My grandmother and her girlfriends took this in a photo booth sometime in the 1940’s. It’s stunning in my eyes. Although it feels very regal and contemporary, they were simple working class folks. She was half American Indian and one of 13 children living in rural south Louisiana. Girls of her era were married soon […]
I always assumed that my grandmother had never traveled farther than the Maritimes due to her fear of flying, but while cleaning out my grandparent’s basement, I discovered a series of photos of my grandmother in Arizona, California and Illinois during the 1940s. When I asked her about the photos, I was treated to an […]
How can we know where we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve come from? This photo of my grandma is my time machine. I was born in a tiny country called Slovenia. I’m visiting my hometown this week and exploring my family history, collecting old photos, talking to old relatives, visiting archives and building […]
This is a photo of my beloved grandma, Hattie (Buoyer) Sacca. I’m not sure when this picture was taken, but I’m guessing she was around 8 years old. Hattie was born in Raeford, North Carolina in 1916 to Sallie and John Buoyer. She was one of six kids. She met Thomas Sacca, a second generation […]
“Photography brings the past into the present when you look at it.” Julian Schnabel We’re hosting a special series with our friends @thetenementmuseum + @statueellisnps to celebrate immigrant family stories, one photo at a time. Together we’re sharing stories from 97 Orchard Street, the apartment building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that was home to nearly […]
Can we all just take a minute to acknowledge how beautiful my grandmother Shirley is? This photo was taken in 1954 in her childhood home of Buhl, Idaho at the age of 18. Most likely she sent this picture off with a letter to my Grandfather, who was stationed away in the Navy. Today she […]
My father, Antoine, and his brother Georges with his new wife Camille “Mimi,” in Belgium just after WWII. They were known among friends and family as the three musketeers; they were inseparable and always laughing together. In this photo, my father had attempted to take a portrait of the three of them using his Agfa […]
What is a “land girl?” Quickly browse the internet and you’ll find that, like many images of women from different eras, they’ve been romanticized, possibly even fetishized by the vintage boom. So I was thrilled when my Mum uncovered photographs of my Nan, a genuine Land Woman. Neither the women nor the work were glamorous. […]
This photo from around 1900 is a family portrait of my great-great-grandparents Georg Leonhard (1861-1943) and Eva Barbara (1863-1937) with four of their children. One of them is my great-grandfather Johann Georg (1889-1975). My great-great grandmother Eva was a descendant of Austrian protestants who were forced to leave their home for religious reasons. They came […]
Print your photos. Don’t wait. Start now. As it turns out, I am no better than the next digital photo lover, and I hardly see my photos in print. Look at the relics of your ancestors. Photos. Printed photos. Those are the most cherished heirlooms. My husband’s ancestors come from Citta’ Di Genova, Genoa Municipality, […]
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