Have you looked at your old family photos for research clues? No, I mean really look at them. Did you look at the surroundings, the weather, the cars, the uniforms? Family history clues could be right in front of your eyes in old photos. d

Finding those clues and knowing how to turn that into information can be difficult. Often those clues are right in front us but we are not looking past the surface. How can photos open up a wealth of information and further our research? Let’s take a closer look.

Uniforms: Military, Civil Service, and Businesses

Uniforms in photos can open up whole new avenue for your research. Are relatives in any of your photos wearing a military uniform? Even in group photos a relative may be wearing a full uniform, a hat, a medal, or even have a military tattoo.

In the photo below are two relatives both wearing military uniforms. One is Navy and the other is Army. The child in the photo is my aunt and on the back it says ‘and uncles’. I am able to determine this is most likely my grandmother’s brothers. I can go to military archives and gain further knowledge on their time in the service as well as the tours in World War II.

The photo below includes my grandfather on the right. In this photo he is wearing a uniform. He is also standing in front of a train. Putting those two facts together and looking into uniform descriptions (most notably the hat) I find out that this is a train conductor’s hat and uniform. This also would explain why he is standing in front of a train with another man who looks to be wearing a train workers uniform.

Buildings

Look at the buildings in family photos. Really take a hard look and use a magnifying glass if you need to. Is there a name on any businesses? Do you see a number on the house or structure?

The photo below was in the possession of my mother’s family. I was uncertain of why and who may have lived in the home. I had looked at the photo many times but could only wonder. It wasn’t until I really scrutinized every part of this picture and finally noticed faint writing at the bottom of the picture. I used editing software within MyHeritage to colorize the photo and increase the contrast until I was able to make out the writing that appeared to be in pencil. Finally, I had an answer: “Homestead 1808 Washington St.”. I instantly knew that my grandmother’s family had lived on Washington Street in my hometown of Michigan City, Indiana. Street view of the home in present day also confirmed this to be the same home. They matched!

Below is another photo that I had in my possession for a long time. I was always fixated on the people in the photo and their faces. Once again I used editing software (MyHeritage) to colorize the photo and add contrast and noticed writing on the bottom. The text “Home E. Sixth St” becomes visible.

I knew this picture was from my maternal grandmother’s side so I went to the census records of 1880, 1900 and 1910 to see if I could gain any insight. In 1900 the same family that ended up moving to the house in the above photo on Washington St. in 1910 lived on E. Sixth Street first. The people in the photo also matched the genders and general ages of those on the census record. I now had photos of both of their homes ranging from about 1898-1960! This house was torn down ages ago to make room for an outlet mall so I could not conduct street view comparisons.

The ability to look closer at old family photographs and scrutinize the details can unlock clues to further your research. We often focus on the faces and ponder what year the photo was taken and miss other details that can tell us more about their lives.

Clothing, hats, pins, buildings, weather, cars, and so much more can tell us the lives our ancestors lived and the events they went through. Discover more in photos, discover more about your family.