photos

  • Mathew B. Brady’s Civil War Photos

    Jun 13

    The most renown photographer during the American Civil War was Mathew B. Brady, who along with his skilled staff, (Alexander Gardner, James F. Gibson, Timothy O'Sullivan, James Gardner, and Egbert Guy Fox) documented the people and events during the war 1861-1865. Since so many of your ancestors somehow were involved and certainly affected during t...

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  • Settlers in South Australia

    May 31

    The early pioneers to the southern portion of Australia could have been some of your family tree if you had ancestors from Australia. Finding portrait of many of those early pioneers are now online and available. Beginning in December 1871 and into 1873, a photographer, Henry Jones, assembled those pioneers and doing their formal portrait. For the...

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  • Texas Photos

    May 27

    William Deming Hornaday over his years of the late 1800s into the 20th century he collected about 5,818 photographs, photographic postcards, photo engravings and negatives. They covered sites across Texas, particularly Brownsville, El Paso, San Antonio, and the Rio Grande Valley but also photos of places outside the United States. It is housed no...

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  • Follow the Clues in a Photo

    Apr 27

    Who doesn't have a stack of vintage unlabeled photos? You need some ideas to assist labeling who, when and where in the image. Take each one and exam it carefully. You just might then notice a certain physical family characteristic. Compare with known images of relatives. I did just that when I located a photo of my father when he was 9 years old....

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  • Digital State Archives

    Mar 25

    A good resource to investigate is what is available in the ancestral home state archives. The longer an ancestor lived in a specific state the more likely there can be quite a few records to search. Even if the relative lived but a few years in a certain state, do check that state's archives to see if anything is present. The variety of items in a...

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  • Civil War Glass-Negatives

    Mar 1

    Once you reach the point of finding ancestors who were adults during the 1860s, you surely will want to check if the male ancestors served either with the Confederate (The South) or the Federal Union side (The North) and learn as much as possible. There are numerous databases to check. An excellent source is the Civil War Soldier and Sailor Databa...

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  • Vintage Photos of Places & People

    Feb 23

    From the Library of Congress, US National Archives and state archives, a map of the United States, outlining each state is accessible online to locate vintage photos from that state. The years begin in 1837, then to the mid-1840s, 1850s and beyond. Not every year is represented but as you move more towards the late 1800s and into the 1900s the numb...

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  • Eastman Photo Collection

    Jan 23

    Everyone is familiar with Eastman when it comes to film and photos. To preserve such a legacy, there is the George Eastman Museum. It was George, a pioneer of popular photography and a leader in the development of motion picture film, who saw the need to preserve everyday and the unusual events on film. The Museum has a vast array of photos. One o...

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  • How to Save the Photos in Magnetic Albums

    Dec 27

    At one time using those magnetic albums with self-adhesive surfaces to arrange and hold in place photos was just about the only type of album used, especially in the 1960s-1990s. Magnetic albums aren’t magnetic at all. The pages have adhesive on them. The adhesive is acidic (aka very bad for photos). The photos can yellow and it also makes the ph...

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  • Christmas Day Photos

    Dec 25

    No matter the ages of those in the household celebrating Christmas this year, take the time to take photos. Don't worry about posing everyone just perfect, instead, have photos of having FUN. It can be while opening gifts, cleaning up the wrapping on the floor, the playing with a special gift received, finishing preparing the Christmas meal and of ...

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