My grandfather once opened his home to a young MLK; he was jailed for it. When he delivered sermons calling for equality, the Birmingham police lined his pews to intimidate. He delivered his message just the same. He kept a secret journal on police bombings of the city’s black upper class, from 1945 to 1955; […]
We hope your weekend looks a lot like this. Yesterday marked a big birthday for my dad. As I was thinking of him, I looked through my baby book and came across this picture, which I had previously overlooked. The image was captured in 1963, and I learned that he had just come home from […]
We’ve all been there. And it feels overwhelming. There’s just something daunting about standing in front of a closet filled with dusty boxes of family photos, thinking, “where do I even begin!?” That’s when the guilt starts to take over. But don’t worry! You’re not the only one who has felt this way; we all have. That’s […]
My mom and her sister in 1936. On the back is an inscription written in pencil script by my grandmother in German. It is likely this photo was taken in northern Italy; mom told me they stayed in San Colombano. My mom, Gisella, was 8 years old when this photo was taken. Her sister, Lilly, […]
Me with my sisters Heather and Jinx, circa 1950. That building in the background was known as Oak Hill and was home to a whole slew of aunts and uncles, most of whom were living out their retirement years. Oak Hill as it was called was the main house on an old fashioned working farm. […]
My great-grandparents Edward and Matilda (pictured here) emigrated to the US from Aleppo, Syria in 1906 and 1911 respectively. In fact, all four of my great-grandparents on my father’s side came from Aleppo. Until recently, most Americans had never heard of this city in Syria. . But I grew up learning Aleppo’s rich heritage via […]
This is my favorite picture of my grandfather, Sammy. Though I was never close to him, when I see photographs of him, I feel as though I’m looking directly at my own father. Their similarities are striking, not only their appearance but their military history and their love for technology. My father believes this photograph […]
This is one of my all-time favorite family photos. My grandparents on my father’s side both died when I was very young. My grandma was diagnosed with ALS years before I was born (she was only 58), and by the time I could remember her, she couldn’t move much or talk at all. Her eyes […]
Mom & Dad, Christmas, 1969. I’m unsure what I like best about this photo…from the actual popcorn mom popped and threaded with a needle, by hand, to string around the tree, or the real candy canes hung on the branches, or the homemade gingerbread cookies that she baked then tied onto the tree branches. The […]
Collaborating with loved ones makes family history research more meaningful. When my family first started working on our family tree, we were using different website services and only occasionally emailing or calling each other with updates. A few times a year, we would meet up, pass around folders of printed information and review homemade family trees. That process would […]
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