At this time of year, I’m busy making lists of ingredients for Thanksgiving but I’m also starting to think about the holiday season. I have a few gift suggestions for the family historians on your list. Some fit in a Christmas stocking, others are online. You might want to drop a few hints to the…
The Photo Detective Podcast
Episode 62: The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr with Susan Holloway Scott
November is National Novel Writing month aka NaNoWriMo. Have you ever thought about writing your family history? Well…now might be the time to start. My guest is an author who weaves fiction and non-fiction together into historical fiction. Real people live in her pages with a fictionalized context. Her stories are compelling reading. At our first…
Episode 61: Mourning Jewelry: Fact or Fiction?
If you’ve ever seen a piece of jewelry with hair in it, you’ve probably wondered what’s that about? While we associate hair jewelry with mourning, that’s not the whole story. My guest Sarah Nehama shared fascinating facts about mourning and memorial jewelry. A piece with her first name on it inspired her to start collecting these…
Episode 60: Finding Pictures Of Your Civil War Ancestors
My mom gave me all the family photos. The earliest photo on my dad’s side dates to 1895. On her side, a cousin connected with me images from that time frame as well. All the pictures came from relatives. Now imagine a serendipitous family photo find. One that you didn’t expect. That’s what happened to…
Episode 59: The Vivid-Pix Fix and a Contest
Vivid-pix Restore has a new tool for users. You can attach metatag to your images. If you haven’t tried Vivid-Pix Restore, you’re missing the Vivid-pix fix. Basically you select an image to add it to the program and in seconds you see nine versions of your image. Pick the fix that seems right to you…
Episode 58: Organizing Your Photos with Christopher Desmond of MemoryWeb
I have thousands of pictures on my desktop, my phone, and online. Finding exactly the right image to share with relatives was a nightmare. It could take days to scroll through all the pictures for just the right one. Then Christopher Desmond introduced me to MemoryWeb. I remember thinking how can one product do so…
Episode 57: Family Pictures USA with Producer Don Perry
You’re going to love my guest, Don Perry of the very successful new show on PBS, Family Pictures USA. It’s about people, places, photographs and the stories that connect them. Family Pictures USA travels across America showing us the connection between family photographs and family stories. Related Episode: Episode 39: Finding Identity and Connection in…
Episode 56: Disaster Preparedness For the Family Photo Archive
As I watch the destruction caused by Hurricane Dorian, I’m worrying about the next disaster. My mind is thinking about When Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of the United States in 2012. It was not the powerhouse storm that Dorian is, but the effects were felt all the way into New England. On the New…
Episode 55: Photos of Our Mill-Working Ancestors with Joe Manning
In the early twentieth century child laborers worked in mills across America. Perhaps your ancestors did too. It’s possible. In 1900 more than 1.75 million children aged 10 to 15 were employed. A photo of your ancestor might exist. I’m a big fan of this week’s guest, Joe Manning. He finds the photos and connects…
Episode 54: Family Reunion Photos – Sorting the Clues
In August, I dedicated all my podcast episodes to family reunion focused activities and guests. Since it’s Family Reunion season, that means we’re pretty likely to be posing for a group portrait. It’s part of most reunions…a visual gathering of everyone at the event. We have dozens of pictures of my husband’s family reunion attendees.…