On Aug. 21, 1930, a mother gave birth to triplets in Springfield, Ill. The news was big enough in the capital city that a photo of the babies was published on the front page of the Illinois State Journal, the precursor to The State Journal-Register.
Eighty-two years later, SJ-R photo editor Rich Saal drove 200 miles to capture the triplets’ image again for print.
Saal came across the original photo of the triplets while creating a collection of 35 glass-plate images taken from 1929 to 1935 by photographers of the Illinois State Journal. He turned the project into an exhibit titled “Springfield Photographs” as part of his work toward a master’s degree in history.
“They were born in Petersburg (a town near Springfield),” Saal said, “and because I knew there were quite a few Atterberrys left in the area, I just began making calls to see if anyone knew of the triplets. I figured it couldn't be too hard to find 82-year-old triplets in a community that small.”
Saal located the brother in Petersburg.
“He told me his sisters lived in the Chicago area and that he didn't see them very often, but that he would let me know if a trip was planned,” Saal said. “That was in May. I hadn't heard anything, so I called him back in early September and sure enough, he was driving up to see his siblings that month. I drove to Wheaton on the 14th to photograph the three of them together.”
Dave Bakke, Division A columnist of the year for GateHouse Media, wrote the story, and it published as the newspaper’s Page 1 centerpiece Wednesday, Oct. 3.
On Aug. 21, 1930, a mother gave birth to triplets in Springfield, Ill. The news was big enough in the capital city that a photo of the babies was published on the front page of the Illinois State Journal, the precursor to The State Journal-Register.
Eighty-two years later, SJ-R photo editor Rich Saal drove 200 miles to capture the triplets’ image again for print.
Saal came across the original photo of the triplets while creating a collection of 35 glass-plate images taken from 1929 to 1935 by photographers of the Illinois State Journal. He turned the project into an exhibit titled “Springfield Photographs” as part of his work toward a master’s degree in history.
“They were born in Petersburg (a town near Springfield),” Saal said, “and because I knew there were quite a few Atterberrys left in the area, I just began making calls to see if anyone knew of the triplets. I figured it couldn't be too hard to find 82-year-old triplets in a community that small.”
Saal located the brother in Petersburg.
“He told me his sisters lived in the Chicago area and that he didn't see them very often, but that he would let me know if a trip was planned,” Saal said. “That was in May. I hadn't heard anything, so I called him back in early September and sure enough, he was driving up to see his siblings that month. I drove to Wheaton on the 14th to photograph the three of them together.”
Dave Bakke, Division A columnist of the year for GateHouse Media, wrote the story, and it published as the newspaper’s Page 1 centerpiece Wednesday, Oct. 3.
