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Uncovering the story — and the person — behind a 109-year-old photograph

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Columnist
December 1, 2021 at 1:19 p.m. EST
In 2020, a neighbor gave Josh Calder a bag full of old papers and photographs. Among the random ephemera was a 1912 photo of 9-year-old Donald Wellington Velsey. Josh was able to track down the boy’s 87-year-old son, Don Velsey, who provided this photo of his father when he was a New York ad man circa 1934. (Family photos)

The boy stares from the photograph with a knowing look. He’s not smiling. He’s not frowning. He’s not smirking. He looks as if he’s coolly appraising the photographer.

It’s an old photo. The 9-year-old boy is clad in a stiff white collar, a floppy bow tie around his neck. We know how old he is because of what’s written on the back: “Feb. 17, 1912. D.W.V. 9th birthday.”