When I was younger and looked at family photo albums with my mom or grandma, I couldn't get past the old-fashioned styles worn by the people staring back at me. I'd laugh until my sides hurt! These poses in sepia were pictures of strangers that couldn't possibly know anything about life, according to the mind of a thirteen year old. They lived in the past. What did they know about anything?
By the time I was twenty, we had lost all but a few of these keepsakes. The ones I had, I treasured. As my parents and grandparents passed away, I began to appreciate even more the memories these faded images recalled for me. I also began to recognize certain family resemblances, such as: my crooked smile from my father's side of the family; and the straight, blond hair of my grandfather in his younger days. But it still sends shivers down my spine when I look at my great, great grandmother with her slickered-down hair and frozen scowl and wonder if her looks are my impending doom?
It wasn't until I began working on our family's genealogy that I really began to understand the back story of photos. This was a lip smacking morsel of cake set before me. A pound of research and an ounce of creativity stirred into the fertile mind of a writer and BOOM! Thirty years later, the book, "Begotten With Love" became a reality.
Now, when I look at these pictures, they shape a glimpse into history which is both personal and worldly. So, you see, there is a lot to learn from photos: history, style, geography, relationships . . . but the one thing that doesn't change through the generations is the temperament of man. Each of us, as individuals (no matter which generation), struggles with temptation and sorrow, lust and greed. We cling to faith and hope and love and if we live long enough our courage and strength will be tested. That's why I chose to write "Begotten" in story form, so the reader could share the experiences as the plots unfold.
Following are my observations of the pictures adorning my FaceBook page that you see at the top of this post. Studying pictures like these helped me to develop the personalities of the families in my book (along with documents and personal stories told and retold around the dining room table).
YOUNG WOMAN WITH BURRO (Grand Junction, CO) - I see a beautiful, young woman dressed for a special occasion (the style suggests 1890-1900). I've not been able to verify my supposition, yet, but it looks to me as though the baby is dressed in a Christening Gown. This is also around the time open hearth cooking was becoming a thing of the past and kitchens were being outfitted with wood/coal burning ranges. A blessing because many women were maimed or killed by embers falling from the hearth and catching these long skirts on fire.
FORGEMEN (Prattvile, AL) - This picture was a gift to me from the historical files of Daniel Pratt's Manufactory in Prattville, Alabama. The company had changed owners (and names) over the years but had been continuously operational since the mid 1850s until 2013. To walk the halls of these massive buildings and hear the history of Daniel Pratt and what he accomplished . . . his innovations and generosity, was a profound moment in my life. If you'd like to learn more about one of America's first entrepreneurs, Google the "Honorable Daniel Pratt, A Biography, Eulogies on His Life and Character" by M.S. Tarrant. To look at this picture and realize 3 generations of my family was a part of this amazing time in history is both inspirational and humbling.
IN THE GARDEN (Anacortes, WA) - John (in his mid eighties) tended to his garden; not as a hobby or for organic produce but for survival. His family had fallen on difficult economic times in the 1950s and could not survive without his hard labor. Behind him is the orchard where blackberry brambles grew wild. The abstract tee-pee structures (made from strips of cloth from an old sheet) gave structure for pole beans and a hiding place for a young girl who did not want to eat liver for dinner.
CHANGING TRANSPORTATION (Chicago, IL) - The history of this picture is still a work in progress. What I do know is that it was taken on Clark Street in Chicago (near north side) possibly next to the building where the St. Valentine's Day massacre (mob hit) occurred. I don't know what kind of car it was but the man standing along side is the driver and probably its machinist. It was a well-respected and exciting form of employment to be a machinist. Many of these men came from the ranks of blacksmith. This was a major transportation transition in our country and the world. Machinists in the early 1900s made as major a contribution to the world as Microsoft, Apple, and IT specialists everywhere do for us today.
What makes me laugh about this picture is the trail of manure alongside the car. Both forms of transportation shared the roads in Chicago in the 1920s and '30s.
Well . . . I'll bet somewhere in your home is a faded and dusty album filled with pictures similar to the ones I chose to display on my Facebook cover page. Did you ever wonder whose faces were silently starring at you as you turned the pages? I encourage you to find out more. Tracing their history may uncover your richest legacy of all. Good luck!
Jo Ann V. Glim is a 40 year veteran of freelance writing and author of "Begotten With Love."
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This week, I received an unexpected item from a cousin when she came across a birth announcement from the 1900s. No baby's name and only a partial date. The news was written on a leather postcard (I didn't even know there was such a thing!). But I had the answers to the missing pieces.
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