Antique Photographs Improve with Age – Ha!

In “Photographs Look Even Better With 200 Years of Decay,” Ashley Feinberg writes on Gizmodo about the decay of photographs, negatives, and photographic plates in the Library of Congress.

While slightly satirical, the artistic quality of the images created by their degradation is actually beautiful compared to the basic portraits they once were. Still, it is a sad commentary on the Library of Congress’s ability to preserve what is nearly unpreservable.

The early photography methods, from Mathew Brady’s 19th century daguerreotypes and glass plates to Kodachrome of the 1950s-1970s, all deteriorate with exposure to light, humidity, and temperature fluctuation.

Look at your own collection of historical images. Consider preserving them better for your future descendents.

I’ve used the archival materials from Light Impressions for many years and highly recommend them as a resource.


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The Spittoon: A DNA and Family History Research Blog

The Spittoon: A DNA and Family History Research Blog

The Spittoon is the company blog of 23andMe, a DNA testing company. The blog includes articles by their scientists, researchers, and other employees.

The goal of the site is to help customers understand their DNA, health, traits, and ancestry, and it offers some fascinating information into DNA research science, trends, and discoveries, as well as helpful information for family history researchers exploring their roots through their genetic code.

Recent articles include:

Many of the articles take a lighthearted approach to a complex field. Others help us understand the complex science found in DNA research.

This is also a good example of how a scientific research company can not only put a human face on their mission, but find a way of helping customers and non-customers expand their knowledge and understanding of the science without the sales pitch or corporate tone.

I recommend you add this one to your family history feed or bookmarks to keep up on the latest news and help you better understand your own DNA research.


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A Family History Letter to Mitt Romney

While I don’t take sides in politics in any country I’ve lived in, I found some information in the Mitt Romney family history fascinating – and the author of the following highlighted article giving me a fit of the family history giggles.

I was surprised to find Los Angeles Review of Books review on “The Mormon Chronicles: A Meditation In Four Parts” by Judith Freeman with an interesting perspective that some family historians should consider.

It told the story of her ancestor William Flake, a Mormon church patriarch who served time in prison with Grandfather Romney for “illegal cohabitation.” The article began with “Mitt Romney owes me money.”

As stated in Wikipedia’s entry for the Romney family, they are considered “LDS royalty.” The family is linked by marriage to the John Smith family, the original founder of the Mormon church.

The Romney family immigrated from England to the United States in the 1840s, long after most of my family had been in the country, paving the way for the Romneys and the rest of the immigrants following us.
Continue reading


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WordPress Customization Highlights Letters From the War Front

WordPress Customization Highlights Letters From the War Front

Letters from the Front | My Grandfather’s Letters 1914-1919 is a tribute to John Adams of the 9th Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers, from his letters from 1914-1919, preserved for all time on the web by his grandson of the same name. This John Adams calls himself, “John the Geologist.

The site is on and it categorizes the content in some ways worth sharing to help us all learn better about how to blog our family’s history.

A WordPress site is made up of posts which are timely bits of content, the day-to-day articles and news, and Pages, with a capital P, which are the pseudo static “timeless” content such as your About, Contact, Policies, and other web pages. The posts are grouped by categories, using WordPress Custom Post Types.

John’s created “Letters from the Front” with the main navigation set by the categories, representing the years in which the letters were written.

This is highly unusual but appropriate as the category years chronologically showcase the story of John’s grandfather’s years in the army during World War I.

Letters from the Front - John Adams Blog featuring letters from World War I

The front page of the site is static, featuring images of documents, letters, postcards, and photographs that point towards subcategories covering key events in each year. The Training subcategory is under the category 1915 and covers the time of his military training with pictures and stories of his fellow soldiers and training adventures. Continue reading


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Save a Life: Build a Family Cancer and Disease Tree

Tracing our family history isn’t about connecting the dots in our family tree, it is also about connecting the medical history and genetic path cancer takes through a family.

In “My Semicolon Life: Tracing my family’s cancer history” in USA Today, Brian Mansfield talked about his diagnosis of colon cancer turned out to be a discovery that he had a genetic syndrome that increased his likelihood of developing colon cancer by 80%. In Fall 2012, he started sharing his story in an ongoing series in USA Today, including his new perspective on his own family history.

Every time my older son gets an upset stomach, he gets a little spooked.

This summer, he didn’t seem worried. My surgery and recovery went well enough that he didn’t have to spend much time wondering if things might go badly. Besides, people brought food.

Now that he’s back at college and on his own, he’s thinking less about my short-term issues and more about his long-term ones.

Like, when’s he going to get cancer?

As the son of someone with Lynch syndrome — a hereditary genetic disorder that exponentially increases one’s susceptibility to cancer — it’s not an unreasonable question. He knows he’s got a 50/50 chance of carrying the same mutation I do, and he knows that my own digestive problems led to my colon cancer diagnosis. He wants to get screened for Lynch, and he’d rather do it sooner than later.

With each doctor visit, I feel a little paranoid as I give my family history for cancers, mental illness, and other illnesses that have plagued my family. How many of these are genetic markers passed down the bloodline? How many of these are a result of eating habits and environment? How do you know?

Today, it is easier to know than ever before, so find out. Encourage your parents and grandparents and other intimate family members, as well as yourself, to get tested for genetic disorders and markers.

As stated in the article, create a family history of cancer and illness in your family. Is there any patterns you can find?

It’s hard to do much research into illness and disease in a family line as sickness was often hidden, treated or ignored secretly, and kept quiet by the family.

We talk about a female ancestor having a hysterectomy but for what reasons? Was it cervical cancer, uterine cancer, fibroids, complications from pregnancy, or just something done at the time to women to cure their “female problems.”

It can be as much a mystery as tracing the family tree, but it could be a history that not only saves your life but future generations.


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Family Search Library Expanded to 40,000 Genealogy and Family History Records

The The Oklahoman highlighted the Family History Library recently, a fantastic resource with more than 40,000 genealogy and family history publications from family history library archives around the world not just for families associated with Oklahoma.

The collection features family histories, country and local histories, genealogy magazines and books, medieval histories, gazetteers, pedigrees, cemetery records, death records, tax and divorce records, and more from around the country and world.

Highlights that I will be digging into include books on Norwegian emigration to America, Northeastern United States newspapers and historical data, Pilgrim notes, Michigan military records, and farm histories from Ostfold, Norway, hopefully leading me to information about relatives I’ve been unable to learn more about.

Here is a list for posterity that I will be exploring.

My mind is spinning with the discoveries, some fresh, some validating, some new!

Access is through Family Search – Books. It is currently in beta and feedback is welcome.

My only feedback so far is the dream of every genealogist and family history researcher. Let’s connect all the dots and missing pieces.


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Dig Into Your Family History Now – Don’t Wait

In “Researching Family History: Find a missing part of your family history” in the Deseret News, Russell Bangerter described uncovering a family treasure that would rock the world.

Stephon Tull did not know what he had until he was going through some dusty old boxes in his father’s attic in Chattanooga, Tenn. Then he found an audio tape reel with a label reading “Dr. King interview, Dec. 21, 1960.”

Borrowing a friend’s reel-to-reel player, he listened to the recording, which was an interview between his father and Martin Luther King Jr. Startled at

Stephon Tull did not know what he had until he was going through some dusty old boxes in his father’s attic in Chattanooga, Tenn. Then he found an audio tape reel with a label reading “Dr. King interview, Dec. 21, 1960.”

Borrowing a friend’s reel-to-reel player, he listened to the recording, which was an interview between his father and Martin Luther King Jr. Startled at its contents, he told the Associated Press, “I found… a lost part of history.” Years ago, his father had big plans to publish the interview, but it never happened. Tull’s father is in his 80s and in hospice care, so the younger Tull plans to carry out the work and publish the interview in a book.

In the discovery, Tull didn’t just find a piece of missing national history but a piece of his own missing family history, and another chance to connect with his father while he is still alive.

Paintings, sculptures, ancient books, photographs, many piece of history have been uncovered in the process of uncovering our family’s history.

Sometimes the search is easy, opening boxes, cleaning out the corners of the attic or basement. Sometimes the search becomes more complex as people tend to hid things and forget, so look for all those little hiding holes like under the floorboards or hollow spaces in the walls. Sounds odd, but I’ve heard all kinds of stories over the years.

Speaking from experience, don’t be afraid to let the family history into the attic to do the work for you. Don’t wait until you have “the time” to do it yourself. That time may never come. That time never came for one branch of our family. With great restriction, the family allowed the family historian into the attic of the family home. She was only allowed to remove a couple boxes at a time rather than pull all of it out and go through it meticulously. She had two boxes in her car to return when the entire home burned to the ground, losing history that can never be found nor replaced.

Don’t wait. Start digging now. You never know what you will turn up.


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Gordon VanFossen (1929-2011)

We lost one of our VanFossen family members this week. Gordon W. VanFossen, 82, of Billings, Montana. There is currently an obituary listed on the Dahl Funeral Chapel site. For posterity, we include it here.

Name: Gordon W. VanFossen

Dates:
Birth date: July 31, 1929
Death date: January 04, 2012

Obituary:
Gordon W. VanFossen, 82, passed away January 4, 2012 at his home in Billings, Montana. He was born July 31, 1929 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Helen (Wagner) and Clarence M. VanFossen. Gordon attended schools in Tulsa, graduating from Central High School in 1947. He then went on to graduate from University of Tulsa with a degree in Petroleum Engineering. He married Patricia Gladson on March 26, 1948. They had three children. He worked as a Petroleum Engineer and lived in Elk City, OK; Casper, WY; Houston, TX; Glendive and Billings, MT. He worked for Shell Oil, Spellman Prentice, Great Northern Drilling and Cenex, and did consulting after he retired. He and Patty were long time members of Grace United Methodist Church. Patty passed away in 1998.

Gordon enjoyed hiking and being in the Montana mountains. He sang in many choirs and participated in many service organizations, including many years of service to the Boy Scouts.

Gordon married Ruth Pitcher in 2000 in Red Lodge, MT. They lived there for several years until they moved to the Mission Ridge Retirement Home.

Gordon was preceded in death by his parents and his first wife, Patty. He is survived by his wife Ruth, of Billings; three children, Susan (Larry) Iacopini of Billings; Steven (Jan) VanFossen of Missoula; Shevin (Tim) Stewart of Meridan, Idaho; six grandchildren, Tracy (Iacopini) Brockman of Houston; Vince (Cindy) Iacopini of Billings; Dax VanFossen of Kalispell; Ali (Matt) Mandell of Helena; Drew VanFossen of Missoula; Jennifer (Matt) Hall of Kent, Washington; six great-grandchildren and one on the way. He is survived by brothers, Gary (Dorothy) VanFossen and Kent (Lynda) VanFossen of Tulsa, OK and many nieces and nephews.

Service:
Memorial Services will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 14, 2012 at the Mission Ridge Retirement Home. Private interment will take place at Mountview Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Salvation Army, 2100 6th Ave. N. Billings, MT 59101.

Gordon was the brother of Kent and Gary VanFossen, and Kent is the father of my husband, Brent.

We spent too short a time visiting with Gordon and his first wife, Patty, not long before her death. We had just hit the road and spent a couple weeks with them in 1997 on our way back from Alaska and heading south for the winter.

We spent many hours listening to their stories (and telling a few of our own), especially his stories of working in the oil industry during its heyday, and growing up with his two crazy younger brothers.

We only had a few meetings since then as our travels took us far and wide.

In 2005, Gordon made medical history as we reported in “Cooling technique prevents brain damage | Taking Your Camera on the Road.” He had a heart attack. A representative of the then new body cooling device had just that morning talked to the doctor treating Gordon. Desperate to save Gordon’s life from the heart and potential brain damage, he tracked down the representative and told him he wanted to test-drive the new equipment right then and there. The family believes this is what saved his life, or at least the quality of his life for the next 6 years playing golf and traveling.

Two hours after getting the news about Gordon, I was driving to a doctor appointment of my own and heard on the radio of a high school football player who collapsed during a practice. He was rushed to the local hospital and was currently in serious but stable condition as the doctors cooled his body down using the same hypothermia process. It’s now used frequently to lower the body temperate and give the body time to heal itself. How far this technology has come from Gordon’s experience.

As the family prepares to travel to Montana for the funeral and services, our thoughts are with all of them during this grieving time. Gordon left a huge legacy, and he will leave a huge hole in our hearts which we will soon fill with the memories he left behind.


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Find an Image that Defines the Life of a Family Member

The New York Times is launching a new project, “The Lives They Lived: Share Your Photos,” asking the public to contribute a photograph representing the life of a family member or close friend who died this past year.

For our upcoming The Lives They Lived issue, we invite you to contribute a photograph that illustrates a story from the life of someone close to you who passed away this year. It could be a wedding snapshot, a travel brochure, a book cover, a blueprint of a dream house: any image that you think captures one moment from the life of the person you’re remembering.

The deadline is now as the issue comes out December 25, 2011. They are requesting high-resolution scanned originals or digital images representing the life of that person, along with a 200 word explanation and permission to publish.

Can you pick a single picture that represents an entire life? As I think back over the past of the family members we’ve lost, is there a single image that represents their life in total? That’s a tough question.

Christmas 2006 with June DesRochers and familyFor my Aunt June DesRochers, the last picture of the whole DesRocher clan around her taken just before she died a few years ago represents her life to me. She had six kids and managed to raise them by herself after her husband died when the youngest was in diapers. It wasn’t easy, and maybe she didn’t do a perfect job, but the six kids turned out great and they all have children and grandchildren, an amazing family, one that June was actually pretty proud of even though she might not have said much about it.

I’m trying to find it, but the only image I have that comes immediately to mind of my grandmother, Nora Knapp Anderson, is one of her reading to me in bed. I think of it every time I think of her. I don’t remember her physically, so this single photograph represents my visual memory. I was only two or three years old and it was months before she died. As I look through all of the family history photographs I have of the Knapp family, Nora, the only girl among eight boys, is often seen with a brother hanging off of her, helping them read or reading to them, laughing, playing, or just hugging together. Images of the close knit family they were. According to family members, me, her first grandchild, brought back those happy and joyous family feelings and she dreaded missing a moment with me. To me, that photograph represents the sense of togetherness, family, and sharing that made up most of her childhood.

Tent built by Robert and Wayne Knapp circa 1924 along Peshtigo River, Taylor Rapids, Wisconsin

Tent built by Robert and Wayne Knapp circa 1924 along Peshtigo River, Taylor Rapids, Wisconsin. Burnt down by Earl Fugate in bully prank.

When I stop and think of her younger brothers, Robert and Wayne Knapp, I think of all the stories of their childhood that their family has generously permitted me to republish on this blog, with more to come. The image that most represents the childhood they both held so precious can be found in a picture of one of their tends build along the Peshtigo River in Wisconsin around 1924. Wayne used the picture in his book about Taylor Rapids. It represents the wild life they had as children, a life not known by today’s children, one of adventure, hunting bear, deer, and other wildlife, depending upon the wilderness to feed them. By the time they were ten, both were experts on horseback, foot, and trail. Their stories have preserved a way of life few know or remember and I’m proud to be able to share them.

Two Howards, Howard West senior and junior in Coast Guard uniforms circa 1957For my father, I wonder if I even have a photograph in my collection that would sum up his life. I have pictures that represent moments in his life when he played various roles, and the picture I used on the cover of his funeral card taken in the last few months of his life looking happier and healthier than anyone had seen him in 30 or 40 years, but does that truly represent his life or a moment in time?

Actually, when I stop and think about his father, Howard West, Sr., then I find the picture that completely represents both of their lives. It is of the two of them standing next to each other in their Coast Guard uniforms, standing apart from each other yet looking so much alike. Howard Senior has the same expression I ever remember on his face, stern, unsmiling, just there because someone told him to stand there and he wants to look like he had the idea in the first place. My father, Howard junior (“Bud”) so wanting to look proud but knowing he would never measure up to his father or the expectations of the world in general. While only serving about 18 months in the Coast Guard, almost all of it on land, my father spoke of the Coast Guard as if he was a lifer. It defined who he was, what he did, and he used it to create expectations with others. He wore a Coast Guard cap and told long stories of his “life” in the Coast Guard, but most of those were built upon little moments not a life time. He wanted the world to think of him as someone better than he was, but who he was was good enough, if you just looked past the made-up stories to the caring and simple humanitarian who wanted so much to be like his father, though his father seemed to barely notice.

I’d have to say that photograph of the two of them completely defines my father’s life.

Ramona Anderson West Boylan Fletcher 2006As for my mother, I have many photographs but only one that comes immediately to mind when I think of a “defining” image. The picture is in a frame in a box right now, but I’ll use a similar one of my mother, Ramona Anderson West Boylan Fletcher, from 2006 until I can find the one I’m thinking of. The picture features her dressed up in a bright red pants suit made of nylon or some high-tech fabric, her blonde hair all punked up, a lightning strike painted on her cheek, safety pins in her ears, all dressed up for a fun day in downtown Seattle at the Bumbershoot Festival. We decided we’d dress up like punkers for the event just for fun. She’s swinging off a stop sign, laughing and full of life.

That’s my mother. To the world she is vivacious, energetic, and the first to jump off the bridge, out of an airplane, off a cliff in a hang glider, or tell someone exactly what she thinks of them so they actually thank her afterwards. She’s quick witted, terrible with a joke but great with a pun, and ready for anything. She’s led an incredibly full life and while she tells me she’s too tired to come for a visit or too old to travel, she’s off on another airplane to Cancun, Bahamas, Hawaii, New York, or wherever, sailing her boat, skiing down a mountain, hiking the foothills, dancing the night away.

These are pictures that don’t visually represent a life. They represent the story of the life lived not the life itself. Finding an image to contribute to The New York Times is harder than you think.

If your family member invented something or spent their life’s work on a specific project, then that would be an ideal image to contribute. For the rest of us, this is an excellent exercise in how we define the life of our family members.


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Share a Family Dear Photograph Moment

The one thing I love about the digital age is that there are amazing new twists on old techniques, and Dear Photograph is a fantastic new twist for genealogists and family historians.

The idea is to write a “letter” to your photograph to show the world how things have changed, or stayed the same. Take a picture from your scrapbook and family album and go back to that exact same spot. Hold the photograph up over the spot to superimpose the old image over today’s picture. Then share the story of the photograph. Here is one example post from Dear Photograph by Gaby:

Example from Dear Photograph

Citation: Gaby of Dear Photograph

Dear Photograph,
60 years ago, my Grandma Gladys stood with her parents at Forrest Lawn Cemetery. Yesterday, she was laid to rest beside them. As I held this photo, I could still hear her telling her lovely stories all over again. I will always carry her beautiful spirit in my heart forever. I know she has gone back home, I’m just so glad I was loved by her.
Gaby

Dear Photograph is a startup by a young man with a clear vision when it came to nostalgia. Sitting at his kitchen table going through old photo albums he realized he was sitting in the same spot as his brother in the same kitchen many years before. He held up the original image over the spot of today and shared it online, getting an incredible response. Today, Taylor Jones and Dear Photograph has been publicized in the New Yorker, Time Magazine, CBS News, and investors are coming calling.

You can add your own Dear Photograph for free at Dear Photograph and share it through your social media networks, or create your own and publish it on your own family history site and use it with yourself and your family members to help tell their stories.


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