Historic Hood River
Ghost?
9-23-2011
Notes
Here’s another photo with the “back to school” theme. Look closely and you’ll see why this image qualifies for “Fun Friday.”
Unfortunately there’s not enough context for me to guess which school this is. If you’re wondering about the odd white highlights near the middle of this image, this negative has some “silvering” as a result of age which prevents light from passing through.
Charlott
No doubt Pine Grove School, as the young lady in the second row with the bright head band and beautiful smile is my great aunt. Her name was Florence Lillian Clark, the daughter of Lucius and Ada Clark of Pine Grove. She was a wonderful person.
My guess is that this photo was probably taken about 1913 or 1914 as my aunt was born in 1900, and she is probably in the 8th grade.
Yes, I see the ghost in the school window? Wonder who it was? By that time they would have had probably two teachers. He could have been a camera shy teacher. In the prior school photo we were noticing the aprons. Here we also see the teacher in her apron.
Charlott
Now that I think this through, you notice these are an older group of students. My guess is the "ghost" is the teacher of the little children and he is inside with them while this picture is taken and looking out the window.
l.e.
And just like "Picture Day" today, they must have known they were going to have their picture taken.
The girls appear to be a little more dressed up as do the boys with their jackets and ties.
Is this a glass plate? It is clearer than many photos of today.
Esther Smith
I love how the girls in the front row are all holding hands.
Casey
Creepy guy in the window! Ahh!
Arthur
Charlott, thanks for the ID. Is Florence Lillian Clark third from the left in the second row?
l.e, this is from a very well executed glass negative. The photographer had a good sharp lens, and made the effort to compose the shot and focus the camera well. This means we can see far more detail in this image today then Charlott’s great aunt would have seen in the contact print she received.
A 35mm negative has less than 1"square of emulsion, while we have 35"square of emulsion here– and the resolution of the emulsion hasn’t improved that much. Or in the digital world, we have an 88 megapixel image. With our archival copy, I can fill my computer screen with a single face.
Charlott
Pine Grove would have been a two room school in that time frame. It was later that they decided they needed more room, so a great uncle of mine was involved in jacking it up and building two rooms on the ground floor. Thus the original ground floor became the second story.
Charlott
Can identify another little girl. The little girl on the left end of the second row is Helen Brosi. She was the daughter of Emma (Jampsa) Brosi Mack. Helen was a baby when her father died and her mother eventually married Fred Leroy Mack, my great-uncle. Helen and Florence Clark grew up together and were extremely close.
Charlott
The fourth boy in on the first row of boys on your left is one of the Krussow boys, but which one I don’t know. It might be Edgar, as he looks so much like my childhood friends John and JoAnne Krussow, whom he was the father of.
Bill Pattison
Interesting to compare the ethnic make up of schools then and now.
Phil Jensen
…wierd~! …I "guessed" Pine Grove in a heart beat. …funny how the memory registers / keeps these impressions… absolutely wierd~!
Charlott
The little boy standing on the left by the boy in the overalls has to be a Paasch, but can’t figyure out which one. Will keep on it.