Reminder: Jennie DeKorn Culver, 1857-1947, moved to Seattle from Kalamazoo with her two adult daughters, Lela and Rhea, around 1915
Since I did not have any photographs of Lela and Rhea Culver as adults until I received the scrapbook, I have had to make guesses on the identity of people in the scrapbook photos. I did have a good photograph of Jennie’s face as a young woman, so that does help.
I’m hoping you can help me decide which photos do have Jennie, Lela, and/or Rhea in them. After the new photos, I’ll repost a couple I’ve posted before for comparison.
Because the photos were all in the scrapbook together–and some of them were loose–it would help to know what year fashion the clothing is in each photograph (since the years may be all mixed up). Clothes, hair, background, compare faces: whatever ideas you have, lemme have ’em, please! I’ve numbered the new photos. Also, you can click on each photo to enlarge.
From Scrapbook (haven’t posted before)
Photo 1
Photo 2 (I feel fairly certain this is Jennie and her daughters)
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5
Photo 6
Photo 7
From scrapbook (posted in earlier posts)
Photo 8
Lela and Rhea Culver
Seattle, WA
Rhea and Lela Culver
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Jenny DeKorn Culver
1857-1947
Related articles
- What Did Lela and Rhea Culver Do at the Orphanage? (thefamilykalamazoo.wordpress.com)
- Is This Jenny DeKorn Culver in A Velvet Coat? (thefamilykalamazoo.wordpress.com)
- Why Did Jennie Move to Seattle? (thefamilykalamazoo.wordpress.com)
The Family Kalamazoo 
It must be me, but I really like the old black and white photographs. Sometimes much more than the color ones. They just seem to hold up better.
I do, too. The photos I have from the 70s and 80s are horrible quality.
OK, I may have to do this as several separate comments because I can’t keep the picture numbers in my head! Picture 1: Looks like the 1930s to me. And I think the older woman on the left is Jenny. Same stern expression and eyes. I’d bet the two youngest are granddaughters, but the one second from right I can’t place as either daughter. The girl on the far right looks very similar to the girl on the left in picture 2, so perhaps that is Leah or Leah’s daughter.
Picture 2, not sure about the one on the left, but then I agree Jenny is in the middle, and I think Rhea?
I agree that the oldest woman in #1 looks like Jennie. And the photo looks like a family (generational) photo, doesn’t it? And yet I can find no evidence (yet) of either daughter being married until Lela married Henry W. Lee in 1952, at age 63! What makes you think the 30s? The photo reminds me a LOT of those from my dad’s family that were taken between 1922 and 1930 so I was thinking 20s. Is there something in the photo that makes you think it’s more likely to be 30s?
In the 1930 census, all 3 women were living together and the “girls” were listed as single.
The loose clothes, and it looks Depression-ish, whatever that means. There are lots of pictures of my mother as a little girl with her mother and sister wearing such loose dresses, and my mom was born in 1930. But if could be the 20s. But I think the other photos—where Jenny is younger–were more likely in the teens or 20s. This one definitely is later.
Good point. It does need to be far enough away from the other photos to account for Jennie’s aging. Funny, that ruffle on the woman’s dress looks like one my grandmother wore in the 20s, but maybe it was out of date BECAUSE of the Depression.
LOL! Yeah, I bet people weren’t buying or making a lot of new clothes in that era.
Remember, though, I am not fashion history expert. I bet others will have more insight than I do.
Also, maybe it was a neighbor and her kids? Because the mother in that photo does not look like either daughter to me.
It’s possible. Funny that it’s one of the few photos from more “recent” times. I even wondered if any family from Michigan had ever visited them.
I think Rhea appears in almost all the other pictures. Probably was her album? Like I said, she’s far right in picture 2, left in picture 3, alone in 4, 5, and on the right in pictures 7 and 8. I can’t tell who is in picture 6. From the clothes it looks older than picture 1, but what do I know?
Hope that helps!
Amy, that’s great, thank you! I am writing down your answer to keep with the photos as I keep working on these. I wonder if other people agree with this assessment. Yes, #6 looks like someone else entirely, doesn’t it? A neighbor or friend, maybe. So mystifying! Eventually I will have to see if this woman appears in any other photos.
I love the dress in photo 6! It sure seems that the fortunes of this family must have improved once they were in Seattle. I wonder why?
I like that dress, too. The dress in #5 is fascinating though. It looks like a palm tree on the front of it!
I’m not good at guessing years, but photo 4 is my favorite. I love the dark (black?) dress–and she has such an intriguing pensive look on her face.
I like that one, too. And the shoes are great, too, as I can just imagine them so well.
Hi, Luanne,
I couldn’t find anywhere else to post this or your email, so I hope it’s ok to leave it here!
I just wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award. I really enjoy your blog and find it both helpful and interesting. Our shared interest in genealogy drew me to the blog, and I’ve learned a great deal from your research techniques and insights.
To accept this award, there are some rules you have to follow:
1. Thank the person who nominated you and link to that blog.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Nominate 15 bloggers you admire (or as many as you can think of!).
4. Contact your bloggers to let them know that you’ve tagged them for the One Lovely Blog Award
Congratulations! I have posted my nominations at http://brotmanblog.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/one-lovely-blog-award-a-nice-start-to-the-new-year/
Amy
Amy, thank you so much. You are so sweet! I’m going to go over and check and also see if I can find an email address for you over there. Congrats!!!
You are welcome! I will email you tomorrow.
Amy, I can’t find an email for you. Can you email me at writersite.wordpress[at]gmail.com?
I just wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award. I really enjoy your blog and find it both helpful and interesting. I’ve learned a great deal from your writing, and genealogy research techniques and insights.
To accept this award, please:
1. Thank the person who nominated you and link to that blog.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Nominate 15 bloggers you admire (or as many as you can think of!).
4. Contact your bloggers to let them know that you’ve tagged them for the One Lovely Blog Award
Congratulations! I have posted my nominations at:
http://www.diannhandysite.com/brumley-branches-one-lovely-blog-award-nomination/
This is so sweet of you! Congrats to you and thank you, too. So interesting to read your responses. I tried to post over on your blog, but it won’t let me leave comments, for some reason. Your blog is the only one that says I am not logged in for. Very strange. Can you email me? at writersite.wordpress[at]gmail.com. Have a lovely week.
My guesstimates for the years based on the clothing
Before 1910: #2
1910-1920 (early 1920s): #s 1, 4, 5, 7
The skirts going above the ankle and the silhouette getting less boxy dates from around 1915 forward.
The look we typically think of as 1920s with short, chemise, slip dresses is slightly after 1922 or so.
Even the fur coat looks WWI era or slightly thereafter. There is a bit of the 1920s influence there with the collar and cuffs of the coat but it still feels more pre-1920.
here’s a posting with good examples you can use for dating photos by styles of different decades: http://modaandestilo.com/features/silhouettes-through-the-decades-pt-i/
It won’t be exact but the visuals should help you get a sense of a specific period to use for comparisons.
EmilyAnn, thank you so much for the link. I’ve bookmarked it in my genealogy folder. You have really given me food for thought on #2. Soooo interesting that you say that. That would place it in Kalamazoo. I’ve been thinking of the photographs as all from Seattle, but why WOULDN’T some of them be from Kalamazoo. Just because they left Michigan doesn’t mean they left their photos from that time of their lives behind. Now I need to go back over all the photos with that thought in mind. Thank you sooooooo much. I love hearing what you say about the other clothing, too, especially the coat!