--- title: 'Lovely lady' description: Many posts ago, I bemoaned the fact that I had (and have) many photographs of unknown people, animals, and landscapes. image: https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Lovely-Lady-300x265-1.jpg --- # [Vita Brevis A resource for family history from AmericanAncestors.org](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # 'Lovely lady' [March 19, 2018](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2018/03/lovely-lady) [Critical Analysis](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/critical-analysis), [Photographs](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/photographs), [Genealogical Writing](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/genealogical-writing), [Brick Walls](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/brick-walls), [Object Lessons](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/object-lessons), [Family stories](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/family-stories) [Jan Doerr](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/jdoerr) [![](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Lovely-Lady-300x265-1.jpg?width=300&height=265&name=Lovely-Lady-300x265-1.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Lovely-Lady-1.jpg)Many posts ago, I bemoaned the fact that I had (and have) many photographs of unknown [people, animals, and landscapes](https://vita-brevis.org/2015/09/figure-in-photograph/). I have always been lucky enough to have all these albums and bins, even if I can’t put names to faces, or labels to albums. I’ve learned a little about how to date clothing and surroundings, hairstyles and hats, and poses and props. So it was with smug satisfaction and great glee years before reality set in that I retrieved a negative from its tightly curled state. Knowing who it was, I had it developed, and a safety negative prepared. A tall, statuesque lady of perhaps the Victorian era appeared in the resulting print. Although it was of poor quality, after it was nicely framed it made a personal gift for my father that Christmas. The following conversation took place when he unwrapped it: **Dad**: This is great! **Me**: I thought you’d like it! It’s a print of one of those old, tightly curled negatives I found. **Dad**: It’s wonderful, but . . . who is it? **Me**: What do you mean “who is it?” It’s [Nana Hayward](https://vita-brevis.org/2017/10/dead-fred/), your grandmother! **Dad**: No, it isn’t. Lovely lady, but she’s not my grandmother. Dad’s reaction to the photo made me take a closer look at it, and I realized that the high ceilings shown were too high to be located in either of my family homes in Maine; perhaps it was taken at Nana Hayward’s apartment in Chicago. Perhaps it was a family friend who lived there.  Perhaps . . . perhaps. ### "Lovely lady, but she’s not my grandmother." We’ve never found out who that lady in the photo is, but Dad had a great time taking it around the neighborhood, showing it to all his friends for consideration and debate, but never figuring out her identity. Now that I am wiser by default and experience, I know not to just assume I know what I’m talking about, to always verify as much as possible the identities of the people in the photos I have before committing myself, and to be grateful when I get it right. I didn’t display much gratitude at first, but my percentage is improving! I’m still laughing! ### Share this: - [mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2018/03/lovely-lady](mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2018/03/lovely-lady) - - - More - - ![Jan Doerr](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported%20images/Doerr-Jan-Headshot.jpg) ## About Jan Doerr Jan Doerr received a B.A. degree in Sociology/Secondary Education from the University of New Hampshire, and spent a long career in the legal profession while researching her family history. She has recently written and published articles for WBUR.org’s Cognoscenti blog: “Labor of Love: Preserving a 226-Year-Old Family Home and Preparing to Let It Go” and “The Value of Family Heirlooms in a Digital Age.” Jan currently lives with her attorney husband in Augusta, Maine, where she serves two Siamese cats and spends all her retirement money propping up a really old house.[View all posts by Jan Doerr →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/jdoerr) [← 'The pleasure of his acquaintance'](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2018/03/pleasure-of-his-acquaintance) [Completeness and restraint →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2018/03/completeness-and-restraint) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ### Recent Posts [Sailor Bill and His Forgotten Wife](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/sailor-bill-and-his-forgotten-wife) [Professor X](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/professor-x) [Part I: Malaga Island, Maine](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/part-i-malaga-island-maine) [The Norwegian folge](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/the-norwegian-folge) [Research…in a Miniskirt? 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