Willard Suitcases / Rodrigo L Final
This morning I uploaded the last of the photographs of Rodrigo’s possessions. His cases were really interesting and you can check them all out here.
Rodrigo maintained a strong connection his native Philippines, and also had an interesting collection of books.
There were several items pressed between the pages of a few of them.
This hat was pretty cool and the white object at the bottom seems to be shark’s teeth strung together into some sort of necklace.
Peg and I shot our last suitcase on Monday the 9th of November 2015. I will be editing that work in a day or two, and that will be it as far as what was in the New York State Museum collection. Craig Williams seems to remember that there are a few cases that never went to the Museum that are in the Romulus Historical Society. If so, we’ll try to track those down and photograph them. I photographed the first case (Freda B) on the 17th of March 2011, and this has been quite an amazing ride. I just want to thank all of you who follow the project for all the good wishes, support, and interest. Now that the editing is just about done, I’ll be spending much of my time moving on to the next stage. I’ll also take a minute to thank Peggy Ross again for her continued help. I couldn’t have done this without her.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
It has been a pleasure to follow along with you on this project. A very rich experience.
Dear Jon,
Thank you so much for sharing these pictures with me. They were interesting! I was particularly taken by the gum wrapper. I wish you the best of luck with any future photos of these cases or with any new assignments you start. I really hope that someday you’ll be able to investigate the personal histories of a few of the people. That would REALLY be fantastic! Want to share some news: in my photo club, I recently received another ribbon for an assigned subject ( portraits ). A photo of a ” Mermaid “…..at an annual event called the “Mermaid Parade ” in New York, held on Long Island. The parade is at the beach and people dress up as mermaids and other sea creatures and parade down the boardwalk. Our next subject in March will be photojournalism & I ‘m planning to enter that competition with photos of a anti-government rally in NYC and one of the climate change march held last year in Washington DC. Please write again to keep me updated on your photography.
Best regards,
Martha
Dear Martha, thanks so much for your comment, and congratulations on your ribbon from the photo club. I will be in New York on Roosevelt Island on Thursday, 10 May of this year presenting the suitcases project to the Roosevelt Island Historical Society. It would be great to see you there. I’ll post something here a few weeks before to let people know about it. Wishing you all best, Jon
I have been truly fascinated by this project and so appreciate your sharing it with all of us. I do hope that a book will come from this effort. You have done a wonderful job of showing a peek into the lives of these interesting individuals.
Also, I would like to suggest that the white items stung together, shown in the hat of Rodrigo, are actually vertebrae instead of shark’s teeth. I have no idea from what, but they are not shark’s teeth.
Dear Julie, thanks for your comment. Yeah, I remember thinking at the time the white things were vertebra. I don’t know how shark’s teeth got into my head. I’m sure you are right, but I’ve never seen anything like it. It was really long too. Best, Jon