FOCUS: The photo sleuth

West Ashley woman helps reconnect families to their pasts through old photos

By Elizabeth Halberstadt

Initial July 19 email from Halberstadt to Mr. K.B., Louisiana

“This afternoon I purchased some old photographs at an estate sale in Charleston, SC. Among them are photographs of KEB, Jr. at age 8 1/2 months and a pair of photographs of FDB and EB. A fourth simply says Grandmother B”. There is writing on the back of each. I’d love to see these photographs find their way back to the family. If you would like to have them, then please let me know and I’ll get them in the mail this week.”

Mr. K.B.’s response, July 19, 2015

“Well I am glad you found me. We would love the photos. How did you find me? My office address is . . . Thank you so much. I will be happy to pay for postage.”

Second email to Mr. K.B.

A little bit of online sleuthing this afternoon turned up a video of you being interviewed about your . . . company and you said you were the fourth K.B. I also located your Facebook profile. It’s a small world, as four of your friends and I share mutual friends on Facebook. My friend R.G. is friends with W.C.; they were high school classmates. W. gave R. your email and R. passed it on to me. I’ll email the photos to you tonight so you can see them before they arrive in the mail. I’m fairly certain that the baby in one photograph is your grandfather.”v

Second reply from Mr. K.B.

“I can’t thank you enough for the box of photos. Just got the time to start going through it. I can’t wait to get this to my mom and uncle. They will be thrilled. Thanks for all. I truly appreciate it.”

AUG. 10, 2015 | Sunday, July 19, was a particularly hot and humid summer day in Charleston. I planned to browse in the extra-cold air conditioned Barnes & Noble, but instead found myself drawn to the estate sale signs on the road near the bookstore.

Halberstadt

The estate sale was for multiple estates and I found a room with black and white photographs. Old photographs have always piqued my interest. I sat on the floor for an hour, sifting and admiring the images with imprints from studios around the country.

While browsing, I decided there was a strong likelihood that with the aid of the Internet, I could locate descendants of the people in the photographs. I hated to see the photographs separated from the families. One of the employees at the estate sale came by the room and she was surprised that I was browsing the photographs of strangers so intently. She was stunned when I said that I was going to attempt to reunite the photographs with the families.

In an image from a Mississippi studio, a baby was wearing only one sock, having clearly kicked off the second sock. In another, a baby was seated on the beach next to a beach ball. Both photographs had writing on the back and identified the subjects. These photographs were from Jackson, Miss., Pennsylvania, and Terra Haute, Ind., as well as Charleston. I purchased a stack of nine photographs, with writing on the back of each image, for 50 cents each.

My first Internet search revealed that the gentleman in a photograph from Indiana had sued the school system and his case reached the state’s Supreme Court. Over the past 100 years, his descendants moved beyond Indiana, with many of them now in Louisiana. I posted this photograph on Facebook and a friend volunteered her time to research this man further on Ancestry.com. Her information directed me to a business owner, K.B. of Louisiana [see e-mails above] The photograph of the one socked baby? It was KB’s grandfather. She was also able to determine that the baby on the beach died at age 4 via Ancestry.com and identified the baby’s younger brother.

By the next morning, I regretted not having purchased more photographs, so I contacted the estate sale company and returned. I planned to buy some photo albums and more loose photographs from the lot with the same studio imprints, but the company owner refused. Instead, he told me there was no charge and gave me a Rubbermaid storage bin with the family photographs and memorabilia from the lot. He knew that overnight I had linked photographs to two families and he asked that I continue to match the photographs with the families.

I mailed the baby on the beach photograph to California after I spoke with the younger brother. He was thrilled to know about the 1935 photograph. While on the phone, he shared the story of how his parents met on Folly Beach.

I left a message for and had my call returned from a man that I’ll call JEH in South Carolina. Years ago, when JEH was a boy, his father died at age 41. Today, I was able to tell him that I had a box filled with family photographs and letters from his late father. As you can imagine, the shock of this made him a man of few words on the phone. Many of the images record childhood milestones.

Knowing these photographs are again in the hands of the families is immensely rewarding. While I do not know the people I’ve been in contact with, I have had a glimpse into their families’ pasts. I will make a pilgrimage of sorts to Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston and visit the grave of the baby on the beach.

Elizabeth Halberstadt is an educator who lives in West Ashley. Since writing this story, she has visited the cemetery.