DearREADERS,
One of the joys of working at the Ancestry corporate offices here in Orem is visiting the warehouse where all these wonderful books are housed before shipment. I've used today's book several times at my public library back home in (warm) Florida. However, since I've been working with some old family photos on this research trip, I am glad to have a copy of my own.
Author Karen Frisch-Ripley begins her efforts with a clear understanding of the emotional impact and physical clues old photos possess as follows:
"Though the streets still remain, many of the houses in which our nineteenth-century ancestors resided have fallen victim to the ravages of time. Where stately urban dwellings once stood, blank pavements and empty lots, broken only by tufts of grass, face an uncertain future in cities that were once full of hope and promise for earlier generations. In rejuvenated areas, new homes may stand on the spot where our ancestors began a new life in this country. Usually, outside of a few items - jewelry that has been passed down or furniture that has survived in cellars and attics - photographs alone have endured from that earlier generation.
Few objects possess the ability to transcend time as old photographs do. They are our single, most immediate link to the past, outliving memory and closing the distance of years as if no time had elapsed at all. In the split-second wink of a camera's eye, a photo refuses to let its subjects pass into memory but instead keeps them fresh and vibrant long after death.
Such fragments of yesterday's society have overlapped into the present, merging imperceptibly with our current world just as articles from long ago outlived their usefulness to become the antiques of today. When a photograph of your great-grandfather so closely resembles your father in Victorian costume that it is difficult to tell one form the other or the eyes of an ancestor in a sepia-toned photograph are as familiar to you as those of your second cousin on your mother's side, you realize that elements of the present existed in the past as well."
The author wisely acknowledges two additional resources, more comprehensive in nature for the wishing to learn more than this quite 'capable' primer.
Collection, Use and Care of Historical Photographs
by Robert A. Weinstein & Larry Booth
Caring for Photographs
Time/Life Books
For years, I have loved this book for the author's careful descriptions of how to identify family members in old photos. She gave an example of two ladies in her family named Augusta and Ernestine, only about 8 years apart in age. When it came to identifying photos of these women in the 20's, she relied on her great uncle's recollection that Ernestine was the taller of the two and that Augusta was shorter and more stout.
The process of elimination is well detailed, from recognizing types of clothing to comparing photos to time lines of major events in the family's life. Care is taken to describe the interview process with elderly members of your family. Dovetailing date estimates for photos is based on these interviews, as well as the documents you are already collecting as a genealogist. A great example provided in the book is the use of a city directory. When you have a studio print, check the city directory to see what years it served the community. From this you can deduce a photo can't possibly be Aunt Margaret because she died before the photographer opened his business in the city of St. Louis embossed on the studio label.
Particularly valuable are the sample photos, coupled with written descriptions of the types of photos. From this book you'll learn about daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, pannotypes, calotypes, stereographs, lantern slides, and albumen prints which came carte-de-visite, cabinet, Victoria, promenade, boudoir, imperial and panel formats.
Genealogy encompasses the archiving of old photos and documents which provide a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors. This book goes a long way toward helping you decipher the clues, and provides strategies for preserving these precious gems.
Unlocking the Secrets in Old Photographs by Karen Frisch-Ripley Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1991.
Have fun climbing your family tree!
Myrt :)
———————————— DearMYRTLE ————————————
is a daily genealogy column (KEYWORD: dearmyrtle) published on America Online in the Genealogy Forum. Due to the volume of e-mail, Myrt is unable to respond to each individually. Representative samples are used as a basis for articles from time to time. Contact DearMYRTLE at: dearmyrtle@aol.com
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