Portrait of George H. Gerpheld, Kalamazoo Saladin Shriner, Michigan
Black-and-white photograph of George H. Gerphelde, a Kalamazoo Saladin Shriner Club member. View features a half-body portrait of a man wearing a dark colored suit and a fez with embroidered text and emblem. The text on the hat reads Saladin, and the emblem is of a curved sword above a crescent and star. In the background is a sconce and wainscoting wall paneling at the Park-American Hotel in Kalamazoo, Michigan. According to an article in the Kalamazoo Gazette dated February 15, 1943, the Saladin Temple Shrine club of Kalamazoo (a branch of the Saladin Temple of Grand Rapids, Michigan) hosted an Illustratious Potentate Ball at the Park-American Hotel in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The identification of the person pictured is based on the same article. The photograph was taken for the Shrine Club and Orlo Swoap, 3227 Bronson Blvd, Kalamazoo, Michigan.