Vanessa WoodA group of student photographs included in an eBay auction were a mystery. No provenance. No photographer’s name. They were mostly inscribed with first names or nicknames. The clues to unlocking their identities were the initials “E.H.S.” and the names of characters from a school play. These clues led to dating the photographs to the 1920s and identifying the subjects as a group of Vera Sinclair’s friends from Englewood High School in Englewood, Colorado.
PHOTOGRAPH: Vera (Sinclair) Corbin, ca. 1928, author’s collection
The friends from Englewood High School were photographed with beautiful lighting that would befit Hollywood stars. Their clothing and hairstyles represent the fashion of the 1920s. The mix of male and female students shows how a high school education had gained importance, replacing early marriages, farm work, or factory jobs. Vera’s friends were achievers–some went to college. There was even a high school romance that became a lifetime union.
The photographs led to insights into a group connected in their youth who otherwise may not have been discovered. Photographs of Vera’s fifteen friends have been identified and they are featured in an article titled “Vera Sinclair’s Friends from Englewood High School” published in this month’s issue of the Colorado Genealogist.
I have to confess, I have no genealogical connections to Colorado. I decided while I was knee-deep in research to return the photographs (and a 1928 Englewood High School yearbook) to the community from which they originated. They will be donated to the Englewood Historical Preservation Society in Colorado. They are heading home!
