My great aunts have dozens of photo albums with decades of family history in their attic. Recently, when I visit, I like to bring one down for everyone to look at. Our photo albums don’t have any organization. The images leap across decades from page to page. On one page are photos from my grandparents wedding and on the next are fuzzy pictures of my uncle and father tackling each other on Christmas morning.
The last time I visited, I explained that I wanted to start archiving the pictures so that we would have a place the whole family could see them. My eighty-year-old aunts were a little bit reluctant, but eventually let me take a few albums to start scanning.
Re-Discover Stories
My great-aunts have never used the internet and I doubt they ever will, so I never really tried to press the importance of making an online archive that would last forever. I understand that they would want to preserve everything they’ve collected and document the amazing lives they’ve lived. Their house has always been their archive. It’s been the center of all the family events for years from Christmas Eve parties to Fourth of July cook outs; the aunt’s house has been where all the cousins join together. There are photographs on every end table and every free space on the wall and each has a story.
I started with an evergreen binder of photos and sat it on the breakfast bar for my aunt Mary and Aunt Flo to look at. I asked about the pictures that stuck out to me and they remembered everything. It’s amazing how photographs can bring people back to a moment in their lives.
On one page I got the story about how one year they took a trip to Stone Harbor and there was a flood so bad the streets were basically rivers. There were pictures of my uncle and my father in little rafts floating down the main street. On another page my great aunt Flo stood in a bright yellow-polka dot dress with winged sunglasses. She boasted that the picture was taken in Mexico “back when they went everywhere they wanted.”
Starting an archive has even given me more stories about my immediate family. I found some pictures of our house in Fleetwood from before we moved to Kutztown and got to see the ornate Christmas tree my mother and father had decorated for my first Christmas.
Bring the Family Together
My great aunts will probably only get to see the archive when I pull it up on my laptop, but the value is more than just the preservation of the physical documents I scan in. In the caption of each photo I can fill in the stories my aunts gave me about my cousin and uncle and great grandparents I will never get to meet. My aunts shared stories that so few family members still ask about and that meant something special to them to know someone younger in the family cares about their lives. Below is a picture of all the Connor sisters: Flo, Mary, Priscilla (my grandmother), and Joan.
If you want to see my progress with my own archive you can see that here. The founders of LivesArchived were inspired to create the service to preserve the history of their loved ones, you can read about their story here.
The real joy comes when you jump into your own family’s story. You can start your archive by using your email to set up an account on LivesArchived.
