NEW BEDFORD — There’s a mystery afoot at the Fort Taber-Fort Rodman Military Museum and Bill Niedzwiedz, museum president, is hoping the public can help him solve it.
The mystery surrounds four photos that were dropped off at the museum from an anonymous source.
“Somebody brought them in and figured we’d like to have them since they are military,” Niedzwiedz said. He was only told the pictures were found during a house clean out. He said the people dropped off the photos as the museum was closing and didn’t give the address of the house where the photos were discovered.
“We were closing — literally shutting off the lights — when the photos were dropped off,” Niedzwiedz said.
Niedzwiedz said since the photos were brought to the museum, it’s likely the house where they were found is in New Bedford. However, he said the military museum is also very well known in Rhode Island, which broadens the area of where the photos possibly came from.
“I hope we can find their relatives and return these photos to the family,” Niedzwiedz said.
One photo is a studio portrait of a Navy sailor, most likely from World War II. His uniform indicates he was a machinist mate. Niedzwiedz said he cannot tell what the ribbon on his uniform represents because it is old, and the colors might not be accurate because the portrait was colorized.
The stamp on the back of the photo denotes that it was taken in a photo studio on the 6th floor of the Callender, McAuslan & Troup building in Providence. The building is located on Westminster Street and was built in 1866. It’s housed many businesses over the years, including Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, a Providence rock music institution in the 1980s, according to the Providence Preservation Society.
The second photo is of a young man, dressed in a suit and tie.
Both photos are inside a folding, gold-tone frame, so it’s possible that both men are related.
There is another photo of 11 sailors and two Navy officers standing in front of four old Naval Air Station vehicles.
The fourth photo is taken at the same Naval Air Station with sailors crouching in the front row, and others standing behind them, flanked by three Naval officers.
Niedzwiedz posted the photos on social media hoping someone might recognize the men and the location of the Naval Air Station in the other photos.
He hasn’t received any responses yet.
The Standard-Times has also reached out to the archives department at Providence City Hall, and is hoping for a response to an inquiry about the old photo studio that was located inside the Callender, McAuslan & Troup building.
Niedzwiedz said this isn’t the first time someone has donated items to the museum without any attribution of where the items came from.
“We have a bust of Father DeValles. It was just sitting at the front door one morning. Someone had just dropped it off,” he said.
He recalled one time when a woman found out a picture of her great uncle, John Santos, was hanging in the museum.
“She flew all the way from Hawaii just to take a picture of the picture for a family reunion,” Niedzwiedz said. It was the only picture she had of him. He said he offered to give her the original, but she wanted that one to stay at the museum.
Niedzwiedz said the mystery photos might be the last remaining photos of the men in the family.
Anyone who recognizes the men in the photos or the location of the Naval Air Station can contact the Fort Taber Fort Rodman Military Museum at 508-994-3938.