The photograph, the source, and the unknowns
Look at the top of the photograph: the caption is inked onto the negative itself, in 1912, question mark included. Michel was four and Edmond was two. They spoke French, the younger could barely speak at all, and their father had boarded under the name Louis Hoffman and drowned. Nobody knew who they were, so this photograph was made as evidence and sent out.
- Archive caption
- "Louis and Lola" — the two children nobody could name
- Creator
- Bain News Service
- Date
- 1912-04
- Credit
- Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection
- Rights
- LoC rights advisory: 'No known restrictions on publication.' George Grantham Bain Collection. · Public Domain Mark 1.0
- Source record
- Open the institution or repository record
This face is unanswered. A suggestion is sent privately for review and does not become a public fact until confirmed.
This link carries its own context.
Bain News Service. “"Louis & Lola ?" — the children nobody could name.” 1912-04. Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014691309/. Viewed via Nostalgia Museum artifact 805, reviewed 22 August 2026. https://getnostalgia.ai/museum/artifact/JR5an0x4yGHmer_j/805/face/1046
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