HAMPTON — For the last month or so, a local pair of faithful volunteers have been on an important fact-finding mission for the Lane Memorial Library in Hampton. While hundreds of library patrons busily enter and exit through the doors on the main level, these two gentlemen sit in relative quiet one floor below, surrounded by volumes and volumes of the library’s newspaper and magazine archives.

North Hampton brothers Kel and Glen Dalton — also known as the “Dalton Gang” — are stationed at a desk over in the corner, daylight pouring in through a window above them. Neatly spread out on the desk top in front of them are a number of sheets of white paper; on the papers are stacks of photographs.

The images, mostly black and white thus far, are of people, places and things, all from sometime, someplace in the Seacoast area’s past. It is the job of the two brothers to try to figure out just exactly who's who, what's what, and where's where.

"It's an endless job," says Kel with a good natured grin, just before a slightly fuzzy photograph of politician Alan Cranston (during a long-ago campaign stop someplace in the Seacoast) is discovered in the pile of pictures before them.

Indeed, the task can sometimes seem insurmountable, what with almost a dozen boxes waiting nearby, filled with photographs, scrapbooks and other items donated to the library by the Hampton Chamber of Commerce and the Atlantic News, and carted to the library by Hampton History Volunteer John Holman.

Some of the photos are labeled; most are not, making the job at times seem like one of looking for clues to solve a mystery. However, the brothers are very patient, carefully going over photo after photo, seeking familiar faces and places, recognizing a person here or an event there.

Currently their main task is to put the photographs into their appropriate categories: “Beach Scenes,” "Politicians,” “Unknown/Known People,” “Weather/Storms,” and “Sports” are just a few. If they recognize a person, place or event in a photo, they dutifully label it accordingly. Some of the unidentifiable photos, Kel jokes, do end up falling into the “Question of the Week” category.

According to Lane Library’s Assistant Director Bill Teschek, once the materials have been identified and organized, they will be scanned and put into a database of some kind. Teschek says he’s most interested in images that in particular capture Hampton’s past. He adds that other volunteers are expected to come on board soon to help with the identification and organization process.

The two members of the "Dalton Gang", who typically spend a couple of hours at the library on Wednesday mornings, may indeed find a few extra pairs of hands and eyes to be very helpful. Referring to the boxes of photos yet to be sorted through, Kel predicts with a chuckle, “This will take us until next spring!”

For more information about this photo identification project at the Lane Memorial Library, call Assistant Director Bill Teschek at 926-3368.