The Lost Souls Foundation

Charlie had always been fascinated by old black and white photographs, especially those with dozens of people walking down the streets of big cities, like New York at the turn of the century, that century being the twentieth.  Nameless faces stared from the photographs, but everyone, of course, had a story, a life lost to the ages except for a few grainy images in the pictures.  Who were the people in front of the deli, the market, or the dry cleaner?

Charlie married Claire, who was off-the-charts psychic.  She could touch any photograph and immediately know the history of everyone pictured: "That's Amy Johnston, born in 1904.  She was a seamstress, had four children by Clarence Johnston, and died in Teaneck, New Jersey in 1987."

Charlie started collecting old black and white photographs by the thousands.  He and Claire bought an abandoned library outside of Poughkeepsie and set up shop, calling their operation The Lost Souls Foundation.  People from all over the country came to the library to learn about their relatives, who Claire listed in newspapers to alert the general public of the names she mystically retrieved by touching the old photos.

Charlie was ecstatic.  He discovered the backstories for all the faces that silently peered at him from a bygone era.  An internet company tried to buy out Charlie and Claire, but they declined.  Restoring the ancestry of people required a personal touch.  The Lost Souls Foundation sees people by appointment in the old library in Poughkeepsie so that they can sit down at oak tables and connect with their parents, grandparents, and siblings.  Many people weep for joy.

by William Hammett

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