a handful of other pictures from that group that require further work to identify, because the yearbooks for that school are not available. I’ll need to see if I can view a copy of the yearbooks in person and analyze them in the future.

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Graduates:

Claudia Ann Blackstone – North Yarmouth Academy, Class of 1957.

• Photo Type: Graduation portrait (7½” x 5¼”)
• Cover: North Yarmouth Academy
• Studio: The Wendell White Studio, Portland, ME
• Inscription: “Claudia”
• Class: [Not identified]
• Research Note: Identified as Claudia Ann Blackstone, North Yarmouth Academy, 1957 yearbook, page 14.

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Dara D. Johnston – Windham High School, Class of 1970.

• Photo Type: Graduation portrait (7½” x 5¼”)
• Cover: Windham High School
• Studio: The Wendell White Studio, Portland, ME.
• Inscription: “Dara”
• Class: “70”
• Research Note: Confirmed match with Dara D Johnston in the 1970 Windham yearbook, page 36.

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Others

P. Michael Bourgoin – Professional Headshot.

• Photo Type: Professional Headshot (5” x 7”)
• Typed info: “P. Michael Bourgoin”
• Back: Typed information including the actor’s date of birth, physical description, and theatrical experience.
  • Born: July 2, 1944,
  • Height: 5’ 8”
  • Weight: 210
  • Hair: Grey-Brown
  • Eyes: Brown.
• Research Note:
  • IMDB has a page for P. Michael Bourgoin. It indicated he died on 9 February 2011 in Mesa, Arizona. He was known for “Liberty, Maine,” and a short, “The Ballad of Ida and Doob.”
  • Bonny Eagle High School named its theater the “P. Michael Bourgoin Auditorium” where Mike taught Theater Arts, Video Production, and directed countless plays for 25 years.
  • He was born and attended school in Lewiston, went to college at Norwich University in Vermont, and obtained his master’s degree at Orono (Univ. Maine).
  • He was an accomplished actor (Portland Players, Theater at Monmouth, Schoolhouse, Lyric, Biddeford City Theater, Russell Square and TV commercials.
  • A Facebook page provides information regarding the P. Michael Bourgoin Memorial Scholarship Fund.

I uploaded this photo to my Flickr Photostream

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 Isabel Dyer Skillings – South Portland, ME – circa 1896

• Photo Type: Small oval portrait cutout (2” x 3½”)
• Back: “Mrs. Isabel Dyer Skillings”
• Research Note: I reviewed a photo of Isabel Dyer Skillins in Part 025 of this series. Later, I reviewed several photos from the “Isabel Dyer Skillin Photo Album.” This photo appears to be of the same woman, a few years younger.

This photo was added to Ancestry Family Trees, Linwood Dyer Collection.

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Charles Gardnar & John Booth Stevens – Chicago – c. 1907.

• Photo Type: Mounted photo (3-7/8” x 5½”) in a 6¼” x 9¼? folder.
• Studio: Walinger Chicago
• Cover: SHS Accession No. 95.27.483
• Inside inscription: “Charles Gardner Stevens Age 3 years | John Booth Stevens age 1½ years.”
• Research Note: Ancestry Trees suggest this is Charles Gardnar Stevens, Jr. (1904-1961) and his brother, John Booth Stevens (1906-1999) about 1907 when Charles was 3 and John 1.
• Photo added to Ancestry Family Trees, SHS Photos – 2025.

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Conclusion

This project is about more than photographs—it’s about restoring connections across generations. These portraits capture moments of pride and promise, and for many families, they may be the only formal photo of a loved one at that pivotal time.

If you recognize someone in these images or they are part of your family history, I welcome your contact. I’d be happy to share the personal inscriptions found inside the folders—words written by the people themselves more than 60 years ago.

These portraits are available for personal genealogical use. Please credit appropriately:

Photos courtesy: Scarborough Historical Society, Scarborough, Maine.

Disclosure: This post has been created with the aid of ChatGPT and the use of Grammarly for editing.