Now that we’re solidly into a New Year, I wanted to share with you all a couple of my favorite books from the past year, as a fun little list.

by Steven Kasher (Fun fact, he was on The Photo Detective Podcast, episode #116)

Good Pictures by Kim Beil (Also, on the Photo Detective Podcast, episode #120)

Visualizing Equality: African American Rights and Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century by Aston Gonzalez (We talk about this one on The Photo Detective Podcast, episode #131)

Loving by Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell (Another podcast guest, episode #133)

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey

Rhode Island State Census by Diane Boumenot

Fiction

Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

The Giver of Stars: A Novel by Jojo Moyes

The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel by Laura Dave

The Rose Code: A Novel by Kate Quinn

The Henna Artist: A Novel (The Jaipur Trilogy, 1)

ANYTHING by Louise Penny (I’m addicted)

I’m also in a Thriller Reading Group, and here are my favorites from that group:

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley. (Young Adult)

My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa

I hope you enjoy – especially if you’re looking for a good read!

Disclaimer: By clicking the links above, Maureen may earn a small commission. However, she never recommends anything she hasn’t actually used, or read herself.

The post Maureen’s Favorite Books from 2021 appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

I waited. And waited….no sign of his family.

Finding the Details

Here’s what I did to find out more about Earl.

The few clues in the image provided a research strategy. My colleague bought the picture in Maine, but it lacked a photographer’s name.  It was possible he lived in Maine.

The bodice of the boy’s dress (remember that young girls and boys wore dresses in the past), featuring a simple collar and full sleeves, is typical of children’s clothing in the early 20th century. My first step was to learn more about Earl, who possibly lived in Maine and was born in the early 1900s.

My first step in 2008 was to search his name on Google. Today my first step would be to search Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. These mega databases have come a long way. Millions of family trees make finding a connection a lot easier.

I searched for Earl in Maine Death Records, 1960-1997 on Rootsweb.com.  An Earl R. Prince died in Brunswick, Maine, May 17, 1983, at the age of 76. This person seems to be a good match for the picture. His death date supplies a birth year of 1907, which fit the meager details in the image.  I thought it was possible that Earl still had living relatives in the Brunswick area.

I wrote to the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick for a copy of his obituary. They maintain the Times Record newspaper on microfilm.  The Times Record is not on GenealogyBank.com.  It’s a good reminder that not everything is online, even today.

Earl appeared in Brunswick City Directories on Ancestry.com, but that information didn’t help me find living relatives.

Eight Years Later

Imagine my surprise when this appeared in my inbox:

My mother is really anxious to receive the photo of her uncle, Earl Russell Prince. We have a huge family in the Brunswick Maine area and are very involved in the family history. We believe the photo probably showed up in an antique store when Uncle Earl’s ex-wife, Louise Barnhum divorced him. It’s ironic that you would name the article “Little Prince” because we had relatives with the last name of Little also!

I’d forgotten all about Earl. The demise of this photo isn’t surprising. Death, divorce and disinterest add up to a lot of abandoned images just like this tot.

Now Earl would have a home with genealogists who will care for his image.   It’s holiday story, almost a decade in the making.

Do you have an Orphan Photo Reunion story to share?  I’d love to hear it.

The post Orphan Photo Lost and Found: The Little Prince Has a Family appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

At our house the dinner chatter usually turns to family history. Food starts that path to reminiscence. My aunt loved parsnips and pearl onions on her table. We haven’t had those foods since she left us way back in 1981. While her food isn’t part of the festivities, our memories of her are.

It’s time to collect those tales.

Here are a few ideas on how to turn Thanksgiving dessert into another kind of sweet. Here are three suggestions for saving the family history of this holiday.

Talk to a High School Student

Do you know about StoryCorps? Founded by award-winning radio producer Dave Isay, it began several years ago. Isay built a booth in Grand Central Terminal in New York with the goal to interview passersby. The motto of the StoryCorps is “Listening is An Act of Love.” You can listen to those stories today on their website.

On Turkey Day, the group heads up a project called The Great Thanksgiving Listen.  It’s an education project for high school students and their teachers.  The students record interviews.  They then get donated to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

All you need is the StoryCorps App.  It’s free.  If you know a high school student they can register online.

Picture Perfect Suggestions

• Bring copies of your unidentified photos to dinner. Leave the originals at home so you don’t have to worry about dirty hands and gravy stains.  Photo copies or a digital album are the way to go.
• Download a recording app to your phone, tablet or computer. It’ll make it easy to record their conversation about the photos. There are plenty of choices.  Most phones come with a recorder built in.
• Take pictures.  Document the day so that future generations can see what dishes made the menu (and who came for dinner).

Food History for the Future

Unfortunately, my husband’s grandmother took her beloved chutney recipe to her grave.  We all miss it.  No amount of trial and error can duplicate her efforts.

It’s almost the gift giving holidays.  You still have time to put together a family cookbook.  One you can share for generations.

There are three things you can do:

• Collect recipes from family members
• Record video of the person making their favorite dish
• Document remembrances of family favorites from the past.

This Thanksgiving take a moment or two to be the ancestor your descendants will thank. The one who saved the family history of your generation.

You can download my free tips on capturing your Holiday Traditions as a full-color infographic. 

The post 3 Ways to Save Holiday Family History appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

The Power of a Picture

The post Unlocking the Stories in a Box of Photos: One Picture at a Time appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

Digital restoration is not conservation. The two terms are not interchangeable. Restoring an image is the process of re-creating the appearance of the object.

Conservation includes several steps such as object examination, scientific analysis, research, and evaluation of the object’s condition. All conservation work involves treatment to prevent future deterioration.

Both conservation and restoration are time-consuming processes. Unless you are a trained chemist with a background in photographic conservation or a specialist in photographic restoration, you will want to hire a professional. A professionally-trained photographic conservator should handle your conservation work. Your attempts to remove damage could destroy your images.

Learn more about Preserving Your Family Photographs in my newly updated and revised book.

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