Old Family Photos Donated to Watertown Historical Society, Owners Sought

Watertown Historical Society

Millie McLaughlin Leitner holding the photo of herself and her brothers that was given to the Watertown Historical Society by the son of a local photographer.

The Historical Society invites you to the Fowle House at 28 Marshall Street on Saturday, November 12, 2016 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. to discover whether they have old photos of your family or friends.

Drtad and Harry Boyajian of Oxford Studios in Cambridge preserved the history of many Watertown families in classic style studio portraiture. When the brothers left the business, the proofs were given to the Boyajian family. There were photos of people from many towns in the greater Boston area. Harry’s son David has donated photos of Watertown residents to the Historical Society of Watertown.

Some of the photo envelopes have as many as 20 different photos in them. Most are of young children, but others have older siblings and adults pictured as well. The Historical Society has created a database listing the names and addresses of the family portrait proofs they have in their possession that were taken by Oxford Studios in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The database has been uploaded to their website and is available for viewing in surname order or street address order, making it user-friendly for people to search for their family names or addresses.

In April, Watertown resident Millie (McLaughlin) Leitner of School Street saw a copy of the database and wondered if the entry for “J. McLaughlin” was for someone in her family. She contacted the Historical Society and both were thrilled to discover that the photo was of Millie and her brothers when they were toddlers! The Society was very happy to give her the photo.

The Historical Society is eager to return more photos to other Watertown families. The public is invited to the Fowle House on Saturday, November 12. Volunteers will be available to look up information in the database for you. There will also be printouts of the database so you can peruse a paper copy, if you prefer. They may have your family’s, friend’s or neighbor’s photos!

The portrait proofs are being offered to families for free – no charge. Enlarged, framed prints of the photos would make very memorable holiday gifts. Please visit their website at www.historicalsocietyofwatertownma.org and go to the Events page. There are links there to the database/spreadsheets. For more information please contact Joyce at joycekel@aol.com or 781-899- 7239.

(Submitted by Joyce Kelly of the Watertown Historical Society)