Can anyone identify the woman in this 1930s photo?

[J.B.]

.....For a while I was fooling around with Manistoque. It's a town in Michigan. But it was a dead end.....

Yes, I've googled some ideas and only come up with Manistique, Michigan. Which leads to the other possibility: It is a place name, and she's just signed an initial; i.e.

To Clara with Friendship and Love
D.

Manistique
5/31/37

In which case, you're only option is to go to Manistique and see if anyone recognises her!

Of course! You guys are on it!!!

The more I think about it, it would seem logical that if you were going to send a photograph to a friend that you casually addressed by only using their first name -- wouldn't it seem a contradiction to then sign your name formally with an initial + last name?!

I guess the exception would be a "dictated" autograph request to a "star"?? (i.e. "Pardon me, Lindsay -- would you mind autographing that beer bottle for me? Just sign it: 'Dear J.B. -- Bottoms Up! Love, L. Lohan'"

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

I'm looking at the third letter of the last name and wondering if it's an N, and not an R (look at the other N's). The last letter of that sequence (let's not even decide it's a whole or partial name) looks like a very emphatic T. That letter often had that kind of uptick stroke in those days. Then there's a swooping cross of the T. The real puzzle is that 9. It must be an I, but I can't find any Google matches on IQUES. For a while I was fooling around with Manistoque. It's a town in Michigan. But it was a dead end. The thing to do is find the census list for Portland for 1930 and 1940. A dull, but potentially effective approach.

If the third letter is an N, perhaps Igne? It did show up as a last name on a Google search.

I must say, though, the woman looked vaguely familiar to me when I saw the photo. If she isn't somebody famous, she must just have one of "those" faces.

 

[Julian]

My suggestion is to post the image on EBAY with a twenty five million dollar starting bid, claiming it's an authentic autographed picture of the Virgin Mary.

Once it gets the typical media attention and people all over the world check out the auction page, someone is bound to come forward and say "That's not a picture of the Virgin Mary, that's a picture of "WHATEVER HER NAME IS."

Mystery solved.

 

[Rockapin-up]

EXELLENT

 

[Murph351]

Damn... I was hoping this thread was lost in the Great Crash of '08.
How's the research going?

 

[Vintage Betty]

The Mystery of the 1930's Woman is Solved!!!

The Mystery of the 1930's Woman is Solved!!!

The mystery woman is.....Dr. Marie Equi. Marie Diana Equi (born 7 April 1872 in New Bedford, Massachusetts; died 13 July 1952 in Portland, Oregon) was a medical doctor and anarchist.

Here is only a bit of her biography from The Corvallis Community Pages

Radical Politics, Radical Love: The Life of Oregon's Dr. Marie Equi

Personally acquainted with many of America's radicals in the first half of the Twentieth century, Portland physician and suffragist, Dr. Marie Equi was arrested with birth control advocate Margaret Sanger in 1916, and was sentenced to San Quentin Prison for her anti-war views in 1920. Yet it was only recently that her extraordinary life as an open lesbian has been acknowledged. This silence surrounding her affections ended in 1983 when historian Nancy Krieger, a University of Washington grad student, uncovered documents at the National Archives that revealed Equi's rumored love affair with Portland resident Harriet Speckart.

Equi's early years and public notoriety

Marie Diana Equi was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts on April 7, 1872, the daughter of Italian and Irish parents. She spent her youth in Italy with her paternal grandfather, and while still a young woman suffered from a bout of tuberculosis, the deadly killer of its day, that sent many westward in search of a recuperative, dry climate.

In 1893, Equi moved west to The Dalles, Oregon following her longtime friend, Bess Holcomb. Holcomb had accepted a teaching position, and the two friends lived together rather quietly in what historians refer to as a "Boston marriage." That was until July 21, 1893 when a local newspaper, The Times-Mountaineer broke the following story of how Marie (identified as "Miss Aqua"), angered over a pay dispute between Bess and Bess's employer, a Rev. Orson D. Taylor, took him to task by flogging him in public.
"Considerable excitement prevailed on Washington Street near the noon hour today, and the blocks in the immediate vicinity of O. D. Taylor's office were thronged by an anxious throng. Our reporter was not present, but learned from eye-witnesses that Miss Aqua, armed with a raw hide whip, paraded in front of Rev. O.D. Taylor's real estate office, and threatened that gentleman with a horsewhipping if he appeared on the outside. He no doubt considered "discretion the better part of valor" and locked himself on the inside. She maintained her position on the sidewalk, so we are informed, for nearly an hour and a half, and during that time the gentleman kept himself barricaded behind a locked door. From information gleaned from parties who claimed to be acquainted with the circumstances, the grievance seems to be that Miss Holcomb--a member of the faculty of Wasco Independent Academy--in settlement for services last year, had been paid by Rev. O. D. Taylor, the president of the board of directors, $100 less than the amount he promised to pay her. Another version of the matter, and we presume the correct one, is that Rev. O. D. Taylor promised Miss Holcomb $100 indivially, more than the amount allowed by the directors, and this he has refused to pay. Her personal friend and companion is Miss Aqua, a spirited young lady, who says that she will not tamely submit to see Miss Holcomb cheated out of $100 of her salary, and that she will whip O. D. Taylor if it is the last act of her life. The sympathy of the crowd was with the young lady, and if she had horse-whipped the reverend gentleman the fine would have been subscribed within five minutes. Miss Holcomb is a scholarly and highly accomplished young lady, and is held in high estimation in this community. Miss Aqua is very much attached to her, and her friendship amounts to adoration."

(Click the above link for the rest of this story and trust me, it gets better)

Included on the same page in the right hand side bar is her Defense of Oregon's Dr. Marie Equi for Opposition to WWI.

And her Wikipedia profile plus more photos of her on Google.

In addition, this information is not listed in either source, but I believe Dr. Marie Equi also campaigned against the mistreatment and for the promised naturalization of immigrants from China working in the Portland area during the 1930's as part of a national protest which affected a China-America trade agreement during this period (I had the link and can't find it; I'll keep looking so I can present the factual details). It is my belief with minimal research that she was one of the primary 30 members spearheading the Portland campaign for better treatment, conditions and naturalization for these workers. Unfortunately, my attempts to obtain this 30 member list has been lost to time; the people at the historical society were very nice but were unable to help me, as the list of the primary members of the organization no longer exists.

I have additional information and images being mailed to me, courtesy of the kind folks of the Oregon Historical Society, one of three resources I contacted. I will post this information when I receive it, to further our research into this remarkable woman's history.

Repsectfully submitted ~

Vintage Betty

 

[TessTrueheart]

Best news all day! Thank you so much for solving the mystery, Vintage Betty!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

She sounds quite interesting too!

 

[miss_elise]

wow... what a labyrinthine search...

well done!

 

[Mojito]

Brilliant, Vintage Betty! That is some sensational detective work.

And I did say waaaaay back that it looked like a "Dr." abbreviation.

 

[Warbaby]

Incredible! Fabulous! O frabjous day, calloo, callay! Not only is it immensly satisfying to finally know her identity after all these years, but to find that she was such a fascinating person and one worthy of great admiration.

Vintage Betty, you are my hero! I can't thank you enough without resorting to lavish and effusive praise that would embarass us both.

Now to find a suitable reward for your amazing research...

 

[J.B.]

Nice sleuthing work, Vintage Betty!

Thanks for the "closure"...

 

[Fletch]

Wow, what a pioneering female. And Portland was a lousy place to be one then. After the 20s they really cracked down on the left in that town - drove a lot of activist, publishing, and such activity to Seattle.

Another point about radicalism back then. It was all or nothing. Break one taboo and polite society was through with you. For a woman, especially, to be a practicing doctor, well gosh, she might as well have been a Communist, lesbian, agitator, public batterer of men.

 

[KittyT]

Wow, what a pioneering female. And Portland was a lousy place to be one then. After the 20s they really cracked down on the left in that town - drove a lot of activist, publishing, and such activity to Seattle.

She should've stayed in MA

 

[Vintage Betty]

Best news all day! Thank you so much for solving the mystery, Vintage Betty!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

She sounds quite interesting too!

Thank you Ms. Trueheart! Yes, I agree, she sounds extremely interesting!

wow... what a labyrinthine search...

well done!

Thank you Miss Elise! Yes, I will detail out some additional information on my resarch below.

Incredible! Fabulous! O frabjous day, calloo, callay! Not only is it immensly satisfying to finally know her identity after all these years, but to find that she was such a fascinating person and one worthy of great admiration.

Vintage Betty, you are my hero! I can't thank you enough without resorting to lavish and effusive praise that would embarass us both. -snipped-

Aww.....go right ahead! lol I'm glad to be the person who solved your mystery - what a great piece of history you have on your hands!

Nice sleuthing work, Vintage Betty!

Thanks for the "closure"...

Thank you J.B.!

Wow, what a pioneering female. And Portland was a lousy place to be one then. After the 20s they really cracked down on the left in that town - drove a lot of activist, publishing, and such activity to Seattle.

Another point about radicalism back then. It was all or nothing. Break one taboo and polite society was through with you. For a woman, especially, to be a practicing doctor, well gosh, she might as well have been a Communist, lesbian, agitator, public batterer of men.

Yes, Mr. Fletch, that's what I was thinking too. The fact that she appeared to be well-loved in her community despite her radical actions for this time period showed what an amazing person she was.

She should've stayed in MA

lol

 

[dhermann1]

Of all the fascinating, amazing, remarkable things I've seen here in the Fedora Lounge, this absolutely takes the cake. I NEVER thought that face would be identified. My hat is off to you, VB, for a truly prodigious job of sleuthing. Now we'd like to see the documentary about the making of the movie. How the heck did you track her down!? You sure seemed coyly confident when you first intimated that you had a clue. Prodigious and impressive, and totally cool.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Absolutely fascinating, Betty. Sounds like perfect material for someone to make a movie of her life!

 

[Vintage Betty]

The Mystery Woman and ties to Acts of Congressional Repeals: Read the exciting facts!

The Mystery Woman and ties to Acts of Congressional Repeals: Read the exciting facts!

Some of you may wonder how I found this person and what effort it took. I thought those of you who are reading this far might actually be interested in how I found out this information and how I found out who this person is.

First, I took the signer's name on the photograph. I used to love doing word searches as a kid. So what I did, was set up a table and swapped letters of the alphabet for each part of her name, including titles. Each evening for 2-3 hours I would search variations of her name. This went on for about three weeks. The closest name I found was an interesting woman in the Middle East during the 1920's. Too young to be our mystery lady, but interesting anyway.

When that research failed to bring anything to light, I than focused on what information I saw remaining:
1) The woman's age
2) The fact she was wearing a high-end (expensive) Chinese Coat in the 1920's
3) The hairstyle - not typical of it's era, it evokes an earlier time period
4) The photographer's name
5) The frame of the photograph

Out of what I had left, the most useful was going to be the photographer's signed name. So I started researching Alda Burke Peasley Jourdan.

This proved to be very vaulable, as she was quite well known and famous. She was a Northwest Artist (1889 - 1962). Education at the Art Institute of Chicago. There is quite a lot of information on the internet about her, but not much substance. I researched a variety of databases and art websites for information, but didn't find much of value. This was another couple weeks of work. Through research, I found that Alda Jourdan resided in Portland with her husband Albert during the 1920-1930 period. As a side note, Albert was famous in his own right as an artist.

I than called the Art Institute of Chicago, and spoke with someone in their art department, and got transferred to a couple more departments including Collections and Reference before ending up with Photography, which tried to help me, but to the best of my knowledge never contacted me back.

Not to be deterred, I contacted other artistic and historical sources of information I found, including the Oregon Historical Society. That took a few weeks because they had phone problems and were changing their website. I think maybe they were moving?

Through continued research (I think we are in my second month of research by this time) I found out out this tidbit:

Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Acts By United States Congress. House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, Published 1943.

(Photo courtesy of this blog which is recommended reading-very interesting)

And that our famous Mrs. Alda Jourdan was the Secretary, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and is listed as a book detail during this time period. with a photograph courtesy of Google on the right side of the above page. Founded in 1915, group works to achieve world disarmament, full rights for women, racial and economic justice, and an end to all forms of violence.

Now, this doesn't seem important until I stumbled on this fact: Our mystery woman wore a very high quality Chinese Coat, the photograph was taken by Alda Jourdan during this period and they lived in the same town. I broached the gap, and assumed they were friends working on this campaign together.

I found quite a lot of information in this article, and than proceeded to cross-reference the data I found regarding the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and researched the branch in Portland, Oregon, where I knew they both resided.

I called the branch, and asked for their registry from this time period. Needless to say, I flabbergasted the volunteer, who asked what on earth I needed the information for. I explained myself, but she kindly said they didn't have it available. If I found it, would I please send them a copy?

So, I went back to my primary sources (various Historical Societies), contacted them a second time and proceeded to wait, continuing to research as time permitted. I knew if I pressed on, I would find the mystery woman, but I haven't had a lot of time over the last month, so I decided to wait on other persons until I had more time to devote to this puzzle.

Finally, the kind folks at the Oregon Historical Society stepped up, and proceeded to tell me who the name was. Mystery solved.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Addendum: One of the most interesting parts of this research was that whenever I sent the photograph to someone they would say "...she looks familiar...".

 

[Vintage Betty]

Of all the fascinating, amazing, remarkable things I've seen here in the Fedora Lounge, this absolutely takes the cake. I NEVER thought that face would be identified. My hat is off to you, VB, for a truly prodigious job of sleuthing. Now we'd like to see the documentary about the making of the movie. How the heck did you track her down!? You sure seemed coyly confident when you first intimated that you had a clue. Prodigious and impressive, and totally cool.

Thank you for the wonderful compliment! See above for the general outline of my research.

Vintage Betty

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Good show Betty! Bravo! :eusa_clap

 

[dhermann1]

I am now convinced that with a little effort the various and sundry members of the Fedora Lounge, with their various and sundry talents and abilities, could rule the world, if we wanted to. Our own vintage world!!!