Elizabeth Keckley- dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln. She was born into slavery and became a successful seamstress, civil activist, author and dressmaker to the First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.

Leo and his wife, Mary

An early photo of actor and comedian Jerry Stiller (circa 1950s), who died on May 11 2020. So much laughter he brought into our lives! RIP

This is the earliest photo I could find of the talented actress Agnes Moorehead. If you have any details about this photo like when it might have been taken please leave a comment and I'll update the description.

Mabel Tolman, a cousin of my Burbank family line. Dreamy! Name is written on the back of the photo, but I have no other information on her.

Unidentified photo found in an antique store - seated woman with parasol and handbag.

Moshe was sadly killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau on May 14,1942 at age 7

Found in an antique store. There is no information about the woman. Look at those "mutton chop" sleeves!

A photo of Rose Doudell (wife of John W. Doudell) with their children. It is possible that Rose & John W. Doudell had a total of 13 children. It is known that she had sons Jack, Paul, Raymond and Raleigh Doudell, and daughters Mrs. Margaret D Kunde, Mrs. Monica Thompkins, Mrs. Edna Mosher, Mrs. Roberta Lamy, Mrs. Eileen Martin, and Mrs. Rose Grey. She might also have had daughter Pauline Catherine and son Robert Anthony Doudell. Thank you to Gene Morris for the colorized version of this photo.

A photo of Tess White, mother of actress, singer, and comedian Betty White.

A photo of Adrian Benjamin

A photo of Will Rogers on the radio in 1930. His radio show was the most popular Sunday evening show, his newspaper columns were read by millions of people in the US, and he was the second biggest motion picture box office draw. A great wit, Will Rogers died in a plane crash in Point Barrow, Alaska Territory in August of 1935. (Alaska didn't become a state until almost 25 years later.) One of America's greatest wits, some of his quotes are: “A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people. ” "We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others." “When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.” "There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves." "Never miss a good chance to shut up." "Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want to impress people they don't like." “Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.” “All I know is just what I read in the papers, and that's an alibi for my ignorance.” "Common sense ain't common.” “Don't let yesterday take up too much of today.” “When you find yourself in a hole, quit digging.” “I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.” “If stupidity got us in this mess, how come it can't get us out.” “The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected.” “The more you observe politics, the more you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other.” “Ten men in our country could buy the whole world and ten million can't buy enough to eat.” “It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute.”

The store run by George Burbank

A photo of Leroy Elmer Clark

A photo of Jessie Hazel (Cahoon) Clark

A photo of Susan (Farrell) Wittman in the 1930s

A photo of Susan (Farrell) Wittman in the 1950s

A photo of Fred Wittman and Susan Farrell's Wedding

Portrait found in a central Texas antique store. On the back is written: "Compliments of George & Louise, Hello Kid! Here is a Photo of two that didn't have anything else to do. --"

A photo of Diahann Carroll in the title role of her tv series "Julia". Born Carrol Diahann Johnson in the Bronx in 1935, her father (John Johnson) was a subway conductor and her mother (Mabel (Faulk) Johnson) was a nurse. By age 15, she was already a model in Ebony magazine. A sociology major in college, she was always interested in acting, dancing, and singing and left college to pursue a career in entertainment (promising her parents that if she didn't make it in 2 years, she'd return to college). Well, "make it" she did - beginning with singing roles (her first film role was in 1954 in "Carmen Jones") and then adding acting. She was the first black actress to win a Tony for a leading role on Broadway and the first to be nominated for best actress for an Oscar in 1974. From 1968 - 1971, she starred in "Julia" - "the first African-American actress to star in her own television series where she did not play a domestic worker." This doesn't sound like much today but at the time it was groundbreaking since her presence carried the show - she played a professional (nurse) widowed mother of a son . She went on to play a major role in the tv show "Dynasty" as well as many other tv shows, films, and Broadway plays - winning 3 Emmys, a Tony, and a Golden Globe as well as numerous other nominations. Married 4 times (she had a daughter from her 1st marriage and her last marriage was to Vic Damone), she also had long-term relationships with Sidney Poitier and David Frost. She died of cancer on October 4, 2019.

Liliane was only 9 when she was sadly murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau on February 12,1944

A photo of William H. "Bill" Rayborn Mother took me to get my photo every year on my birthday

Found in an antique store in Texas. From the expression on her face and the way she's kicking her feet, she must have been awfully bored.

A photo of Greenwood Hardy found in an antique store. Written on the back is "Greenwood Hardy age 5". This is an unusual name for a girl. I may be misreading it, so I uploaded a separate image of the inscription. Whoever she is, she's adorable. The photo is a refreshing change from the formal poses I usually see from kids in this era. UPDATE: thanks to the comments, I was able to identify her and added her family information to her biography page.

A photo of the four oldest children of Frederick Muehlhause. Found in a Texas antique store. Handwritten on the back is "Fred Mühlhause, Belton, Texas". I estimated the date of photo from the apparent ages of the kids. This was probably taken in Belton where the family lived.

Anna Susanna Fajk Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy

Found in a Texas antique store. "Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Friedrich" written on the back. Stamped "Lackey's Studio, Temple, Tex." Paper with a "beaded" texture seems to have been popular in the late 1920s - makes it difficult to get a good scan. I love her fancy head-dress.

Found in discarded photos Great Falls MT

Eskfir was only 10 when she was sadly murdered during the Drobitskiy Yar murder site on Kharkov, Ukraine on October 1941

The portrait was going to be of the two boys, but Vera pitched a fit and wanted to be in the picture too. She still looks a little angry in the final portrait.

A photo of Gladys (Simmons) Van Kleeck and her cat Patsy. I'm amazed that the cat is calmly sitting for the portrait. All the cats I've known would have panicked at the strange setting and found some large piece of furniture to hide under.

A photo of Columbus Edward Smith and his children with Minerva (Pool) Smith. Minerva was milking a cow in 1906 at her farm in the Packsaddle community in Scott County, AR. The cow was easily scared and was skittish. Minerva climbed into the loft to throw down some hay to busy the spooked cow. She evidently lost her footing and fell into the stall where the cow was tied. She was kicked repeatedly. The cow tore up the barn, stomping the milk bucket almost unrecognizable. She made her way into the house but never regained true consciousness and died of a brain hemorrhage two weeks later at the age of 24.

A photo of Ross Perot in 1949 when he was President of his class at Texarkana Junior College. Henry Ray Perot was born to Lula May and Gabriel Ross Perot (a commodity broker) in Texarkana TX in 1930. (He later changed his middle name to Ross to honor his father.) He went to Patty Hill (a private school), Texas High School, and Texarkana Junior College (where this picture was taken). An Eagle Scout, he then graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1956, he married his wife, Margot. (They had 5 children.) After 5 years as a salesman for IBM, Perot founded his own company - Electronic Data Systems, EDS - in Dallas. A large contract was the computerizing of Medicare records for the government. In 1984, he sold controlling interest of the company to General Motors for $2.4 billion. In 1988, he founded Perot Systems Corporation, Inc. and later sold it to Dell for $3.9 billion. Perot is best known for his 3rd party Presidential runs in 1992 and 1996. While not winning any electoral votes in his 1992 run, he received almost 20 million votes - the largest share of votes by any 3rd party candidate (a record which still stands). His policies: "balancing the federal budget, [in] opposition to gun control, ending the outsourcing of jobs and enacting electronic direct democracy via electronic town halls". He was also "pro-choice, supported gay rights, stricter gun controls such as an assault rifle ban and increased research in AIDS" as well as a strong supporter of Planned Parenthood. In 2019, Perot was named the 167th richest person in America by Forbes and was worth an estimated $4.1 billion. He died on July 9th, 2019 of leukemia and is survived by his wife, 5 children, and 16 grandchildren.

A photo of Arte Johnson, actor and comedian. He was best known as a versatile comedian on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, which ran from 1968 through 1973. This photo of him is as the character "Wolgang" - a "cigarette-smoking German soldier" who believed that World War II was still raging. His recurring comment was "verrrry interesting". He also played a dirty old man - "Tyrone F. Horneigh" - to Ruth Buzzi's prim old spinster and the man who rode the tricycle, always falling over, as well as numerous other characters. Before retiring in 2006, Arte performed in numerous guest spots as well as doing voice overs. Dying of cancer on July 3, 2019, he is survived by his wife and brother.

A photo of Benjamin B Goodrich

A graduate of the Tuskegee Institute she was denied work as a pilot as a Tuskegee Airman (wrong gender) and the WASP -- Women's Airforce Service Pilots (wrong race).

A photo of Ellen Asbury - Mrs. Ed Asbury. Taken in about 1910 in Missouri. Lovely fashion.

A photo of Georgia Farabaugh

A photo of Elnora Kerr as a child

A photo of Dorothy Van Kleeck with her cat "Tommy Toodles"