Old Family Photos
Finding old family photos of your ancestors is always a thrill, but often, they are elusive. Maybe you have photographs of your ancestors, but they are unlabeled! (Sigh...) Who is actually in THAT photo?
You need strategies to understand and identify those unidentified individuals in your ancestors' photographs. Learn about the five different types of photographs, the step by step process of identifying the individuals and important clues that can be found within your family photos.
New to working with old family photos? I suggest you start with 4 Tips to Identify Unknown Family Photographs.
Links to get started exploring our ancestors' photographs:
-
How To Determine the Date of an Old Family Photograph
Do you have old family photographs in your possession that you know nothing about? Are you wondering who the individuals are and where they fit on your family tree? Are those photographs thick “cardboard” or feel like metal? Determining the identity of your unknown photographs can be daunting, but it is possible. You need to apply systematic research techniques to dating your old family photographs just as you do in your genealogy research.
-
Finding Hidden Clues In Old Family Photos
Old family photographs have a lot to tell you about your ancestors beyond what they looked like. Learn how to find the hidden clues in your family photos!
-
North Carolina Archives on Flickr
The North Carolina Archives’s Flickr page can be a treat and a treasure trove for the North Carolina genealogy researcher. One hundred and forty four pictorial albums depict North Carolina history and her people. Places, buildings, people, postcards, WWI photos…all can be found within these albums. Even if your ancestors are not among the photographs, a sense of the social history surrounding them is found. Were your ancestors tobacco farmers? Then take a look at the Tobacco Auctions album. See what tobacco auctions/markets looked like in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Examples of North Carolina Genealogy finds on Flickr Vintage Postcards of North Carolina buildings, scenery and attractions Duplin…
-
How a 1950’s Photograph Led to a Family Reunion
Many of you my long time readers know how absolutely fortunate I was to receive a plethora of family photographs once I started my family research. Photographs arrived by way of large Rubbermaid boxes, snail mail, email and a lot of road trips. Identifying each of the individuals in the photographs has been a challenge. Frequently, I knew one or two of the individuals, but not the more distant relatives. For many of the photographs, the first step was to determine if the photo was of ancestors or their friends. This photograph of my great great grandmother Clara Haley was posted early in my blog’s history (back when Are You My…