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July 31, 2012

Several years ago we inherited my husband's family scrapbooks which were compiled by
his mother and grandmother, the earliest dating back to the late 19th Century.  


Married in 1895, Bob's grandparents documented their life and the lives of their rural neighbors through newspaper clippings and photographs.  And, yes, we realize how lucky we are to have such treasures.


Hence, my latest project - preserving the family heritage and salvaging the fading photographs and yellowed, crumbling scrapbooks.  These books are a fascinating glimpse into one
of the most tumultuous eras in history and I feel the weight
of the responsibility.  One of the books, alone, is dedicated to
WWII and the sacrifices made by that small community.  

 


The hundreds of newspaper clippings are mostly  wedding, birth, and funeral announcements but there are human interest stories, too - a barn raising, reports on crops, rationing during the war.  Needless to say, the project has taken over the house but it's a productive and humbling feeling.


If you have family documents, I urge you to preserve them now.  I don't endorse many products but I suggest you purchase a handheld scanner if you're considering such a project.  The scanner has completely made this undertaking possible - otherwise, we would have had to disassemble the scrapbooks to copy them.  


Working on the photographs and scrapbooks is a lot of work but it's also a lot of fun.
Is it me or does Bob's great-uncle Bradley look just like the actor Casey Affleck?!

8 comments:

  1. What an absolute treasure! This is the sort of history I enjoy best of all, that concerning 'ordinary' people, and how world events affected their lives. I see what you mean about great uncle Bradley, he was very handsome.

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  2. Thanks for stopping by to visit me at Heart Song! And you are a new follower, I see. It's so nice to make new friends in this bloggy world. On my way to Denver to see my daughter and family, then a day trip to our mountains tomorrow. Can't stay away very long or things will dry up and the kitties will get hungry. The animals are rather spoiled around here and are sometimes little pests-especially when I am in a hurry and they sneak in the house. And those are just the ones outside! The princess has the house to herself when I'm gone overnight!♥♫

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  3. These are great! I would love if my family had such a collection.

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  4. Great family photos! A hand scanner is a great suggestion. I have one great photo of my Mom's family, there were 14 kids, I love that photo. You are so luck you have albums. Thanks for following, your newest follower, Laura

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  8. Talk about ancestry! I’m amazed that your family still has pictures, scrapbooks even, dating back to the 19th century. I can’t even remember where I kept my grandparents’ pictures. I don’t even remember where my baby pictures are! What about their home? Were you able to inherit that too? My parents are still living in our ancestral home but they aren’t planning to hand it down to us, which for them, doesn’t make us too dependent on them. Although I think it’s a good idea (Don’t worry, I have my own apartment!), I still think about all the memories we had as a family there. I don’t mean for it to be a permanent home, but maybe we could use it from time to time so that the kids also know where our family began.

    Kimora Avery

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