Vintage Photos of a Life Before Marriage

Years ago, my Grandma Hiller handed me her photo album, "You should have this" she said, "because you have all the other old family photos".  I was honored she chose me to be the family archivist despite, at the time, having no idea what I would ever do with this album.  We never had a chance to label all the photos and consequently many remain unknown today. My best guess in dating this album would be 1929-1932.  Grandma's brother Matt who died in 1928 is not present in any of the photos and by 1933 she was living in Milwaukee. These photos are most definitely from Grandma's hometown of Leonidis,  a mining community next to Eveleth, Minnesota in the Iron Range and this is where most of the photos were taken.  This photo album was important to her and, therefore, it is important to me as well.  All these years, I've kept it in a safe place and today it's been digitized and shared with all of you. I haven't removed any photos and any empty spaces were there on the day she handed me the book. I think it was her way of letting me know she had a life before marriage, children and grandchildren.  A life that, as someone ages, rarely is spoken about with grandchildren.  I am sure she never imagined the people and places of her youth would be posted on the Internet in a family history blog for all the world to see!  You can find the complete photo album on the Penne Family page.