By Associated Press
A rare framed photograph of American social reformer Susan B Anthony is being auctioned at a starting price of $5,000.
The 20-by-16-inch photo was found in a hidden attic space in a building in Geneva, New York, after it was sold in December.
David Whitcomb, an attorney and owner of the building, discovered some 350 antique items in the building and called an antique dealer to bring them for auction.
The photograph of Susan B Anthony is one among them. It was taken in 1905 by Geneva photographer James Ellery Hale in 1905, only months before Susan passed away. It was later selected by Susan B Anthony Memorial Association as her official photograph. The photocopy is reportedly one of the four that exist, as per the auction listing.
The auction will be displaying several photos of the suffragist Elizabeth Smith Miller and other people, including the unframed second version of Susan’s photograph for the auction.
“After purchasing the property, Whitcomb noticed water damage in the ceiling on the third floor and soon realized that above it was a trove of objects that had been sealed by a drop ceiling and abandoned for decades,” The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported in February.
“At that moment in time, the decision was made to simply leave what almost amounts to a full photographic studio up there and just seal it shut,” Whitcomb said. “It’s mind-boggling.”
One Source Auctions of Canandaigua will hold the auction on September 18. Aaron Kirvan, of the auction house, has estimated the collection could fetch close to $100,000 but said it was not confirmed as some of the items are one of a kind.
Susan B Anthony was a woman activist who led the campaign for women’s suffrage, writing the text of the 19th Amendment when it was passed in 1920, helping women get the right to vote.