Oh, the treasures I’ve found while going through my grandparents’ stuff that was tucked away for more than three decades. They kept every wedding invitation they ever received, letters from the 1920s and 30s and so much more that must have seemed important at the time. But there were a couple of photos that had me vexed. I had to get in touch with second and third cousins in order to find someone who knew who was in them.Â
These are my great-grandparents, Fanny and John, on their wedding day in 1906.
This is likely the oldest photograph in our family’s possession. My father never met his Grandpa and Grandma, and I need to do more research to find out where and how long they lived. Lucky for me, a couple of older relatives took an interest in our family’s history and we have volumes of data and stories to consult. The days of writing names and dates on the backs of photos are long gone but we do need to keep some sort of journal or archive for future generations. Even if the family history is bland and ordinary, it’s still fascinating to the descendants… eventually.
It’s very timely or at least interesting you mention the importance of family history. I’m currently in the process of updating my will and have left instructions that all photos in my possession are to be environmentally destroyed upon my death. Maybe I should give that a rethink.
There must be one history/family/clutter nut in your family who would love to go through those photos and preserve some of them? I have truly enjoyed finding out who some of the people are and getting some of the photos and other items to other family members. My Grandma also had pristine yearbooks from her nurses’ union dated 1920s and 30s and the union was thrilled to have them. It seems some of your family history could be lost forever if you have those pictures destroyed.
My goodness, what a treasure!