"If You're Not in The Photo, You Weren't There"

On vacation or at family gatherings, my wonderful Sis strongly encourages friends and relatives to be visible in at least one photo. She reminds them: "If you're not in the photo, you weren't there." Translation: You'll remember you were there, but others won't know you were there unless you're in the photo. 

Who was there, who wasn't there?

Also true in family history. Years from now, who will know you were at that birthday party or holiday dinner or reunion if you don't appear in any photos from the event? Uh, people might remember you being there even if you're not in a photo, but it's a picture is worth 1000 words, right?

More than once, I've speculated about why an ancestor was not in a photo...sick or at work or out of town or estranged or actually behind the camera? Sometimes I can confirm my speculation, but often I just have to wonder. There's no one left to ask.

Photographer, step into the picture!

My late father-in-law, Edgar James Wood (1903-1986) was a lifelong shutterbug, and thanks to him, we inherited a rich cache of photos and slides--usually with captions or some kind of identification. 

In most cases, Ed was taking the photos of family and friends. But he also made sure to appear in at least one photo when on vacation. At top, a photo of Ed and his wife, Marian McClure Wood (1909-1983), on one of their cruises to Europe. This photo, pasted into one of his albums, was accompanied by a caption detailing the name of the ship, the special event, and the date. 

I'm sure Ed and Marian smiled when they looked back at this photo and the wonderful memories of that vacation. As the family historian, I smiled too--and preserved it for the future so future generations can see them at dinner.

What to keep, what to toss

My hubby and I took time to sort through Ed's vast collection of personal photos and slides after he passed away. We retained and digitized his photos of people and places/buildings important to family history. 

Even when we couldn't immediately identify the faces, we held onto photos of people because in time, we hoped to learn more (and sometimes we later identified who was who). Happily, his collection included photos showing Ed at different points in his life--as a boy, a musician, a husband, a new father, a retiree.  

In the end, we tossed the many, many images of famous landmarks and city skylines after determining there was no real genealogical value. (See my book Planning a Future for Your Family's Past for more about curating and keeping ancestral photos and slides safe for the future.)

So please, if you're the usual family photographer, remember to step into a photo or video during each event. Be part of your own family history! And as reminder, be sure to back up your digitized photos and genealogy research regularly. 

Curating and Sharing Old Family Photos

 

This week I've been moving "old" family photos into archival photo albums. The ultimate goal is to encourage relatives to page through the albums now and then.

Currently, I'm sorting and arranging hundreds and hundreds of snapshots from the more recent past--meaning 2010 back through the 1960s. I'm saving the very oldest photos for last, because I'll be using a different kind of photo album for those odd-sized prints.

Happily, most of the photos have the month and year of development auto-printed on the back (as shown at top, left) or on the front border. This is a big help in sparking memories about who, what, when, where, and why, for captioning purposes.

There are a LOT of near duplicate photos, for a very good reason. In the pre-digital age, we would often take two or even three photos of the same person or scene, because we weren't always sure which would come out well (if any). That's why there are SO many photos to reorganize into albums.

As I sort through the photos, I'm curating by:

• Tossing out of focus or very poor quality photos, like the one at top right. 
• Saving only one of exact double and triple prints, sending most of the dupes to relatives as a surprise.
• Putting the best photo in the album and inserting a near-duplicate underneath the best print. The near-dupe isn't visible but it's available in the album, if I don't send one or more to relatives right now ;)

Curating doesn't take much time but it will focus attention on the most important photos from our family's past. It also means the albums will not have too many multiple versions of the near-same photo. 

Plus it's fun to share the dupes and near-dupes with relatives now--and it gets a conversation going about family history.

I may even create a few photo books with themes such as weddings, graduations, or holidays, featuring different ancestors and relatives through the years. It's another way to keep alive the memory of our ancestors, gone but not forgotten.

Curate by Sharing "Double Prints" Snapshots

Remember the days of putting film in a camera and then bringing the finished roll to the store for developing? 

Local drugstores used to compete by offering "double prints" with every roll developed. 

Double prints, double fun

Back in the day, hubby and I took a lot of snapshots and wound up with a lot of dupes. Many times, we sent dupes to family right away. Still, we ended up with some fun dupes that I couldn't bear to toss, so I saved them. 

Now I'm downsizing my family photo collection, in preparation for assembling archival albums.

Not every dupe is worth saving or sharing at this point. I'm selecting the best and getting more ruthless about saying goodbye to the worst.

Curating and captioning dupes

After curating, I'm captioning the best dupes to pop into the mail for family and friends, as a surprise. 

Because developers often printed the date (or at least month/year) on the back of these prints, all I have to do is add a quick caption. It doesn't have to be elaborate. On photos where the recipient was a baby or toddler at the time the snapshot was taken, I'm adding names and the place/occasion.

On one of the dupes from September, 2014, I added the caption "Remember the ice bucket challenge?" because that's the focus of the photo. One day soon, that young woman will open my envelope and see the photo, showing her standing with the ice bucket.  The family was proud of her involvement in the fundraising challenge. When she gets the dupe, she will relive the memory, and my pile of dupes shrinks.

If you have "double prints" to share, don't wait to get started. Recipients will appreciate seeing the photos and you'll slim down your collection for the sake of future generations.

How To Donate an Item to a Repository

 

Is there an item in your family-history collection that you might consider donating to a historical society, a museum, an archive, a library, or a genealogical group? 

A great example is something not directly related to your family tree, such as this air raid poster that my late father-in-law (Edgar James Wood, 1903-1986) saved following World War II. He kept it with other wartime memorabilia and many decades later, my husband inherited it.

Posters like this were so commonplace that many folks just tossed them at the end of the war, but not Ed. 

Describe the Item and Take a Photo

This poster is in very good condition, with a few slight creases but nothing torn or illegible. It even has the name/address/phone number of the local air raid warden in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, which adds to its historical significance.

When my husband and I decided to donate, we approached the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. Having visited its museum in the past, we had an idea of what the collection contains. The website explains, in detail, exactly what types of donated materials this repository accepts and how the process works.

I emailed one of the curators and described the air raid poster's size, summarized what it says, and described its condition, sending along a digital photo. She replied that it would fit nicely into the current collection. She asked for background on how it came into our family's possession...and ultimately accepted our donation.

Do the Paperwork!

After signing legal paperwork that transfers ownership of this item to the society, we carefully packed it flat and mailed it. Our letter included two paragraphs about my father-in-law and mother-in-law and their life in Cleveland Heights during World War II. This info will be in the archives, along with the air raid poster, as a result of our donation.

We alerted our family about the donation and let them know the society would welcome the donation of similar items if we unearth something else in the future. Meanwhile, this air raid poster -- of no personal significance for our family tree but of interest from a historical perspective -- has a fitting new home where it will be safe and ready for scholars and historians in years to come.

NOTE: As Amanda says in her comment below, sometimes an item will not be accepted, because it doesn't fit with the repository's collecting goals, for instance. If that happens, ask the institution to suggest where you might offer the item.

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This is only one of the topics I'll cover in my members-only webinar, "Curate Your Genealogy Collection - Before Joining Your Ancestors," for the Virtual Genealogical Association on Tuesday, November 24th, at 8 pm Eastern time. Hope to see you then!

Continuing to Curate My Genealogy Collection

As I curate my genealogy collection, I'm finding new homes for items with historical value but no real family-history value.

Case in point: The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper from Monday, December 8, 1941. Shown at top, it is intact and in good condition, despite being folded neatly for nearly 80 years.

My Cleveland-born father-in-law (Edgar James Wood, 1903-1986) and his entire family had gathered around the radio on the night of December 7th, listening to the terrible news about Pearl Harbor. When the next day's newspaper arrived, he wrapped it and put it away in a dry, safe place.

Because many families did the same thing, this newspaper is anything but rare. In fact, other historical societies and museums I contacted already had one or more copies of this day's newspaper and didn't want another. 

But after exchanging emails with a senior library official at Cleveland State University in Ohio about donating Cleveland theater programs from the 1950s, I brought up the subject of donating this 1941 newspaper. I explained my worry that the paper would inevitably deteriorate little by little unless kept under the proper archival conditions.

Understanding my concern, the official agreed to accept this issue of the Plain Dealer. My husband signed a deed of gift agreement, legally transferring ownership to the university library, found protective packaging to keep the newspaper safe during its journey to Cleveland, and sent it on its way. 

The acknowledgement of this donation arrived the other day. It feels good to know this item is in an appropriate repository, and will NOT be tossed in the rubbish or sold for pennies at a flea market after I join my ancestors!

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Want to learn how to curate your genealogy collection? I'm giving a members-only virtual presentation to the Virtual Genealogical Association on Tuesday, November 24, starting at 8 pm. The VGA's membership fee is extremely affordable ($20/year), and includes benefits like webinars and discounts and more. Please check it out if you're not yet a member! 

Curating My Genealogy Collection: New Home for 1911 Postcard

This photo postcard, sent in 1911 to my maternal grandma by a younger brother, is on its way to a new home--returned to the sender's grandson after 109 years. This is part of my ongoing efforts to curate my genealogy collection, keeping items most important to my family and finding new homes for other items.

Entrepreneurial Albert Goes West

My great uncle Albert Farkas (1888-1956), born in Hungary, was quite an entrepreneur. In his early 20s, he left New York City to establish a manufacturing business in the Pacific Northwest. Simply making that cross-country journey by train must have been an adventure in 1911, when he set out.

Albert bounced between Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia, as he made contacts and arranged his new business. He registered with the Canadian Consul in 1916, saying he was a U.S. citizen (by virtue of his father's naturalization in 1906) and had entered Canada in 1912.

Farkas Family Vacations on the Farm

In August of 1911, my grandma, Hermina "Minnie" Farkas Schwartz (1886-1964), was taking a two-week vacation with her mother and younger sisters. (She married my grandpa later that year.) To escape oppressive heat in New York City, they boarded with a farm family in Hudson, New York, and enjoyed fresh air and greenery. 

While Minnie was at the farm, this postcard arrived from her brother Albert ("Berti") in Seattle, Washington. Another cousin who reads Hungarian translated  the postcard as, loosely: "Is it still hot in New York State? If so, you can come here, where it's cold." Now this picture postcard is in an archival sleeve, protected by cardboard in a padded envelope, and winging its way to Albert's grandson--who lives in Washington state!