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When I was home for the holidays in Indiana, my mother and I uncovered this gem. Meet my father’s grandparents – my great grandparents – Mae Ruth (far left) and George Van Arsdale (middle). This photograph was taken on their awesome-looking honeymoon out west around 1903. My mom has been sorting family photos and this […]

My Grandfather, Grandmother and Uncle in their Brooklyn grocery store “Model Food Market,” circa 1950. It was on 3rd Avenue, between 44th and 45th. When I was a child, my father would tell me that my grandfather would meticulously hand paint the signs in the store. He showed me the style, and I became obsessed […]

Pause. Reflect. Be filled with gratitude. The simplest memories are the most priceless. My granddad with my mom and my uncles on vacation in 1952, probably in Yellowstone National Park. I’m so grateful that he was able to meet his great grandchildren before he died ten years ago. He was a strict but loving man. […]

Today’s a day to gather and give thanks. In honor of holiday traditions, here’s a special, vintage Thanksgiving from @lizajp11. Look at those happy, eager faces gathered around the dinner table! Today really reminds us that old family photos tell stories…ones worth saving. Take some time today to gather your loved ones and celebrate your […]

Our old family photos are full of stories. We just have to look and ask. My Nana (Irene Nora Everett Johnson) was born to a well-off family in Springfield, Missouri. Her mother died when she was 12. So she was sent off to St. Louis and later Kansas City to finish her education. Clearly, she […]

These are my paternal great grandparents holding my grandmother in front of their log cabin home. They lived somewhere in the Great Lakes Region near the Canadian border. My great grandmother’s heritage was Native American, specifically Northern Algonquin. My great grandfather’s heritage was European, Dutch German. Their story is tumultuous one, but one that turned […]

My grandfather, Irving Roland Swall, and his parents lied about his age when he was a teenager so he could enlist in the U.S. Navy early. He served in World War II and Korea and stayed enlisted in the Navy Reserves through his life. He retired as Master Chief, the highest enlisted rank in the […]

“Photographs open doors into the past, but they also allow a look into the future.” -Sally Mann Meet my Grandpa Reinhold, pictured here as a little boy in Chicago circa 1933. A few years back he gave me hundreds upon hundreds of old family photos…many of him and many of family members I never knew. […]

“Hopefully the power of these stories, when you hear one from someone who almost by definition is a stranger, is that you’re going to recognize yourself in that person.” -David Isay This is my grandfather on his family’s farm around 1926. He’s sitting on his pony, Prince. He and his siblings worked alongside their parents […]

I was cleaning up my iPad and found these gems. My grandpa Lee (the handsome man in the top squares), his sisters and some friends when they were teenagers in the 1930s. The girl next to my grandpa is NOT my grandma, but was IN LOVE with my grandpa. Can you blame her? My Mom […]