Inside the gallery in late October, Olson found herself face to face with a photograph of her 12-year-old self, pushing a baby carriage through the streets of Mattapan. The image, taken by famed photographer Constantine Manos in 1974, shows Olson alongside her friend Linda and her sister Christine outside a neighborhood store.

"This is our neighborhood store that was called Tony's," Olson recalled, pointing at the photograph. "This is my friend Linda and my sister Christine, and we used to be mother's helpers, and we would babysit the kids in our neighborhood, and we would take them out for a walk."

Olson is now among 29 people successfully identified in the Athenaeum's exhibition of Manos' 1974 photographs. The museum began its identification effort in 2025, and most subjects were found through social media and community engagement before the show opened in June. Since then, four more people — including Olson — have come forward.

In 1974, Manos embarked on a nine-month journey to document life in Boston and surrounding communities for the city's bicentennial. Using a 35mm Leica, he captured 19,000 black-and-white photographs across neighborhoods including the South End, Mattapan, South Boston, Charlestown, East Boston, Roxbury, the North End, Beacon Hill, Dorchester, Back Bay, Brighton, Brookline and Cambridge.

A second-generation Greek immigrant born in South Carolina, Manos came to Boston at 19 to serve as official photographer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He joined the Magnum photography cooperative in 1963, and his work is held by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others. He died in January 2025.

Manos' 1974 portfolio, along with work by 15 other photographers, was originally displayed in a red, white and blue-roofed pavilion in front of the Prudential Center in 1975. That exhibition, also titled "Where's Boston?", ran through 1978. Olson visited several times as a teenager, when her image was featured.

Olson returned to the Athenaeum on Oct. 30 to record an oral history interview with associate curator Lauren Graves. The museum has collected 17 oral histories since 2025, 12 of which are included in the exhibition.

Although Olson doesn't remember meeting Manos, she remembers the photo being taken. Standing before the image with Graves, she recounted details from her adolescence — working at Rico's Market, her childhood dog (who appears in the photo), and the tensions that arose from the busing crisis in the 1970s.

A third-generation Bostonian who grew up in Mattapan, Olson moved to Milton after marrying, then raised her two daughters in Duxbury. She now lives in Plymouth and works as a part-time harbormaster.

"There's a strong connection to Boston throughout our lives," Olson said. "Boston's something that's in your blood, I believe, you know? And if you were born here, there's a sense of pride that goes with it."

"It was exciting, you know? And not only that, but it's like a piece of your history," she added. "This was your neighborhood that you grew up in and even to this day, there's so much nostalgia just looking at this."

Since the exhibition opened, three other people have identified themselves or others in the photographs: a dancer at the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in Roxbury, a son who recognized his father dressed as a mime, and a neighbor who identified her local fireman. All oral histories will be archived on the Athenaeum's website.

Even after the exhibition closes on Dec. 12, Graves hopes to continue identifying subjects in Manos' photographs. She invites visitors to browse the collection and identify themselves or others.

Graves said she has been struck by the openness and generosity of those sharing their stories.

"I assumed we would talk about the photo, and no one really wanted to talk about the photograph necessarily," Graves said. "They wanted to talk about the stores around it, the street, their family home. The photograph is just a small part that tells this much larger history."