Next Steps After Solving a Photo Mystery
What do you do after solving an old-photo mystery? I'm hoping you label the picture on the back using a soft graphite pencil. I'm also hoping you let that photograph take you to a new level of genealogy research. While the group portrait featured in last week's blog didn't end...
Read MoreNew England House History Mystery
This photo of a large family farm has proven difficult to identify. However, a closer look at the small details can help yield some clues.
Read MoreA Piece of Connecticut History
Photo courtesy of Derby (CT) Public Library Could this woman be Nancy Freeman, widow of Roswell Freeman, who was one of Connecticut's "Black Governors"? That's the big question, and this query has a lot of pieces. Janet Woodruff, an archaeologist with the Archaeology Laboratory for African & African...
Read MoreTwelve Months of the Photo Detective
It's time to look back at the year. Every week I write a Photo Detective blog post—that's 52 columns in 12 months. It's a lot of free photographic advice and tips. Here are my month-by-month 2012 favorites.JanuaryLast New Year's I offered advice on sharing images online, tackled a photo...
Read MorePhotos and Family History Vacations
Last weekend I spoke at a meeting of the Genealogical Research Institute of Virginia (GRIVA). My last lecture of the day covered family history vacations and discussed ways to use photos of homes, cemteries and other places to create an itinerary. I talked about visiting old family homes in person...
Read MoreHome Sweet Homestead
I just love this picture! It's got a lot of family history layers. Terry Sargent sent in this photo asking if it was a Civil War-era picture. On the back is written, "Mrs. and Mrs. E.H. Sargent Strawberry." The "Strawberry" refers to Strawberry Point, Iowa, where...
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Friends and Neighbors
A couple of weeks ago, I presented several lectures at the San Luis Obispo Genealogical Society conference. I had great time and got to look at some interesting pictures. Roma Miller showed me this snapshot. This was in Roma's box of photos from her step-grandfather's family mixed in...
Read MoreSpotlight: Denver Public Library Picture Collection
It's over 90 degrees in my town today. The heat and humidity make me start thinking about winter. With months to go before the snow, I did the next best thing. I looked at pictures of cooler temperatures I found on the Denver Public Library Web site. All right. Not...
Read MoreHouse History Help: My Favorite Books
My bookshelves are an eclectic mix of volumes on everything from forensic identification of facial features to button history. Any book I think might help analyze a picture ends up in my library. This diversity of titles includes several tomes on house history. If you find yourself with an architecture...
Read MoreRaising the Roof: Architectural Images
This week's blog column is actually the second part of a photo mystery. The first installment appears in my Photo Detective article in the July 2009 Family Tree Magazine. That issue should be in your mail boxes starting this week. Here's a synopsis of the problem: Bergetta Monroe...
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