George Sodder saw a picture of a young girl in a magazine that he believed was Betty

[christine2448]

Originally Posted by Shadow205
I need help researching and trying to find an old magazine. You will remember mentioned that George Sodder saw a picture of a young girl in a magazine that he beleived was Betty. He traveled to New York in an attempt to identify the girl but was not allowed to see her. Here is the letter that he wrote to the school;

Walt Whitman School
25 East 78th Street
New York, NY
Attn: Miss Louise Krueger, Director

Dear Miss Krueger:

The enclosed picture of several of your students appearing in the May 14, 1946, edition of LOOK magazine is self-explanatory.

For your information, the little girl to which the arrow points quite definitely resembles one of our children who disappeared during the latter part of 1945, and I shall appreciate it greatly if you will, at your earliest convenience, favor me with the following information:

1. Her name
2. The date of her enrollment
3. Any further information you may feel at liberty to supply.

Needless to say, your cooperation in this matter will be more than appreciated.

Yours very truly,

George Sodder
According to Jennie(Granddaughter) it is not known if he received a reply to the letter or not. She thought that she located the correct magazine and purchased it but the picture that she was looking for was not in it. So, evidently there was a mistake on which issue the picture appeared in. Anyone that would like to help could search for anything to do with the school, classmates.com, reunion sites, any place where we might find pictures of students from that time period, any info on "Ms.Krueger".

Any ideas on where we might go with this information?

Jennie also said: My mom remembers the picture showing little girls lined up at a ballet class.
I found a site that lists old issues of Look Magazine and describes some of the topics featured in them:

http://www.pastpaper.com/List-Look40s.htm

The February 5, 1946 issue lists "Ballet Fashion Show". Not sure if that is what we are looking for. I find it hard to believe that Mr. Sodder would get the date of the magazine wrong. Perhaps the magazine has pages missing from it?



ALSO
Copied over from #2 thread...

I found this posted in thread one, but I can't get it to open...anyone?

http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Ewvrcbiog/WhatReallyHappenedToChildrena.html

 

[catsy101]

I couldn't get it to open either christine. My husband works with computers for a living in an IT dept at a bank. Going to ask him to take a look at that link tonight. He may not be able to do anything tho, because it may have to be done from the comp of the person who put it up in the first place. But I'll ask him anyway.

 

[drema]

I can't open it either. I think looking for the picture is a good idea-for 60 some years it has been part of this mystery. So why not try to prove or disprove it is Betty? Just like the 1968 photo. It would be wonderful if the person would come forward if it is not Louis and say "Hey, that's me when I was 26 but I have no idea who could have sent it to you or why they did that to you." That would end the mystery of who it is, whether it is Louis or not.

 

[TallCoolOne]

Well I for one am keeping my fingers crossed (which by the way makes it real challenging to type........ heh, heh) that the photo can be located.

~TCO~ trying to be patient............which I am NOT good at.

 

[Teresa Larson]

I am not trying to be negative at all. I am just saying this has already been done by Mr Sodder or a PI he hired. I hope you find out that it was Betty I know any small piece could lead to more information. I do searches for a living so yes I do know all about how one little thing can solve the whole puzzle.

 

[Shadow205]

I couldn't get it to open either christine. My husband works with computers for a living in an IT dept at a bank. Going to ask him to take a look at that link tonight. He may not be able to do anything tho, because it may have to be done from the comp of the person who put it up in the first place. But I'll ask him anyway.

I couldn't get it to open either and I am the one who posted it .

catsy101, congrats on making contact with someone willing to help at the Library of Congress! I have thought all along that finding that picture was important. George basically "didn't even get his foot in the door" when he went to the school. They would not give him any info on the identity of the child in the picture. IMHO, Until we can identify that child, then it "could" be Betty. Good job.:clap:

 

[catsy101]

I have just recieved this response

16 May 2008
Ms. Hume,

So far, I haven't found the photograph. I looked through the entire May 14, 1946
issue and there was no such image. That definitely confirms what the
granddaughter thought about that specific issue. There was not a May 14, 1948
issue.

I have also used the yearly indexes published by LOOK in an attempt to find the
photo. There were no references to the Walt Whitman School or Louise Krueger in
the years 1946, 1947, or 1948. Since Mr. Sodder knew to write to the Walt
Whitman School and more specifically to Louise Krueger, I would think that those
names would have been mentioned in the article.

I then broadened my search to New York City, schools, and education and still
didn't find the photo. I will still do a bit more looking early next week but
I'm beginning to lose confidence in my ability to find the photo. Do you think
it is possible that the photo appeared in a magazine other than LOOK? That
would make it even harder, if not impossible, to locate the photo, but I suppose it could be a possibility.

Jan Grenci
Reference Specialist

 

[catsy101]

Granddaughter, tell me please, do you think the photo could have been in LIFE magazine? They had similar composistion, they each contained mostly photos, etc. And at the time they put a lot of children's photos in their magazine

 

[Granddaughter]

Duh ... It took me a while to find this subforum. I just realized that the other thread was closed this morning.

Yes, I do think it's a possibility that ther was some confusion about the magazine. Mom found the letter that my aunt Marion typed, and I will scan it and post it over the weekend after I retrieve it from her.

I also will get some photos of Mom and Marion (Mary Ann) from about the same age as the age progression Louis. In the age progression, the face is too wide and the eyes too small. I think the photos might help you to see why the photo is so credible for Louis.

The subforum is wonderful. Mom will be excited! I'll try to get her to my office to see it over the weekend.

 

[christine2448]

The subforum is wonderful. Mom will be excited! I'll try to get her to my office to see it over the weekend.

Hoping to bring more eyes to the case. You/family are always in our thoughts.

 

[fox1950]

Granddaughter, Thanks for commenting on the age progression. Can't wait to see your pictures!

You are great Christine.

 

[catsy101]

I am going to ask her to look at LIFE for that year and date. And also, for the 1948 issue, because, had there been an issue with the typewriter, the 6 could have ended up looking a lot like the 8 or an 8 could look a lot like a 6. Very similar numbers and lots of probs with those old fashioned typewriters too. Okay, here is why I think it could have been in LIFE magazine.

1. LIFE had almost all pictures, still does.

2. At that time especially, children were photographed a lot for that magazine.

3. LIFE and LOOK both begin with an L.

4. LIFE and LOOK are both single word titled magazines.

5. LIFE and LOOK both have 4 letters.

Easy to mix up.

 

[catsy101]

Granddaughter, there is a LIFE magazine with the cover indicating the contents are all about a children's ballet school. The date does NOT coincide.

Jul 26, 1948
Ballet school
Photo: Peter Stackpole

I saw the cover but NOT the inside of the magazine. The cover shows two small girls in ballet costumes doing different poses, but they are definitly not a Betty Sodder lookalike. HOWEVER, I do think this warrants furthur investigation. I am going to send this info to the nice lady at the library of congress and ask her to start on this issue of LIFE.

 

[catsy101]

Your search for "Ballet"
from Jan 1946 to Dec 1949 found 2 results
Back to Thumbnails View

Jul 26, 1948
Ballet school
Photo: Peter Stackpole
Back to Thumbnails View

 

[fox1950]

Keep going Catsy!


Interesting read on one person's theory on the Sodder children and the mystery of the picture-

Remember the Innocents
A massive search began, the carnival was shut down, and the park emptied of people .... The Sodder Children-missing (1); Timothy Jacob Davison-missing (1) ...
remembertheinnocents.wordpress.com/ - 36k - Similar pages Check under catagories-Sodder children missing

 

[christine2448]

I was born/raised in Philly/So. Jersey....Walt Whitman was a name for a major bridge in Philly...maybe Philadelphia not NY?

 

[catsy101]

Some observations, and please I need all of your help.

Could Walt Whitman School have been a ballet school? If it was, it no longer exists. My letter sent to that school at the address came back to me as non-deliverable.

Could this have been an ad to send your child to this ballet class?

 

[catsy101]

Good observation. Let's look.

 

[christine2448]

Walt Whitman High School, South Huntington

This is a HS in Huntington, NY....not even sure what your looking for..just trying to pitch in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman_High_School,_South_Huntington


Here is a dance school on Walt Whitman Rd in NY
CHILDREN IN COMMACK, NYPosey School of Dance Children and Adult Programs in Dance, Art, Music & Drama. .... 895 Walt Whitman Rd. Rt. 110 so of Rt 25, Melville (Hunt). ...

 

[christine2448]

I have been searching Walt Whitman, Ballet, Dance, School, Studio, and tons of stuff is coming up.