The photo was discovered by Annie's great-nephew, Michael Shulman, at the National Park Service's library at Ellis Island. It is one of three photos of Annie at various stages in her life now known to exist. One of the three was featured on the front page of the Echo's January 6-12 issue.
"This image appears to be Annie with her brothers on the day of their arrival at Ellis Island itself," says New Jersey-based genealogist Megan Smolenyak, who has been in the forefront of piecing together Annie's full life story in recent years.
"If that's true, this photo is historically significant. I would go as far as to call it iconic. But the question is whether the picture is truly Annie and her brothers," says Smolenyak.
"I've had a facial analysis done and am having another done with the two known and one purported photos, but it's a bit difficult due to the quality of the images. But as far as I'm concerned, the more folks scrutinizing, the better," she said.
"As a genealogist, I have to concede the possibility that I could be wrong about this photo being Annie with her brothers at Ellis Island, but there's a wall of evidence that says it is them and not much for the counterview.
"Even if I'm wrong, I want to know once and for all. If this is Annie, this image would be iconic and should have its place in both American and Irish history."
Smolenyak is putting out an all points bulletin for help in verifying that this is indeed Annie and her brothers. She can be contacted at megan@honoringourancestors.com.
