I have a wonderful album of photo cards of both the Gleeson and Tierney families, some taken in Canada and some in Mitchell, South Dakota. Because the index at the front is written in Muriel Gilbert’s hand, I suspect that she put the album together. Muriel was the daughter of Mary Martha Gleeson.
One of the photos fits this theme well. There are six young ladies pictured together. The index says Margaret T Gleeson and friends. However, when I removed it so I could take a photo of the image, the back said “M.T. Gleeson, High School Class of ’92 Mitchell, S.D.” M.T. Gleeson is written in pencil and the rest in black ink.
Curious about who her classmates and friends had been, I checked the Mitchel Daily Republican and found an article about the class of ’92.
“At the Rind Opera House Monday evening will occur the graduating exercises of the High School class. The class numbers six, all young ladies, the gentlemen not being in it this year. Following is a list of the graduates: Rosa M Fox, Margaret T Gleason, Mary E Hubbartt, Marion L Krom, Mabel J Robinson and Frances C Witzel. Preparations for appropriate exercises have been made and everything is in readiness. . .”[1]
I now have the names of the six young women; however, I do not know who is who. I am not even sure which one is Margaret even though I have a photo of her as a young woman. She might be the one in the back right or the one in the front center. If I were to make a guess, the one in the center looks closest to her other photo. What do you think? Margaret is the youngest at the right of the photo below.
To discover more, I tried the catalog at FamilySearch and found no school records. The state archives have no records either. I might try contacting the school district or the local historical society. I did find a program to the Diamond Jubilee celebration of Mitchell in 1956. There is a page about the schools and I learned the high school was called Central School and started as a three-year program.[2] Here is a postcard image of the school. It has since been replaced by a modern building.
#52 Ancestors: Week 42: Friends
This is my sixth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.
[1] “The
Class of ’92,” Mitchell Daily Republican, 11 June 1892, p. 4, col. 4.
[2] Mitchell
(SD) 75th Anniversary Association, Mitchell, South Dakota Diamond
Jubilee Celebration 1881-1956, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/541236-mitchell-south-dakota-diamond-jubilee-celebration-1881-1956-75-years-of-progress-through-perseverance-featuring-prairierama-a-grand-historical-spectacle).
So often I hesitate to move any photo from its frame or backing but you've convinced me it's worth trying (carefully, slowly) in order to reveal more info that might possibly be on the reverse side!
ReplyDeleteYes, sometimes it pays off! I might have looked earlier but didn't make a note of what was on the back. I've learned now, to image the back, too!
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