I began this series to introduce people to the E.W. Austin immigrant photo collection. So many are familiar with the historic Ellis Island images taken by Augustus Sherman & Lewis Hine, but hardly anyone knows of these which were earlier: 1890-92.
But I wasn't expecting the remarkable stories spilling out of the photos (seen colorized). My intention was to try to identify the people in them and find descendants, but then I got caught up in the dramas behind each one.
https://smolenyak.medium.com/list/captured-in-time-18901892-immigrant-photos-their-stories-eab33a5986d9
Like this one about the tragedy of the Lillicrap family. Within a year, the mother and baby in this photo would both be dead.
https://smolenyak.medium.com/captured-in-time-the-immigrant-lillicrap-family-upon-arrival-in-america-in-1890-1b27d0ab703b
Or this one about a stunning young Syrian woman whose life would take an unexpected turn:
https://smolenyak.medium.com/captured-in-time-syrian-immigrant-sultana-numeir-upon-arrival-in-america-in-1890-adaaeafafe63
And then there's this one about a hearty 8-year-old who crossed the Atlantic by himself.
https://smolenyak.medium.com/captured-in-time-8-year-old-percy-hemingway-upon-arrival-in-america-in-1890-78692458d549
@megansmolenyak Why does he look like he has the face of a middle-aged woman? This looks like a bad AI image, not a historical picture.
@LouisIngenthron click through to the article about him to see the original photo - and yes, the enhancement/colorization took more liberties with this image than most
@megansmolenyak So they did... It's also worth asking why the colorizers thought so many folks in the 19th century wore purple...
@LouisIngenthron I hear you, but to me, the colorization is a rounding error in terms of this topic. What matters is that the photos exist and the stories behind these immigrants.
@megansmolenyak Oh, totally. This is just a pet peeve of mine. If the "enhancements" actually lose or obfuscate data from the source, then the original should be used instead, especially when using the images to illustrate historical points. I.e. if enough pictures are shown of dinosaurs with scales, then dinosaurs with feathers look ridiculous and unbelievable.
@LouisIngenthron If you look on the page where I have the images, there's a slide that lets you see the original and colorized, so everyone has control to see the version they want: https://megansmolenyak.com/immigrant-photos/