The Wiseman Bridge spans the Lewiston Canal on Chestnut Street. The photograph depicts its inauguration in 1927. Despite his English last name, Robert J. Wiseman (1871-1942) spoke French and belonged to many Franco-American organizations. He worked in a drug store, studied medicine at Bowdoin College, and became mayor of Lewiston in 1914. He returned to the office in the 1920s and 1930s. He had married Rose Cyr in 1894; they had five children. Wiseman was still alive at the time of the bridge's inauguration.

The photograph may have been taken by Odile Ouellette (in whose collection it appears) or by a close relative.