Library of Congress Images Add Context to Family History

Going beyond ancestor portraits, basic facts, and stories passed down from earlier generations, a family history project might benefit from outside images that add social or historical context. The idea is to provide a more well-rounded picture [pun intended] of ancestors' lives.

That's why I've been looking at the US Library of Congress prints and photos collection. It includes a gazillion digitized images available to view, and sometimes to download, for free. Not just of America, but well beyond.

LOC prints and photographs online catalog

Start by going to the Library of Congress catalog page for prints and photos. One entire area of the collection is devoted to US Civil War images (my husband has 20+ ancestors who served on both sides of that war).

Other featured collections are listed by name on the main page. A tiny sample includes:

• Stereograph cards
• Wright brother's negatives
• African American photos for 1900 Paris Expo
• Posters from World War I

It's easy to browse specific collections and check whether any of the images are available for free download.

Search by keyword (place, subject, etc)

Another way to find suitable images for family history projects is to use the search box. At top, you can see I searched for "New York City" images and received more than 27,000 results. Most of my immigrant ancestors came through Castle Garden and Ellis Island and remained in the Big Apple, which is why I'm interested in images of the city and its people and institutions. 

I found lots of images depicting aspects of daily life in Manhattan during the first decades of the 20th century--when and where my ancestors first lived upon arrival from Eastern Europe.

Another search, for images of Jewish life in New York City, resulted in numerous results, including the collection shown in this image, covering the period when my Jewish ancestors were just getting settled in the city. 

This group of images is part of the much larger George Grantham Bain Collection. The Library of Congress notes: "The collection richly documents sports events, theater, celebrities, crime, strikes, disasters, political activities including the woman suffrage campaign, conventions and public celebrations."

Free to use and reuse

The Library of Congress has made free images very accessible with a link at bottom of its home page that leads here.

Down the rabbit hole I go, and if you're interested in images to illuminate your family's history in America (and beyond), do take a look at the Library of Congress.

Save Family History with LOCKSS

To keep family history alive, start to share now within the family and, if you choose, outside the family.

The idea is LOCKSS: 

Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe

Genealogy guru Amy Johnson Crow writes about LOCKSS as a way to prevent genealogy from being lost due to disasters, etc.

Multiple copies within the family

Inside the family, I've been sharing bite-sized (and longer) writeups of family history for a few years. At top of this page are just a few pages from the many booklets I've created, focusing on Civil War ancestors and their spouses, special heirlooms created by ancestors, and an ancestor's military career. Even an ancestor coloring book is a simple way to keep key genealogy details from being lost.

Every descendant receives a colorful printed copy because, well, copies keep ancestors alive for the future. Recipients may flip through the booklet only once and put it on the shelf, but they have it. Some day, when they're more interested, they can take a closer look.

Also, I've digitized 500+ pages of minutes taken at family tree meetings from my mother's Farkas family, 1933-1964. Some cousins received a spiral-bound hard copy, at their request. Younger cousins requested a flash drive OR a PDF file to download. Perhaps the digital format will need upgrading in the future, but having multiple copies (digital/print) circulating in the family gives me more confidence that these documents will survive well into the future. 

Also, I've been experimenting with video-based family history. (I offer a few ideas in the new edition of my book.) Relatives do say they watch, and enjoy...but whether they will ever watch again, I truly don't know. The format is MP4 video and perhaps will be upgradable in the future, as needed. Meantime, multiple copies circulating = better chance the stories will survive, the ancestors will be remembered.

Multiple copies outside the family

Friends and cousins have already shared family history booklets with a variety of institutions that invite submissions, including the Family History Library and the Library of Congress, among others. One couple I know wrote family histories and had them professionally printed and bound for donation to history societies and libraries where their ancestors lived and worked. 

Consider whether a genealogy library, museum, archive, or another institution would be interested in having copies of some or all of your collection, and/or whether you can digitize your collection for yourself and possibly for others.

For instance, the Kentucky Genealogical Society offers special grants to help local museums, libraries, and archives digitize genealogical materials, such as old family letters and other documents of interest to Kentucky researchers. If you have Kentucky-related materials, do check this out--the clock is ticking on this year's grants.

DIY digitizing: The Dallas Genealogical Society highlights how family historians can digitize their own materials for free by going to the Heritage Lab at the Dallas Central Public Library. The Heritage Lab has an impressive array of equipment for use by the public. If you're in the area, this would be one way to transfer those old Super 8 home movies to MP4 video, and share widely within your own family.

However you decide to share, LOCKSS can help keep family history safe for the future. 

More Resources at HeritageQuest

From Library of Congress collection, accessed via HeritageQuest

Photos in the public domain! HeritageQuest, which many U.S. residents can access from home, absolutely free, with a local library card, has so many wonderful databases for genealogy. It's my go-to for city directories and other databases.

I also like its photo and map databases. They are conveniently searched right from the easy-to-use search box, and it's easy to change parameters to expand or restrict my searches.

Locating Photos for a Wood Family History Booklet

In preparation for a family history booklet about my husband's Cleveland parents and grandparents, I wanted to photos of the time and place, for illustration. Public domain photos would be perfect, the price is right--free!

To find a Library of Congress photo using HeritageQuest, I entered a date (1925) and place (Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, Ohio), plus the name of a well-known building, Terminal Tower, and clicked the search button.

The top results (shown here) are exterior and interior photos of Terminal Tower, taken "about 1933" (close enough to 1925 for my purposes). Good quality photos, with extra information on each page, including a written description of what's in the photo.

If you're looking for photos of a particular city, occupation, etc., or maybe a map of where an ancestor once lived, see whether your library offers access to HeritageQuest from home.

Library of Congress Photos and Maps of the Bronx

Found this image of Bronx apartment, taken in 1936, not far from where my mother was brought up. Thank you, American Memory project from Library of Congress. Wonderful way to see old furniture and rooms from era.

2022 update: I'm also using the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress collection to look up buildings where my ancestors lived in the Bronx before the middle of the 20th Century. 

Ellis Island Photos

The Library of Congress has images of Ellis Island and immigrant ships and more for people like me, who are climbing their family tree and had ancestors pass through Ellis Island.

About 10 years ago my sister and I went with several cousins to Ellis Island and looked for the names of our ancestors who had come to America through its gates. What a moving visit! And what a great opportunity to tell family stories. Afterward, Cousin Ron guided us to his favorite Chinatown restaurant. It was a day to remember, even as the research continues.