Use of childrens' photo challenged

The following letter was written by Esther Hall Gordon, formerly of Woodstock and now residing in Battle Creek, Michigan.

"As one of the minor children who appear in the front row of the photograph of the Woodstock Children's Home Choir of 1963, as featured in the 02.17.10 edition of The Woodstock Independent and entitled, "Picture This," I'd be very interested to know who provided this picture for publication without permission from any of us shown in it.

"I'd also appreciate knowing how to access today's "Picture This" feature photo on your web site, or having a scanned copy sent to my email address, a hard copy of which, incidentally, I already own.

"Those of us pictured as members of the Woodstock Children's Home Choir don't appreciate having photographs of our very private experiences of exploitative fund-raising efforts by the Woodstock Children's Home plastered in the form of a photograph in your newspaper. This choir was used to "raise funds" for the home - just another example of how minor children were exploited by those entrusted to their care - in order to build the current financial enterprise known as Woodstock Christian Life Services empire.

"Those of us who spent any length of time as resident of the Woodstock Children's Home, also, soon became convenient minimum wage workers, who were made available to perform menial, as well as illegal, child labor on campus and in the community at large. A few of us were even allowed to care for the elderly in various capacities at the Sunset Manor, formerly located on the site of the current Hearthstone Village.

"Currently, Woodstock Christian Life Services is planning to expand its tax-exempt empire, while continuing to hide behind their "faith-based" facade. That ridiculous motto, "Caring for the Young and the Old" needs to either be discarded or slightly reworded to something more reality-based, e.g., "Our Young Cared for Our Old," to accurately portray how their ever-expanding human services empire was built on the backs of many of the children's home residents just a couple of decades ago.

"Since we have invested enough sweat equity into the current WCLS enterprise, and are watching as WCLS's current board of financiers, led by Mr. Terrence Egan, current CEO of Woodstock's oldest human services organization, demand demolition of Grace Hall, aka Harrison House to those of us who are proud enough to say we made our home in that beautiful old building, I appeal to the Woodstock Independent, as well as the community at large, to respect our privacy, and cease any further exploitative photo opportunities on behalf of former residents of the children's home.

"As a tribute to the hundreds of minor children who, through no fault of their own, found a refuge from "wayward parents" during their years in residence at the Woodstock's Children's Home, formerly the Todd School for Boys, perhaps your newspaper could invest its energies in garnering much-needed support from the local community in an effort to preserve Grace Hall, aka Harrison House as an historical landmark.

"Esther Hall Gordon (Woodstock Children's Home resident from 03.28.63 - 06.08.71)"