Marvin and Owen: 1910

The 1910 census shows Marvin living at 2637 Washington Avenue. His mother runs a boardinghouse, his father works in a shoe factory. Marvin is listed as 8 years old and has two sisters and a brother.

The 1910 census shows 13 year old Owen McCormack lodging at 2651 Washington Avenue with his mother and 2 sisters. His mother is a saleslady in a department store; one sister is a cashier in a grocery store. Their race is given as white.

[Aha! Thank you. - Dave]

Perhaps a sign of our times to see how quickly we make assumptions about the past and assign motivations based on the schemas we've developed in our own minds about what the past was like. As a budding historian, I hope I remember this little episode as I "interpret."

Sign of the times that he doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the black boy in his caption. Sad.

[Owen most likely is the boy on the right. See below. - Dave]

[Or maybe not! See above. - Dave]

Excuse me, I see two other boys. Is one of them not a real boy? I know you're just reporting what you see, but it still bugs me.

[There's a similar caption on another photo showing Marvin and the boy on the right, with the boy on the left barely visible in the background. Look for it later this week. - Dave]