Eighteen people nobody has named.
Every photograph on these walls came from a public archive. Most arrived with a caption describing a condition rather than a person, so the sitters were never written down. These are the ones still asking.
If you recognise somebody, the plaque is waiting. You do not need an account to answer.
Queen Victoria's Family: The Grandmother of Europe
1 of these still unnamed · About this exhibit
Three grandsons of Queen Victoria1894 · Coburg, Germany
Ellis Island: The Families Who Arrived
13 of these still unnamed · About this exhibit
Turned away at the door: a Hungarian group, February 1905February 1905 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
The Rome family, from Serbiacirca 1906 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
Three Russian Cossacks1906 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
A Slovak mother and her two childrencirca 1905-1914 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
A mother and two daughters from Zuid-Bevelandcirca 1905-1914 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
Two children from the Island of Markencirca 1905-1914 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
Sami children, holding handscirca 1905-1914 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
Three Scottish boyscirca 1905-1914 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
A girl from Rättvik, Dalarnacirca 1905-1914 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
A Norwegian woman, wearing a crowncirca 1905-1914 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
Three women from Guadeloupecirca 1905-1914 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
A Romanian pipercirca 1905-1914 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
A German stowawaycirca 1905-1914 · Ellis Island, New York Harbor
Seven Hungry Children: American Families, 1936-1939
4 of these still unnamed · About this exhibit
"Can't make it. Want to go back."February 1936 · California
Children and home of migratory cotton workersNovember 1936 · Southern San Joaquin Valley, California
"Broke, baby sick, car trouble."February 1937 · U.S. 99 near Tracy, California
Children of migratory pea pickers, Brawley campFebruary 1939 · Brawley, California
Eighteen unanswered questions on three walls, and every one of them started as a photograph somebody kept. The same thing is true of the drawer in your house.
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