ID A Photo

There you are going through the pile of vintage photos left by your parents and grandparents. Unfortunately no one took the time to label and identify who or what was the photo about. So you sort what you can label and still have a good number of images that you have no idea about. Was it from a trip taken by your grandparents, are the people distant cousins, were photos from the time your father served in the military? You don’t want to toss them, what do you do?

A fairly new online site titled “ID A Photo” tries to fill that gap. It allows you to put online photos that you need some help with. True, you might not know a great deal, but say at least you know it was from your father’s side of the family who lived in Michigan. That just might be enough clue for some one else to identify the place or persons.

The are several categories images can be placed in. There are by surnames, states, countries, military, public service (firemen, teachers, etc) and natural disasters. If you had no idea of anyone’s names in the photo, but they were wearing a policeman’s uniform and a vehicle in the photo had a car tag from Ohio, right there are some clues.

So just scan or make digital the unknown photo, making in jpeg format. The site makes it very easy to upload the photo and provide as much information about the image you have, even if it is a guess (state that it is a guess). Mostly photos pre-1970 are what are featured. Your submitted photo will be posted on the site giving it exposure to countless people. Just maybe someone out there might know who, what or where.

You in turn take some time to look over the photos already posted. They are in the categories and in thumbnail view with a little information. Just click on the small image to enlarge it and read any additional information provided. Check all the different categories, especially all the surnames you might know. There just might some connection for your family tree. In the site’s first six months some 46 photos have been identified.

Photo: Example of an image where three of the people need identification. Original picture used for a US postage stamp. They represent the 4 branches of the military service. The woman 2nd on the right represents the Navy, her name is Mary Valenti Aguilera.

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