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If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. You are the continuation of each of these people.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

My great-great grandaddy gazes at me proudly, as a confident eleven year-old sitting between his older sisters.

On the left is Emerald “Emma” Pleasants; in the middle is Robert “Gramps” Pleasants; on the right is Clara Pleasants.

My Mom believes this family photo was taken in the early 1900s in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

The mountain city is set among natural springs. Following federal protection in 1832, it developed into a successful spa town with speakeasies and gambling halls that attracted gangsters like Al Capone.

During the early 20th century, Hot Springs was known for baseball training camps. Many Major League clubs brought their teams to Hot Springs. Babe Ruth could be seen walking the streets. The history of African-American baseball in Hot Springs also goes back over 120 years, when local hotels sponsored teams made up of their African-American employees. ~shared by @tvsdevonwade
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“What the next generation will value most is not what we owned, but the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we lived. In the end, it’s the family stories that are worth the storage.” -Ellen Goodman

This is a photo of my grandfather, grandmother, aunt, great-grandmother, father, and uncle (left to right) at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.

The theme was “Peace Through Understanding,” dedicated to “Man’s Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe.” The fair showcased mid-20th-century American culture and technology. It was a touchstone for New York Baby Boomers, who visited the optimistic fair as children before the turbulent years of the Vietnam War.

My grandfather, “Popsie,” was Vice President of Personnel for New York Telephone at the time and headed up their display.
Popsie celebrated his 100th birthday on January 29, 2014 and we found this family photo during preparations for his celebration!

Popsie grew up in Brooklyn and lived in many places surrounding the city. ~shared by @christienoel01
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My grandmother (on the right with a white hat) Beatrice “Bea” Hampton, traveling somewhere in Europe during the early 1960s.

She was an avid golfer and absolutely loved to travel.

Her favorite country was Portugal and she toured Europe as often as she could, taking full advantage of my grandfather’s business abroad.

She had great style and some people said she looked like Bette Davis, especially when she was young.

No matter if she was shopping in London or riding a camel in the Middle East, she brought her own unique flare – from white-rimmed Ray Bans to turquoise pedal pushers. And from the original MadMen era, an original Pan Am bag!

Years later, I would raid her closets for school plays because she kept everything, organized and neatly-labeled as if she knew someday, someone would find her cache – which I did and will treasure always.

She was a class act. ~shared by @deemostofi

#savefamilyphotos #familyphotos #familyphoto #ancestry #familyhistory #oldfamilyphotos #vintagephotos #filmisnotdead #vintagephoto #oldphoto #oldphotos #ancestors #familyalbum #tbt #throwbackthursday

I grew up looking at my parent’s family albums, imagining their lives before me. Trying to reconstruct the memories I didn’t have, imagining them over and over again in my mind. I felt these pictures, although connected with a particular history, triggered my own imagination. – Iveta Vaivode

I’m not exactly sure where this old photo was taken, but that’s my mother standing on the far right and her sister standing on the far left. And I’m pretty sure my grandmother was the photographer because she always had creative ideas for “poses,” like asking the girls to make a design with their skirts.

Also, notice that my mom and her sister have matching dresses? My grandmother often made matching outfits for them. I bet she thought that if they had the same outfits, neither could say that the other’s outfit was better than their own! It was my grandmother’s way of keeping peace. ~shared by @srtruex

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Stories are the currency of our past, present and future. Without them, we are bankrupt.

And our old family photos trigger those stories.

Meet my great grandma, Heleni, who is reading a book to my 4-year-old aunt Magdalene. The year was 1949, just after the Civil War in Athens, Greece.

My grandma describes her mother Heleni as a wise woman who adored reading books, even though she had a very basic school education.

Heleni worked as a seamstress in a corset factory.

She looks very traditional with a scarf over her hair, but my grandma says her deepest desire was to see all of her children finish college. And she did – all of her children completed college before Heleni passed away at 98 years old.

This is one of many truly beautiful old photos of my family. I have scanned each photo in order to preserve them and the stories they tell.

These photos always remind me of my family’s struggles and strong values. ~shared by @aggelika_tz

#savefamilyphotos #familyphotos #familyphoto #ancestry #familyhistory #oldfamilyphotos #vintagephotos #filmisnotdead #vintagephoto #oldphoto #oldphotos #ancestors #familyalbum

A picture is not only a reflection of people. It’s a reflection of compassion, love and memories.
-Sandra Edwards

This is my favorite photo of my beautiful Italian grandparents, Pat and Rose Porcellini. It was taken in the early 1930s in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

They were honeymooners and full of love and life.

Though the economy hit hard times in the 1930s, folks continued flocking to Atlantic City. It became even more well known when it became the city featured in the Depression-era hit board game, Monopoly, where players handled large sums of money and strategized to buy the best property along the boardwalk.

I just love how my grandmother, Rose, is holding a beach ball as a prop and how a guy who looks like “The Situation” from Jersey Shore is photo-bombing them!
Also they look so adorable in their matching, striped swim suits!

This photo is a glimpse into their young lives, before I ever knew them as my “grandparents.” I cherish it. ~shared by @friendswithtea

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We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies. -Shirley Abbott

Even though I did not have the chance to have a close relationship with my grandmother because during her last years of life, she was very ill, with nurses 24/7, I grew up hearing amazing things about her.

She and my grandfather raised a family of 13 and worked to create a better life for my mother and all of her brothers and sisters.

But what really inspires me most about my grandmother is how she created a name for herself by building one of the first embroidery businesses, without any help. It later grew into a very successful family business.

So, I really want to follow in my grandmother’s footsteps and do what makes me happy. ~shared by @fabianml

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Sometimes the simplest memories come flooding back when we discover old family photos.

While visiting home recently, I was able to go through old family photos. I discovered this photo from the early 1970s.

Here I am with my older siblings, pre-Christmas, all dressed in our jammie’s and waiting on Santa. Our parents were smart; we all have the same stocking stuffer – a slinky! There was no fighting that way.
I loved my childhood. I was the baby and grew up with these three. Joe is the oldest. I always thought he watched over me, just like he is in this old photo. Then there’s Patty and Laura.
Most of all, I love the way Joe is watching over me. We are all a year apart in age, lots of girly giggling and our big brother rolling his eyes.
I totally dropped my slinky but still have a huge smile on my face. Great memories. ~shared by @bgmbreckenridge

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Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. -Kevin Arnold

My Grandmother Gertrude is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. The nursing home were she lives recommended making a “Memory Book” for her.

The time period in which her mind typically lives is when she was a child. She speaks of her parents and siblings as if they are all still living when in fact, she’s the last one.

Her memory book is made up of photos of her as a little girl with her brothers and sisters. The photos above are of her parents, my great grandparents whom I never got to meet.

As her memory fades every day and she forgets who I am and who my daughters are from one visit to the next, I still find it comforting when she looks through her photos and those photographs have the power of bringing her memories back. I am so glad we have them. ~shared by @danilee

#savefamilyphotos #familyphotos #familyphoto #ancestry #familyhistory #oldfamilyphotos #vintagephotos #filmisnotdead #vintagephoto #oldphoto #oldphotos #ancestors #familyalbum