After weeks of speculation, the original owners of a set of vintage photos have been found.
Kristie Baeumert was shopping at a Goodwill Store in Tyrone, Georgia, when she came across an old-school slide projector. Eager to use it to view slides she’d inherited from her grandmother, she purchased the machine and took it home.
When she started to fiddle with it, she discovered the projector held old slides from another family.
The photos featured a glamorous black woman in her evening best, two adorable children and shots of the family in exotic locations.
This story is right up our alley. The line by Kristie Baeumert totally sums up the mission of Pixorium- "I hope this story inspires people to dust off some boxes in their basements and bring those old memories to life again." https://t.co/vOS2Se7S4q
@ajc
pic.twitter.com/iuw8tjEL4J— Jennifer Page (@Pixorium) July 23, 2018
Baeumert noticed the family had a similar couch to her grandmother’s, and the pair of little girls were frequently dressed alike. Given some of the photos showed the little girls playing with white children, many wondered if a military family took the pictures.
“I was instantly obsessed,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on July 13. “I made my whole family look at them. My friends came over, and I was like, ‘We’re going to look at these slides!’”
Goodwill has numerous locations and donation centers, and the fact that it sometimes shares donations across centers makes it impossible to know who donated an item. Baeumert posted a few snaps on Facebook, but she wasn’t having any luck.
“I was kind of sad about that,” she said. “If this was my family, I would want these.”
She eventually appeared on CBS News, and that’s when she struck gold.
According to the broadcaster, a viewer contacted Baeumert only minutes after the segment aired and put her in contact with 88-year-old Theda Robertson and her daughters, Deborah and Treva.
The Robertsons were initially reluctant to come out publicly, according to CNN, but they changed their minds.
All four women appeared on a new CBS segment this week. As they looked at the photos together, the Robertsons said they had not seen the pictures in 20 years. They were grateful that Baeumert was so determined to find them.
“She purchased a projector and then found our life’s treasures inside,” Treva said. “You did not give up, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
Baeumert was overjoyed.
“They are just as happy and joyful, and it’s such a great story just the way I thought it would be,” she said.
The Robertsons left with their pictures and projector in tow.
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