Rosy Izzy’s caption is: “Rosy Izzy – Italian; Insane Temper. ‘Beaten by stepmother till she lost her mind.'”

Unlike a lot of people whose images appear in the album, Rosy appears another time in the group photo for 5 

In this caption, Glenn marks Rosy as emotionally and psychologically deviant, although she makes note of the effect of abuse by her stepmother, although the quotation marks imply she was told this information and it is unclear by whom. The pathologizing of Rosy’s temperament and mental health by a professional, further constrain Rosy’s agency both within the institution and the archive.

Questions

How can we read agency in Rosy’s definition?

How can we hold the small pieces of Rosy’s story that get along with the potential misrepresentation in the archive?

What was your first impression of Rosy? How did the caption shift your perception or why didn’t it?

What more can you imagine about Rosy looking at both images of her? How might the context of the photo shift her appearance?