In 1865, at the age of 14, Gregor Broom kissed his mother goodbye, and joined the crew of a merchant ship leaving from the docks at Oban, Scotland to escape his abusive father, Murray. 

In 1925 Tommy Broom stepped off the train in Chicago at the age of five with his grandfather, Thomas Broom I, whom he lovingly called Da. 

In 1965 Tom Wade Broom embarked on his journey of chronicling on film the worst the world had to offer.

     “Photo by Broom is an epic tale of a family’s 100-plus-year journey through two World Wars, the Great Depression, the prohibition era, and the later years of social, political, racial, and religious upheaval, much of it captured on film by Gregor’s great-grandson, award-winning photojournalist, Tom Wade Broom. It is a character-driven novel spanning Murray, Gregor, Thomas, Tommy, and Tom Wade Broom, each living a life far different from his father’s, yet each of whose plans for his and his family’s future were influenced by his ancestors.”

– Author,  Hal T. Horowitz