Information on the Topic
What is a favorite family photo of yours? If you're thinking, "Oh, but I don't have any old family photos," remember that you are a part of your family history! It doesn't have to be a photo of a great-great-great-grandfather. What about a favorite photo of someone in a more recent generation, like your parents, siblings, or even yourself. Why is it a favorite photo? What is the story behind it?
I'm not sure where to go with this question. I have older pictures of my grandparents and farther back, but none really could be termed favorite. I do have 2 pictures I like for different reasons.
Picture 1:
I guess the closest one would be the one of my grandmother in the 1920s would be one of my favorites.
In this picture, my grandmother, Jean, would have been 19 years old. She would have been in the United states for just over 9 years.
It actually is the only time I've seen my grandmother's maiden name until her naturalization papers.
Jean Wojtkowski Schmitz taken October 11, 1929
Credit: M. Schmitz
The writing on the back is pretty important. It gives an address, what type of paper it was on and her name. I had never seen someone write her name this way until I saw this.
She looks so young and healthy. You would have never figured she had already been through hell when they fled Poland.
Nor does it look like she is in the middle of the Great Depression of 1929. Yes, the Great Depression started in August 1929 (2 months after it had started). This picture was taken 13 days before the Stock Market Crash.
It looks to be a very interesting time, but I think until the Stock Market Crashed, the family was doing well. I do know from talking to my father, Jean's father, Adam, had a huge trunk full of stocks that were worth nothing because of the crash. I wish I could have seen them and looked at them in depth. It would have been very interesting.
In a way, I can see myself in her eyes.
Credit: J. Fitzgerald - Myself and Brett when we were dating at Howe Caverns in NY.
If you look at the eyes and shape of our faces on my grandmother and myself, you can see something similar.
I think the innocent look on my grandmother's face in light of what is to come within weeks for my grandmother always has me fascinated with this picture.
Photo 2:
This picture I had only stumbled upon when looking for more information on my grandfather as there is not much known about him at all. My father doesn't like talking about him, but there's not much written about him either.
Credit: Department of US Naturalization - My grandfather Mathias Schmitz
Now I stumbled across this picture. This is from his Intention of Naturalization in 1930. At first I didn't think anything of it, but when you look at left eye in the picture, you can tell he had been in a fight or something because it is a swollen, black and blue eye.
This made me laugh because who on earth would go and get a picture taken for important paperwork taken looking like this?
I can only wonder what else he got up too if that's the case!
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