Photo does not show a young Louis Armstrong
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 30, 2021 at 16:16
- 2 min read
- By Marin LEFEVRE, AFP France, AFP USA
- Translation and adaptation Claire SAVAGE
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"The Karnofsky Jewish family, who immigrated to the United States from Lithuania, employed a 7-year-old boy and adopted (so to speak) him into their home," says a September 23, 2021 Facebook post that included a picture of a smiling Black child wearing overalls.
"In memory of this family and for the rest of his life, he carried the Star of David... This little boy was called Louis Armstrong," the post says.
The claim also appeared on Facebook here and here and on Instagram here. While Armstrong did have a connection with the Karnofsky family, the photo in the posts is not of him.
A Google reverse image search for the picture led to this page on the US Library of Congress website, which includes the same photo, titled: "African American boy holding a piece of fruit received through the Red Cross drought relief work in Mississippi."
The Library of Congress says the image dates to 1930 or 1931 and was taken by photographer Lewis Wickes Hine.
Born August 4, 1901, Armstrong would have been in his late twenties or early thirties the year the photograph was taken.
According to the Louis Armstrong House Museum, the Karnofskys were a family of Russian Jewish immigrants who hired him in 1907 and loaned him the money to buy his first cornet, an instrument similar to a trumpet.
Armstrong died in his sleep on July 6, 1971 with dozens of hits to his name.
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