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New Year’s Day 2021 marked the beginning of a family history experiment on Instagram. I had tried sharing family history before. I’ve emailed info, shared Google photo albums, texted info, share…

The Beginning

Once upon a Christmas, Santa brought me my first camera, a Kodak Brownie Starmite. I’m not certain what it was about photography that captured my attention when I was so young, but it has.&#…

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artofrecollection

🌱 Planting seeds of family history - one photo, one story at a time.
📃 "In the end, we'll all become stories.". ~M.Atwood
#artofrecollection

Taking a moment for a present-tense story. This li

Taking a moment for a present-tense story. This little girl is such a trooper. In April, a dog bit her just under the eye. It became infected. Over time, the infection drained into a lymph node in her neck which eventually caused the skin to break down resulting in an open wound that simply would not heal.

Monday she had surgery to clean out the infected area.

I am happy to report that the surgery went well and our little granddaughter is at home and is doing great. Pop and I spent surgery-day with our grandson since COVID protocols prohibit him from being with his parents and sister.

This little one would like it very much if she were to be officially proclaimed the Boss of the World. Being one of the humans wrapped inside her realm is both an honor and a delight. She has a powerful imagination and can conjure an emotional response that is nothing short of award-winning. A power player, this one's personality reminds me very much of her great great grandmother, Rowena.

Rowena, a successful businesswoman, was a much loved (and/or feared ) power player. Guess it runs in the family. 🥰 😂

#telltheirstories #anewhope #savefamilyphotos #memorykeeper #familiesareforever #familyhistory #familystories #familyhistoryresearch #oldphoto #familysearch #ancestors #vintage #vintagephoto #artofrecollection #memorykeeping #familyalbum #photomemories #genealogyphotoaday #myheritage #research #genealogyresearch #genealogyphoto #heritage #familytree #ancestry

Happy [Almost] Birthday to my sister-in-law. Isn't

Happy [Almost] Birthday to my sister-in-law. Isn't this baby girl absolutely adorable??? 🥰

(PS. This is what happens when you leave family photos with me. You never know what will show up next. ☺️ )

#telltheirstories #hill #sistersinlaw #birthday #savefamilyphotos #memorykeeper #familiesareforever #familyhistory #familystories #familyhistoryresearch #oldphoto #familysearch #ancestors #vintage #vintagephoto #artofrecollection #memorykeeping #familyalbum #photomemories

Here's a little #FridayFun Find. I was searching n

Here's a little #FridayFun Find. I was searching names on newspapers.com for birth announcements and obits when I got a hit on a Paducah Sun article from 4 Dec 1954. 😳

"BEEP-BEEP-BEEP -- Three amateur prospectors [one of whom is my uncle]... watch a Geiger counter react ... many Geiger counters have given positive reactions.⁠ 😳
⁠
"Residents ... have been caught in a wave of speculation that a great uranium discovery is about to be made in the area.⁠ And there are many factors pointing to the possibility that one of several interest combines soon may turn up some rare element from the soil, heavily laden with radio-active qualities.⁠ 😳
⁠
"Talk of uranium and radio-active rocks have brought a big change in the Christmas buying habits of the residents. Until a few months ago, many oldsters were looking to Ole Santa for a television set, but now their fancy has turned to Geiger counters ...⁠
⁠
"Prospectors, the kind who know something of geology, and those who can just knock two rocks together, can be found scurrying around on the side of the steep hill during the day ...⁠ The water to supply the town comes from the lake and its reservoir is located on top of the mountain." 😳😳😳

I HAD NEVER HEARD ABOUT THIS!
Water reservoir + uranium can't be a good thing.

Who says family history/genealogy/research isn't fun? 👍☺️

PS. My hometown folks do not glow. 👽

#telltheirstories #dunn #uncle #savefamilyphotos #memorykeeper #familiesareforever #familyhistory #familystories #familyhistoryresearch #oldphoto #familysearch #ancestors #vintage #vintagephoto #artofrecollection #genealogyphotoaday #myheritage #research #genealogyresearch #genealogyphoto #heritage #familytree #ancestry #memorykeeping #familyalbum #photomemories

When I made my first pass through Daddy's "Army pi

When I made my first pass through Daddy's "Army pictures", I set these aside. I wasn't sure what they were or why they were part of this group of photographs.

I knew he was stationed in Wildeflecken, Germany during 1951-52. I scanned the photos that had obvious context and relevance, then went back to these. I slowed down and took the time to look carefully at the images. It was then that I saw the Olympic rings. Through a quick Google search, I learned that the 1952 Winter Olympics were held in Oslo, Norway during the time he was stationed in Germany - yet another family photo detective ah-ha moment. 💡

(Don't you just love those moments in which your research uncovers some fun facts?)

Daddy was born and raised in southeastern Kentucky - the foothills of Appalachia. Until he began work with a road construction crew, he had never traveled away from home. I can only imagine how this 24 year old Kentuckian felt, seeing parts of the world he had only heard about. I can only imagine his excitement watching these ski jumpers in action.

I didn't make the connection between these photos and his military service until after my parents died and all their unidentified photos came to live at my house. Combining the photos he had mailed to Mama with the photos that never made their way into an album painted the big picture of a young man, away from home for the first time, experiencing things he had never dreamed of having the opportunity to see.

Of course, I learned all this too late. I can't ask him about watching ski jumpers. I can't listen to his stories. The best I can do is piece together an outline of the story from captions, information I find online, and the details captured in each photograph.

He must have been thrilled to experience this. I know I am thrilled to be able to share these images and to see the 1952 Olympics venue through my Daddy's eyes. 🥰

#telltheirstories #denney #army #savefamilyphotos #memorykeeper #familyhistory #familystories #familyhistoryresearch #oldphoto #familysearch #ancestors #vintage #vintagephoto #artofrecollection
#genealogyphotoaday #research #genealogyresearch #genealogyphoto #familyhistorian #ancestry

Happy Double-day Birthday to my father-in-law. Thr

Happy Double-day Birthday to my father-in-law. Throughout his life, his birthday was celebrated on Jan 18. But when my husband and sister-in-law were gathering documents to file for veteran's benefits, they hit a snag. There were no records of their dad being born on Jan 18.

If had known then what I know now, I could have been more help. I've since learned that the information contained on documents we use as genealogical proofs is information as reported/recorded. It may vary from the facts as we know them.

They were searching for their dad, born on the 18th. Turns out his birth certificate lists his date of birth as Jan 19.

By the time we discovered this, my father-in-law had been devastated by the impact of dementia. Otherwise it would have been great fun implementing a double day birthday celebration.

Party or not, it's still a fun fact. 🥰❤️🙂

#telltheirstories #hill #remembering #birthday #savefamilyphotos #familyhistorian #memorykeeper #familiesareforever #familyhistory #familystories #familyhistoryresearch #oldphoto #familysearch #ancestors #vintage #vintagephoto #artofrecollection
#genealogyphotoaday #myheritage #research #genealogyresearch #genealogyphoto #heritage #familytree #ancestry

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