Old Family Photos: Fraternal Organizations
Blanch Flanigan owns not one but two images of family in dress that identifies them as members of a fraternal organization. These secret societies were very popular in the 19th century. They offered men brotherhood, work opportunities and a shared mission. Symbolism varied. The three interconnecting rings of the Independent...
View DetailsForeign Photos in the Family Album
This week I'm at the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Conference. It's a huge event with folks attending from all over the globe. I love the international atmosphere and especially like looking at photographs taken around the world. Photos taken in foreign lands can be particularly challenging. Instead of...
View DetailsA Family Portrait Photo Mystery
Lauren Hamilton submitted this photo with a few questions, but as soon as I saw it I thought, "uh oh, this might not be who Lauren and her cousin think it is."The cousins' great-great-grandfather John McCauley was a Mennonite minister in Ontario, and later an Evangelical minister in Iowa...
View DetailsA Southern Photo Mystery
The story of a photograph is so much more than its simple details. This is a carte de visite (CDV) image. The mounted size of a CDV is 2.125 x 3.5 inches. The slight oval shadow on this picture signifies it was once in an album...
View DetailsTop Sites for Digital Storytelling with Photos and Images Premium
Digital storytelling websites let you post a photo and tell its tale online, sharing your pictographic history with the world.
View DetailsA Multi-Mystery Historical Baby Photo
Jim Moses recently found himself with a perplexing family photo mystery. When going through a trunk from his great-grandfather Luther Abner Moses (1860-1905) , he found an intriguing photo. It's a wonderful photo of a baby laughing. Everything in the trunk is related to Abner, but this photo is a puzzle...
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Clues, Cousins and Contacts: Three Ways to Solve a Photo Mystery
What does it take to solve a picture mystery? In this case it's clues, cousins and contacts. June Thomazin is determined to solve this tintype mystery! I featured it in my Photo Detective column in the September 2010 Family Tree Magazine (you can get a download of that Photo Detective...
View DetailsJohn L. Burns: Civil War Sharpshooter at Age 69
This week the nation commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. For three days, July 1-3, 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought. When it was over, 50,000 had died. It was the bloodiest battle of the war. One of the men who survived the battle wasn't even...
View DetailsFathers and Sons from Readers
Last week I wrote about two famous fathers and asked you to submit photos of fathers and sons in your family album. Thank you very much for sending in your photos!Geraldine Rudloff emailed this photograph of her immigrant ancestor Hans Christian S. Hegsted holding one of his...
View DetailsFamous Fathers: Happy Father’s Day
Father's Day wasn't official until 1966, when President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation making it the third Sunday in June. President Richard Nixon made it a permanent holiday in 1972. Other presidents wanted to designate a day to honor fathers. President's Woodrow Wilson and Calvin...
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