Artifacts + Context = Family History Story

 

I'm finishing a 20-page photo book about my husband's paternal grandparents, James Edgar Wood (1871-1939) and Mary Slatter Wood (1869-1925) and their life together. It's a bite-sized family history project, focused on one couple and their background and children. A page in the book is devoted to postcards...with a photo and context for these artifacts. The caption reads: 

James Edgar Wood's relatives were spread across several states. They stayed in touch via penny postcards and visits. Two of these cards were sent by Dorothy Baker (daughter of Ada) to her first cousin Wally, and one was sent by Aunt Nellie Lewis (sister of James). All are addressed to 12513 Lancelot Ave in Cleveland, a home built by James, where the Wood family lived from 1910 to 1912. The colorized photo shows this house in 1911, with Ed and Wally standing in front.

This page appears late in the book, so readers will already be familiar with the names, but they may not remember the relationships, which I included in parentheses. 

The colorized photo, passed down in black/white in the family, shows the very house where these postcards were delivered more than a century ago. The addressee and his older brother are pictured in front. The house was built by their father, James Edgar Wood, and it's still standing today, as you can see here. 

By linking these separate artifacts and providing context, I created a story that I hope will stick in the minds of the younger generation, part of my overall plan to keep family history alive for the future.