Boulé

barbarannabeauties_2

Here are 6 young women at a Boulé event back in the 1940s in or outside of Detroit.  Two of my aunts are in the picture. Barbara Cleage is front and center with a light dress and jacket. At the end of the line is my aunt Anna Cleage who seems to be wearing trousers.  Unfortunately the photo was unlabeled and I do not know the names of the others.  I recognized the woman on the far right as one in the background photograph of the photograph of my grandfather, Albert B. Cleage Sr with a camera.  Sheryl asked last week what sort of even my grandfather was attending. It made me go back and look at the background in the photo below and then look for photographs that appear to have been taken on the same day.  You can read an post from 2012 about the Boulé at this link.

abcsrcamera

My grandfather Albert B. Cleage with his camera.  In the background we see the young woman with her hand on her hip and the dark dress, from the first photo above.  The woman closer to us in the striped outfit, carrying a big purse, appears in the bleachers (which we see in the background here) in the photo below.

boule event 1940s 6

The 4th woman from the right, first row, is in the photo with my grandfather to his left.  Above her head, on the top row are some of the young women from the first photo above.

cornelius & camera man

First a photo of the men, then one of the women.  Or vice versa.  Who is that on the second row taking a photograph of the photographer? Front row center is Cornelius Henderson, engineer who graduated from the University of Michigan and helped design the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor.

Cornelius Henderson Belle Isle Bridge

Cornelius L. Henderson

boule event 1940s 4
My grandmother, Pearl Reed Cleage facing front, second woman to the right in the second row
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My grandmother second bench, 2nd from right. My aunt Anna (from the photo of the lovelies) can be seen behind the lady first in my grandmother’s row.  My aunt Barbara is 1 person over from Anna. You can see the woman in the striped dress in the first photograph lineup. Toward the left side, top row, you can see another young woman from the first photo.I do not see any family members but do notice the men and women are sitting together in this one. I wonder how the man in front lost his leg.

16 thoughts on “Boulé

  1. The ladies in the first photo do look wonderful! They look very fashionable. Two of them are looking to their right and I wonder what has taken their attention ?

  2. Your Boule link didn’t work, Kristin, so I jumped off the Sepia page and googled it – very interesting. That first photograph is just lovely — they’re all so beautiful — sorry that we didn’t get to see a full shot of your Aunt Anna in her trousers!

  3. Wish your link to Boule had worked, because there are several definitions available. I can’t tell by the bleachers full of people who obviously loved having photos taken which activity your Boule might have been. But I do enjoy seeing this gathering of well dressed people, especially that you know who some of them were. Thanks!

  4. The six women look so excellent! Dresses, hair styles, shoes…all so much more fashionable than how women dress today.

  5. Great detective work! With so many faces and perspectives it’s a real challenge to spot the similarities. Were the bleachers set up to hear a speaker or watch a ceremony?

  6. Beautiful photos but it makes you wonder why they were sitting in the stands – what was the event they were watching. If it was just speeches perhaps they would have held ot in a hall. Have you seen any newspaper reports on such events.

  7. Hello,

    I am looking to obtain more information on Cornelius L. Henderson. I am working on a exhibit for the University of Michigan’s Bicenntenial celebration and C.L. Henderson and his role in the construction of the Ambassador Bridge will be the focus. Any information, leads or contacts is helpful.

    Principal Rashid Faisal
    rfaisal09@gmail.com

  8. The women look stunning. Add in the great cars behind them and it’s a wonderful period piece.

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