The Stories Our Photos Tell: The Photo of the Hell’s Angels
Our photos tell the stories of our lives. In this series, I share the stories behind some of my favorite family photos.
In the fall of 1930, my grandmother, Helen Glenn, was an 18-year-old in the teachers’ school at Bowling Green State College. A typical college student, she worked hard in her classes and enjoyed time with her friends.
After her death, we found this picture in her collection of photos. No one remembered ever seeing it before. My grandmother is the girl in the center reading the book. Sitting on a bed with 3 friends, this is a scene of dorm room life. But what in the world is up with the Hell’s Angels sign above their heads? My grandma wasn’t a hellraiser, nor did she belong to a biker gang.
Fast forward several years…one day I was watching the 2004 Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Aviator, and it all finally fell into place! The sign on the wall was probably a movie poster of sorts for Howard Hughes’ epic movie Hell’s Angels, which was released in 1930, the time the photo was taken.
It’s nice to know that my grandma was a teenager once, like me…a girl who liked to hang out with her friends, take silly pictures, and put movie posters on the wall.
Right: Me (2nd from right) and my college friends
This photo was selected for and displayed at the 2018 RootsTech Photo+Story Competition at the annual RootsTech convention in Salt Lake City, UT.
What stories do your photos tell?
About the Author
Andi Willis started Good Life Photo Solutions after searching for photos of her late father and realizing how easily a family’s memories can slip away. Now a Certified Professional Photo Organizer with more than 15 years of experience, she helps families across the country bring order to overwhelming photo chaos and preserve the stories that matter most. She works from Smithfield, Virginia.
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We tend to ignore background objects in a photo, but sometimes they add to the story, as in this case.
Several of us went to visit my father in the hospital yesterday. My niece was reminiscing about the house my parents used to live in and mentioned some “masks” she remembered hanging on the wall. I pointed out that they were in the background in the photo my sister had brought in of him and my mom dancing – and what my niece never knew, was that my mom had painted them back when I was a teenager.
It’s amazing what we “miss” in photos until it is pointed out to us. What a wonderful observation and story to share with your niece.
That is such a neat story and wonderful photo! I’ve been reading a book that talks about the history of the “home,” and one thing it notes is the way life is portrayed in art. It spent some time discussing how objects on the walls and in the background give information about life at the time. Interestingly, there were often misrepresentations, or common objects missing, because they weren’t considered worth including. Definitely gets you thinking. It is a good feeling to realize that our ancestors once went through the same life stages we are experiencing, right?
I love that photo of your grandmother as a college student hanging out with her girlfriends. And so fun how you pieced together the info about the “Hells Angel” poster. I love how photos capture images of a moment in time.
It is so much fun to solve mysteries in photos! I love this photo and your story!
Thanks, Cita Sue! It’s one of my favorite photos of my grandma.