Antique family photos can feather a fortune of clues for your genealogical test.
Sorting on ice pictures can be one of those daunting tasks that yet experienced genealogists tend to deposit off. Excessive boxes of broken down photos can seem overwhelming, and it's sometimes tough to sense where to begin. On the contrary, with a cramped aspiration and a quantity of patience, family historians can gratify their photo collections under government. Once the pictures are organised, it's even easier to acquisition clues that can example to better breakthroughs in your family chronicle evaluation.
Instructions
1. Chop your pictures into seperate piles representing the antithetic branches of your family.
2. Put the pictures in chronological order within each branch of your family. The type of photo, the ages of the people pictured, and their clothing and hairstyles can all help you determine when a picture may have been taken. Some photos also have developing dates printed on the back or the front border.
3. Place each set of pictures in an acid-free folder or box and include a copy of your newly created photo index. This will help ensure that your pictures are preserved for future generations. This allows you to create an index of your pictures, with capacity for any new ones you discover in the course of your research.
4. Inspect each picture for clues. Look for house numbers or street signs visible in the background. Those might help you find your relatives in U.S. Census records or a city directory. Look for leaves on the trees and how tall the flowers are in any landscape that is visible. These details may help you determine when a wedding picture was taken so you can find a marriage certificate more easily in government records. If there is a photography studio stamp on the picture, the studio name may help you pinpoint the city and state where the picture was taken and where the family lived. Document every detail you find for future research.
5. Record which relative appears is in each picture. If you're using computer software, you can add tags to your images to track this. If not, you can use a pencil to number each photo on the back, then use a notebook or spreadsheet to track who appears in each picture number. The numbers can also be used as file names for either paper or computer files.
