W–006 · Documentary photograph and sources

Four Children for Sale

In the summer of 1948, the Chalifoux family in Chicago faced eviction. Ray had lost his job driving a coal truck, and his wife Lucille was expecting another baby. Lana was six, Rae-Ann five, Milton four and Sue-Ellen two.

Lucille Chalifoux covers her face beside her four children and a sign offering them for sale. The photographer is unidentified; Bettmann Archive / Getty Images.

Provenance and sources for frame 1

The photographer is unknown. The earliest newspaper reproduction found is in The Vidette-Messenger of 5 August 1948; Bettmann Archive / Getty Images also holds a copy. Wikimedia Commons gives a US public-domain rationale based on publication without a copyright notice, which should be checked against the intended place of reuse. Displayed file: 1280 × 1600 pixels. The source record discusses public-domain status; check which jurisdiction it covers. Full image record in Russian.

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On 4 August, Lucille and the four children were photographed beside a sign: “4 CHILDREN FOR SALE. INQUIRE WITHIN.” The Vidette-Messenger printed the photograph on its front page the next day. It spread across the country, and offers of money, work and shelter reached the parents. By 1950 the children were living in different homes.

Rae-Ann and Milton went to the Indiana farm of John and Ruth Zoeteman. The siblings were given new names there—Beverly and Kenneth—which remained on their school photographs and in the Zoeteman family obituaries. Both later described beatings and hard labour on the farm. Rae-Ann said her mother received two dollars for her. No document of such a transaction has been published; the amount comes solely from her recollection.

Sue-Ellen grew up in another family in East Chicago, near the family’s former home. Less is known of Lana’s life. She died of cancer in 1998. Rae-Ann and her son searched for relatives, rebuilding connections through letters, records, pictures and names found online. Milton sent his sister the old newspaper photograph. She recognised herself in it.

In May 2013, Rae-Ann, now seventy, visited Sue-Ellen in Hessville. The sisters said they had met only once in all the years since their childhood separation. Sue-Ellen was gravely ill and could no longer speak. During an interview she wrote of the reunion: “This is wonderful. I love her.” Sue-Ellen died on 9 July 2013.

1. Four children for sale