That was the tack I took to unstick the photos. Most came loose with gentle misting with distilled water and very gentle pulling. One group, however, would not: these were B&W stuck to a color photo. I soaked them in distilled water overnight and this morning they came loose, although some did loose some surface emulsion.

Fortunately, the emulsion that was lost was not (except in one case) in a critical area. The one loss that I suffered was in the a photo of my mother; her face was lost and I could do nothing about it.

I've dried the photos on a bed of soft paper towels.

What saddens me is the first, these photos were treated as they were and, secondly, that undoubtedly some were lost when the room was cleaned out. But at least they were saved, and I can now take steps to preserve them and share them with the family.