Photographs
Finding your ancestors' photographs is always a thrill. Often they are elusive. Or....you have photographs of your ancestors but they are unlabeled! (Sigh..) Who is whom?
You need strategies to identify those unidentified individuals in your ancestors' photographs. Take time to learn about the different types of photographs and what clues can be found within them.
I suggest you start with 4 Tips to Identify Unknown Family Photographs.
If you need extra help, I'm here. CLICK here to check out my genealogy consultation services. The links below will also help you explore available resources and strategies to identify your ancestors' photographs.
Check out the Are You My Cousin? Facebook page to keep learning!
Links to get started exploring our ancestors' photographs:
- 4 Tips to Identify Unknown Family Photographs
- Case Study: 5 Steps to Identify a Family Photograph
- Best Practices for Storing Heirloom Photographs
- Webinar - Finding Photos of Your Ancestors in Unexpected Places
- Medical Genealogy + A Photograph = A Young Woman's Story
- Would You Recognize Your Ancestor's Wedding Photo?
-
16 Posts To Help You Identify Old Photographs
Techniques and strategies to identify old photographs. Date an old photo and find other important clues in your old family photos. Do you have unidentified photographs of your ancestors in your collection? I think many genealogy researchers do. Among my own personal collection I have a large number of photographs of unknown individuals. It’s actually a wonderful problem to have! Are they family? Friends? Neighbors? I’m really not sure on some. When you come across old family photos that are not labeled, the question very quickly becomes “How do we identify those individuals?”. As researchers, we must first educate ourselves about those old family photographs. We have to learn how…
-
Finding Your Ancestors in School Yearbooks
Do you use yearbooks in your genealogy research? Yearbooks can be a fantastic resource to find your ancestor’s photograph. They have been popular for many years and can be found for dating back to the 1800’s. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a school yearbook is photographs. Of course, we all remember our own school picture days. We enjoyed getting dressed up, making sure our hair was just so and just hoping (please, please…) that our photo session came before PE class. What genealogical gems can you find in a school yearbook? A photograph of your ancestor. Photographs of your ancestor’s siblings and/or cousins. In rural…
-
Webinar – Finding Photos of Your Ancestors in Unexpected Places
This is an exciting week for the Are You My Cousin? blog! First is the release of my new e-book Identify Your Ancestor In That Photograph: Strategies to Analyze & Determine Who Is In Your Family Photos on Wednesday, June 15th. Workbook included. Secondly, Caroline Guntur of The Swedish Genealogist and The Swedish Organizer and I will be co-hosting a FREE webinar on Thursday, June 16th at 11 AM (EST). I will be presenting strategies for finding those ancestor photographs is expected places. Register and join us for Finding Photos of Your Ancestors in Unexpected Places. See you there!
-
Date a Photograph By Your Female Ancestors’ Hairstyles
Have you thought about your female ancestors’ hairstyles? Have you considered how your female ancestor’s hairstyle could date her photograph? It is no different from how we look back at our own photographs and know when it was taken by how we wore our hair. Let’s look at some hair! This is a photograph of my great grandmother when she was ~16 in 1912. Notice the center part and the braids on the side above her ears. (Is anyone else thinking Princess Lea from Star Wars?) Also, note the large bow that looks to span the whole width of her head. This was a typical look for a young woman…