Extra Credit Questions

[LincolnMan]

Chicago fire?

[Rogerm]

Does it have something to do with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade that fought in the civil war in Spain just prior to World War II?

[Joe Di Cola]

Bill Nash is close. It is the 2nd Presbytarian Church after the 1871 Chicago Fire. This is where MTL worshipped when she resided in Chicago.

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Ooops! Question 2: from the collections of the Chicago History Museum (formerly the Chicago Historical Society)

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Bill Nash is close. It is the 2nd Presbytarian Church after the 1871 Chicago Fire. This is where MTL worshipped when she resided in Chicago.

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Ooops! Question 2: from the collections of the Chicago History Museum (formerly the Chicago Historical Society)

Oops, me again. George Pullman worshipped there and RTL later worked for him. That is the "Lincoln connection", via George Pullman and not Mary Todd Lincoln. Sorry!

[Rob Wick]

Joe and Bill are indeed correct that it is from the Great Chicago Fire. However, it isn't in the Chicago History Museum collection, and the Lincoln connection isn't who worshiped there. The Lincoln connection has to do with where the photo can be found.

Best
Rob

[Steve]

The ALPLM?

Also was Joe correct on the specific church?

[Rob Wick]

Joe was correct on the specific church. The picture is not in the ALPLM.

Best
Rob

[RJNorton]

Possibly the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection?

[Rob Wick]

Good guess Roger, but not it.

The two people whose names are on the collection used to sell stereopticons.

Best
Rob

[L Verge]

Good guess Roger, but not it.

The two people whose names are on the collection used to sell stereopticons.

Best
Rob

The Eastman Collection in Vermont (or New Hampshire or one of those Yankee states)? My other guess would be Chicago's Public Library?

[Rob Wick]

Logical guesses, Laurie, but not correct.

Unless someone gets it overnight, I'll add the final clue tomorrow.

Best
Rob

[Joe Di Cola]

I have looked through some of my stereopticon slides from then 19th century and they are mostly from the Keystone View Co. or Underwood and Underwood. Is the collection from the latter?

Rob, this is the height of esoterica, but I thought it was a great stumper! The easy part was the building.

[Rob Wick]

Sorry Joe, but that's not it either.

I really can't think of anything else that wouldn't quickly give it away, so here is the final clue I can come up with. This picture, taken circa 1915, is also in the collection.

Best
Rob

[Rob Wick]

I think I'm going to call it. I realize the last picture is kind of dark, but I thought it would jog people's mind.

The correct answer is the photos are part of the Oliver Barrett-Carl Sandburg collection at the Newberry Library in Chicago. I stumbled across them on the Internet Archive when I was looking for something else. The last picture is of Sandburg (he's on the left) and originally appeared in Penelope Nivens' biography. According to the Newberry, the majority of the photos in the collection were owned by Sandburg and were given to Barrett's son, Roger. Both Sandburg and Oliver Barrett sold stereopticons when they were younger. I purposefully did not put this in The Sandburg Stumper category because I thought that would give it away.

Best
Rob

[Eva Elisabeth]

While trying to figure I came across this website - quite fascinating to "thumb through":
http://stereoscopicviews.com/?l=grid&page=8

[L Verge]

While trying to figure I came across this website - quite fascinating to "thumb through":
http://stereoscopicviews.com/?l=grid&page=8

I inherited the stereoscope and quite a few of the photos from my family. All very interesting, and I can imagine a great deal of education and entertainment for many Victorian families at night.

However, among the ones I have are a few of the devastation left by the Johnstown Flood -- complete with dead bodies piled on top of and sticking out of piles of debris, and that debris appears to be 8-10 feet high. A few years back, Surratt House took a busload of folks to that area and visited (among other things) the Flood Museum. Heart-stopping!

I believe the town also had an Immigrant Museum, which (much like D.C.'s Holocaust Museum) gives visitors a card and photo pertaining to individual immigrants to the area that allows you to follow their history while on tour. Very interesting and some very good (and expensive) exhibit settings to tell the stories.