Photo Detective: Grand Army of the Republic Image Premium
Front Back (detail) This portrait is a wonderful example of how family history is about putting all the pieces together. Elaine Clark submitted this picture because "it has been giving her fits." Almost forgotten, it once had a beautiful frame and, according to Elaine's elderly mother, hung...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Unraveling the Past Premium
This week, while I continue to work on some challenging submissions from readers, I thought I'd tell you about a picture puzzle of my own. I'm always on the lookout for unusual photographs or those that fall into the specific categories I collect. But sometimes a photo that doesn't fit...
Read MorePhoto Detective: More Than Meets the Eye Premium
In each column, I try to focus on one aspect of identification to help you understand the process of unpuzzling your pictures. Sometimes it's possible to put a name with a face, and sometimes it's not—there might be missing genealogical information or insufficient photographic evidence to compare to known...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Preservation Pointers Premium
I'd planned to write about photo identification this week, but then I went to get my eyes examined. At the receptionist's counter, I saw a sign that read, "Do you recognize any of the members of this class of 1949?" Someone had used tape to attach pictures of...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Help Identify This Photo Premium
Here's a chance for all you budding photo detectives to help out a fellow genealogist. Paul Murphy sent me this photograph of a girl holding a copy of a 19th-century children's magazine, The Nickell. Here's what we know and what we'd like to find out. What we know: The Nickell...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Searching for a Mother Premium
A while ago, Kelly Foster wrote with a very personal request. Her 96-year-old grandfather wanted to know if a particular photograph was of his mother. He never knew her; she died when he was a baby. Now Kelly says her family is "consumed" with trying to find a...
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Photo Detective: Baby Pictures Premium
Dianne Beetler is trying to determine if these two baby pictures were taken of the same child at different times or of two different children. Identifying photographs of individuals taken at various points in their lives is one of the challenges of photo identification. You can do this by comparing...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Cased Image of Children Premium
Daguerrotype Case (front and back) "Maybe you could remind people to cultivate memories from old people," suggested Dave and Mary Hughes, who were hoping for identification of this double portrait of two young children. It belonged to Dave's grandmother, Jane Marie Batterson, born in 1888. In 1970...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Tell a Story Premium
This charming photograph of a young girl shows how even a simple picture can tell a story when you simply research its content. You can turn any of the portraits in your collection into a tale worth telling by starting with the basics-photographer, type of image, props, clothing and the...
Read MorePhoto Detective: Two of a Kind Premium
Robert Niles owns two identical tintypes mounted in paper folders. He thinks he knows the identity of all the individuals but isn't sure. He also wants to know how a copy was made of the original tintype. Tintypes are an American invention, first patented by Hamilton Lamphere Smith of...
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