My
great Aunt Kathleen Coyle kept a small framed photo beside her bed. The black
and white photograph shows her mother, Mary Josephine Mullane Coyle, on the
roof of their building in New York City. I knew the photo because my maternal
grandmother had copies of the photos taken the same day.
The
photo was taken in the mid-1920s. I decided to take the back off the photo in
hopes there was a date on the back. There wasn’t. However…
There
were more photos behind the main photo. They are black and white and not the
clearest photos ever taken.
1.
Lillian
Coyle, Daniel Mullane & Marguerite Coyle
a. Lillian & Marguerite Coyle
were daughters of Mary Josephine. They are with their Uncle Daniel Mullane. It
was taken when the sisters visited Ireland after their mother’s death in 1927.
2.
Kathleen
Coyle
a. Kathleen herself as a girl.
3.
Marion
Coyle McCall
a. Another one of the Coyle
sisters.
In
all Kathleen had photos of her mother, her mother’s uncle & and three of
her four sisters. I don’t know why they were hidden behind her mother’s photo.
There was nothing secret about these people. It was a nice surprise to find
them. I scanned the photos and put them back where they have been for many
years.
Colleen, what a nice surprise and a bit of a treasure chest for you! Since I myself like to leave old photos behind the new ones, one explanation I can offer is that we want to have the old photos available in a place we know we'll find them easily if needed. Also leaving them in the frame keeps them safe. Perhaps that's what was going through the mind of your great aunt?
ReplyDeleteVery nice. You're lucky to have found something like this. I personally have almost no record of my family (I literally only have two photos of my mother and nothing of extended family). Treasure them!
ReplyDeleteColleen, such a lovely surprise! How clever of your great-aunt Kathleen to have put them there. I love that you scanned the photos and then returned them to their secret spot.
ReplyDelete