Ancestry Magazine

Who among us doesn’t have a few mystery photos stashed away in a closet or old scrapbook somewhere? And how many of us have winced to find some family’s treasured photos for sale in an antique store or flea market? As more of us immerse ourselves in family history, it’s not surprising that we are discovering stashes of these photos in our own possession. Others of us may be dismayed to learn about the collection of family photos that a distant cousin sold in an estate sale five years ago, wishing we could get a look at those missing treasures. I call these unidentified and wandering pictures “orphaned photos.” In recent years, there has been a groundswell of people interested in reuniting stray pictures with their families of origin (or with someone with a genuine connection and interest). These casual detectives acquire photos that have nothing to do with their own families and find a way to get them back into the right hands.

Before You Submit
A relatively recent development in the world of orphaned photos has been the introduction of mostly self-serve, online photo databases that allow the user to upload his or her personal photo collection. These sites provide a set of instructions to guide the user through the process of submitting a photo and accompanying text data (usually names, places, and approximate date), which enable visitors to search for and locate photos of interest. Such sites naturally assume that the user has a scanner or other means of digitizing the photos.While exploring the following websites, I tried not only to search on various names and places, but also to upload several mystery photos of my own. Doing so revealed that not all sites operate the same way. A few important variables include the following:

• File formats
• Maximum file size
• Means of submission (self-serve, e-mail to webmaster, hard copy to webmaster)
• Timeframe before photo appears online
• Legal agreements

If your approach is to submit your photo to as many sites as possible to maximize your chances of a distant cousin spotting it, you will want to save your image as a JPG file. Every site I tested accepted this format, and only a few accepted alternatives. The second most welcome file format is GIF. Also, while I managed to upload files as large as 300K, some sites requested that file size be kept as low as 35K.True photobases are designed to encourage self-serve uploading, but other searchable photo sites are intentionally centralized so that all content is sent to and subsequently posted by the webmaster. Even on the self-serve sites, you won’t necessarily see your contribution immediately. Regrettably, a couple of sites that were formally on “auto-pilot” are now screened, due to inappropriate content being uploaded in the past. In such cases, your photo will generally appear within a day following submission.

Photobases
Years ago, historic photo collection websites came online as a result of individuals who wanted to share the old pictures they had rescued. By posting their collections on the Internet, these webmasters acted as the middlemen between a photo and its missing family, all in hopes of restoring each photo to its rightful home. After sharing their own collections, these webmasters often offered to help other people with their mystery photos as well.

The sites discussed here are general purpose sites that accept old photos of all kinds. It should be noted, though, that there are also specialized photobases such as the Virtual Cemetery of tombstone photos at Genealogy.com.

A number of sites are simple labors of love created by genealogists, hobbyists, and collectors. Sites like this tend to be a little less formal—perhaps browseable rather than fully searchable—than the commerical sites listed.

Note that some sites may charge you to claim an old photo (the fees usually cover expenses or permit the webmaster to purchase and upload another photo in its place) or may require you to become a member of the site in order to upload or browse collections.

Dead Fred’s Genealogy Photo Archive (www.deadfred.com)
The colorfully-named Dead Fred website focuses on pre-1960 photos and contains over ten thousand images representing about four thousand surnames. To thoroughly search the site, you’ll want to search under the “Search Now” and “Mysteries” options of the Photo Archive. Searchable fields include last name, first name, state, town, country, photographer, and photographer’s state.Photos can be submitted online or thr ough the mail, but all photos sent through the mail are considered donations and become the sole property of Dead Fred’s Genealogy Photo Archive (exceptions can be arranged). The site notes that “all digitally contributed photographs and relating information are owned by the actual contributors, not the Archive.”

GeneaNet (www.geneanet.org)
GeneaNet, the largest genealogical database in Europe, functions primarily as a hub to other websites with desired data or images (some 48 million entries involving 150 million individuals). The site also allows users to upload images directly through its separate portraits and postcards databases.While representing just a fraction of its content, there are more than five thousand photos in the portraits database and almost five thousand images in the postcard database. Users are also encouraged to help identify mystery images at <http://portraits.geneanet.org>. The main index of 48 million should be included in your search, as entries there may direct you to sites with photos of interest to you.

Ancestor Genealogy Photo Archive (www.ancestorarchive.com)
Ancestor Genealogy Photo Archive is a collection of vintage family photos that have been found in antique stores and flea markets, on eBay, and through contributions by site visitors. While the site is not currently accepting submissions of photos, it can still be quite a find for searchers. Photo subjects are listed alphabetically by last name under the Album tab, and a smaller cluster of orphaned photos are alphabetized under a separate section called “Mystery Photos.”

Photographs from the Past (www.photographsfromthepast.com)
This website is dedicated to mystery photographs from the past. While some are webmaster Mary Ann Allen’s personal photos, most are from visitors who have asked her to include their unidentified photographs (to determine if she is currently accepting photos, send Mary Ann an e-mail). The site is fully searchable, or you can simply browse the pages of photo synopses, pausing to view any of interest. Note that while the search tool indicates surname only, it actually combs all of the text.Full pages are devoted to each photo or a collection of related photos, and complete details are provided, including contact information for submitters. One particularly fun aspect of this site is that success stories are clearly marked, su ch as the century-plus photo of a German baker who was identified by the current mayor of his village.

Somebody’s Links Newsletter: Genealogical Treasures Found (www.petuniapress.com)
Any serious treasure rescuer or hunter will want to subscribe to Julia Case’s newsletter (send an e-mail with “subscribe” as the subject to <missinglinks-request@petuniapress.com>). Most issues are full of genealogical finds followed by a few success stories from earlier postings. A recent issue, for example, provided the happy news that a World War II–era photo of a mystery soldier had been returned to its rightful owner. The submitter, who lives in Missouri, was contacted by a Michigan-based relative of the soldier who now lives in Oklahoma. This reunion took less than two weeks to complete. Back issues of the newsletter are searchable online.

Your Past Connections (www.yourpastconnections.com)
Your Past Connections is dedicated to helping people find original items from their family’s past. This free service with a searchable database of items (both requested and available) contains descriptions rather than images. At present, there are almost 1,600 requested items and 1,800 available items listed. Almost four thousand frequent viewers have elected to receive “Connection Update” notification s alerting them when new entries have been added to the database. The site receives over three thousand page views a day.

Ford and Nagle (www.erinet.com/~fordnag/FordNagle.htm)
Larry L. Ford and Eric C. Nagle are self-described incurable collectors of antique family photos, Bibles, and documents from the Civil War period to about 1910. Their website alphabetically lists (by surname) hundreds of items they have found over the years. While few images are included, the depth of content on this site makes it worth checking, particularly for researchers with Ohio or Kentucky ancestors. By way of example, a quick browse reveals sixty-one photos for surnames beginning with the letter A. Visitors who find something from their family can send an e-mail to obtain pricing and shipping details.

HeirloomsLost (www.heirloomslost.com)
The goal of this website is to reunite family mementos of the past with the present generation. The site explains, “HeirloomsLost has two post lists. One is a post to the sale/show list for items you would like to sell or let others know you possess. The other is a post to the want list, which gives you the opportunity to post for items you are looking for that are traceable to a specific family name, time period, and/or location.”At present, some 1,600 letters, postcards, photos, and other items may be searched by family name (over 4,400 are currently represented), state, or item type. Searches can be limited to just sale/show or wanted items. While this database does not incorporate images, submitters can point viewers to an offsite Web address for an image.

Yearbook Lady (www.thirdstbooks.com/yearbookpage.html)
A frequently overlooked source of photos is yearbooks, and it’s hard to imagine that anyone could have a larger collection than Darilee Bednar. Darilee will search her collection of over 3,200 yearbooks if you can provide a few details such as name and approximate birth date or probable years of attendance. Her site is organized by state and is especially strong in Washington State and the rest of the West Coast. Be sure to check out her list of yearbook lookup volunteers.

eBay (www.ebay.com)
Fortunately, the world of orphan photos and memorabilia is mostly populated by people who provide their services for free or charge just enough to cover their own expenses. Given the scope of eBay content, though, it would be unwise to ignore this commercial auction site. Searches on family names and the towns where family lived may turn up old maps, postcards, books, and more. I am currently waiting to hear whether I placed the winning bid on a detailed 1889 map of the city my great-grandfather immigrated to in 1890.

Spread the Word
Each of these sites provides a valuable service to the family history community as a whole, and the more we use them (both as contributors and searchers) the more useful they will become to us.If you haven’t already done so, take a few minutes to post some of the family history treasures you’ve plucked from local flea markets so others will have a chance to discover them. And if you’re one of the lucky ones whose orphaned photo found its way back home to you, consider repaying the r escuer by making a small donation to one of these volunteer sites so that other family historians will also have a chance to experience the pleasure of a reunion in the future.

Internet search engines often allow you to look specifically for images. While results are rather hit-and-miss, a good genealogist knows to try every resource. To conduct an image search, choose Images in any one of the following search engines:

• www.google.com
• www.yahoo.com
• www.dogpile.com
• www.altavista.com

Whether your photo collection contains orphaned tintypes or well-documented sepia-tones straight from an old Brownie, one of the best ways to share your family photos and news is with a website at MyFamily.com.With a family website at MyFamily.com, you create your own private, online campfire where you’re surrounded by family and friends. Use it as a virtual photo album where you can upload images and permit other family members to do the same. Turn it into a never-ending family reunion with the help of private message boards and online chats.

Even if your ancestors meticulously documented the back of every photograph they owned, you may still want to take a look at historic photographs. Why? Historic photographs can give you a clearer view of society and culture during an ancestor’s life. For some people, the photos will trigger fond memories; for others, they’ll affirm the difference between then and now.Browse the historic photographs at the following websites and see if any of them round out your photo collections:

• Newspapers & Periodicals at Ancestry.com
• Library of Congress
• USDA Historic Photos

Access the table of contents for this issue of Ancestry Magazine.