Asking Permission
Last night I had an interesting discussion with a colleague. She mentioned that she's researching a Civil War soldier from Vermont and that she'd found a great website, Vermont Civil War. It includes lists of photographs of men from various units. On the site was a mention of the man...
Read MoreForeign Intrigue
Each photo has a life story. Who took it, why was it taken, and if it's in this column, who is it. This picture from Maureen Ballantine's collection has an additional issue—how did it get so damaged?The scan she sent me was so faded that I enhanced it using...
Read MoreWhat is Crowdsourcing?
Crowdsourcing has been in the news lately relating to photo identification. According to Wikipedia, the term refers to the outsourcing of tasks to a community. The Library of Congress (LOC) is using the historical, photographic and genealogical community to help identify their photo mysteries. In its Flickr collection...
Read MoreOral History and Family Photos
Behind every family photo is a story. It might be a simple tale of how your ancestor visited a photo studio or a complex story interwoven with local, national and family history. Bonnie Farver, Farver family historian for Pennsylvania, sent me this great portrait. The Farvers have an oral tradition...
Read MoreGodfrey Update
It's week three of the project to identify all the faces in Gwen Prichard's family composite. In the first installment, I introduced this lovely composite and then last week I showed an original image from which one of the tiny portraits was taken. This week, Gwen wrote to...
Read MoreTackling the Godfrey Family Photo
Last week's column focused on Gwen Prichard's family photo mystery. This small composite image is a genealogical lock. All Gwen has to do is find the key. In this case, the key is her family photo collection. Gwen spent last week comparing each face in this picture to...
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Who’s That Girl?
Do you want a chance to win a trip for two to Belgium and a $1000 shopping trip to fashion icon Diane Von Furstenberg's boutique? All you have to do is register on the Red Star Line blog and solve a mystery. Anyone know the identity of this...
Read MoreContest Winner Mystery
This is quite the photo problem. Contest winner Juliann Hansen and her family have tried for years to figure out the details in this photo. This week I'm going to outline what we know. It was found covered in dust at the Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Co. (CBS) at Elmwood Place...
Read MoreBad Hair Day Winner!
Thank you for voting in the Bad Hair Day Contest and for sending in all those great hair photos. There is a winner!Here's how the votes stacked up. 83.7 % of the voters selected this photo. Congratulations go to Pat Daughtery for winning the contest and a copy...
Read MoreHair in the Family: A Contest
At a recent lecture, an attendee told me about an ancestral photo that scared him as a child. The woman had a curl that stood up straight on the top of her head. (He's promised to send me a scan, and as soon as I have it you'll see it...
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