The only thing on my list...

This year, my wish list for the holiday is pretty short. 

Every year around this time, the internet fills up with articles and stories about the "best gifts for genealogists." All of those shiny tech toys, subscriptions to pay sites, trips to distant courthouses, education programs and attendance at various events are appealing to me, and to many of you. But this year, there is only one thing I want. 

This year for Christmas, I want to preserve history. 

That's it. Simple. Straight forward. And actually very easy to do. 

The best part is, we can all be a part of it. We can all contribute to this great effort, we can all take pride in the fact that we helped to save page after page of these original records. 

Asking for donations to the War of 1812 Preserve the Pensions effort is easy; and I'm not above begging. Really. Making a donation is easy too; I've got it set up to make a monthly donation automatically on a day, and for an amount, that works for me. 

So what's stopping you? Make a donation today. Save history. Save it for researcher's everywhere now, and for future generations. Save it for historians and military enthusiasts. Save it for teachers and educators that rely on historic records to bring history to life. Save it for every one of us, forever. 

$45 saves 200 pages. 

That's it. Pretty simple. Make a donation, take part in this historic effort, and give the gift of history for generations to come. 

More Gifts! Cemetery Santa, Part Two

Last week, I wrote about my “Cemetery Santa.” I knew that I would have the opportunity to work with him further, but I had no idea just what he had in his bag of gifts!

I discovered him, and his assistant, working one the headstone of Jennie Carter. They were already into the process, but I was able to watch, learn and ask questions of them both as they went about their work.

Jennie’s marker had started to lean, and was sitting about 11 degrees off, towards the grave. Simply put, the earth and gravity work together to apply force to the stone, which then of course, makes it move. The task of the day was to give the marker enough of its own stability so that it could sit upright once again – plumb. (This is where that handy Bubble Level app I mentioned last time comes in. Download it now. Really.)

Some of the photos I took during the next three hours tell the story better than I could, so I will share a few of them here. When I joined the party, they had already dug out the earth from in front of the marker enough to accomplish the task. They were inserting pieces of stone underneath the marker (very carefully, I might add) so that it was level in all directions. As they worked through that process, they measured and calculated, and determined that this marker and base combined were probably around 800 pounds. They quizzed me and at some point must have made the determination that I was worthy of more education, so eventually, I was asked to come back.



Above: This is where I walked into the process. They are lifting the approximately 800 pound stone marker and base with a central fulcrum point, just a little at a time. As Cemetery Santa (he looks like Santa, doesn't he?) lifts, his assistant cleans out underneath the grave any loose debris and inserts carefully shaped pieces of stone, to build a platform for the marker to sit on top of.



Above: After the inserted the correct amount of stones to bring the marker back to plumb, they filled in some of the dirt and loose sand. Once the sand had been poured in, they added water, so that it would filter down underneath the marker and around the new platform. It works its way into the small gaps and other places, providing an even more stable base. After this picture, they also used a soft brush to clean the front of the base – the part that had worked its way underground during the last 100 years or so. This area would now be visible, so they made sure it was as clean as the rest of the area. Note the difference in the pictures below.




Above: They had carefully removed the sod from around the front of the stone before I arrived, and had done so in a particular order, placing everything on the tarp. Once the loose dirt was back in, they moved the tarp close and put those sod blocks back, in the same order. The objective was to leave as little disturbance as possible, it was very clear they wanted it to look like they had never even been there when they were done.



After putting all the dirt and sod back in, this is what the disturbed area looked like.



Above: A bit more work to get it just right. We stripped old branches of dead pine needles to add the duff back to the grave site.



Above: The project is complete! The headstone is standing erect, and you can hardly tell any work was done at all. It’s been a couple of days since this work has happened, so I’m sure it looks even more natural now. I think Jennie would be very happy with it.


I am excited to say that I will be joining them once again this coming week, and will be much more actively involved in what Cemetery Santa called, “easy re-setting.” I’m very much looking forward to getting a hands-on lesson in preserving the cemetery I care so much about. The opportunity really has been incredible.
I hope you are enjoying my journey as well! Please comment or ask questions here on the blog, I can perhaps get an answer!

The Cemetery Santa

The meeting had been planned for some time. I had weeks to prepare a list, the task deceptively simple: compile a list of the headstones in Valley Brook Cemetery most in need of attention, repair, conservation or other work.

Sure. I can do that. 

I walked the grounds, reviewed previous notes, flipped through the hundreds of photos I have taken there. I even started to plot the damaged stones on a map. I spent several hours, really, as I wanted to be sure that I was really getting to the most important memorials. My list at the beginning of this walk about at the cemetery started with about twenty names. It ended with so many more.

I was so completely unprepared. 

When I got home, I put this simple statement on my Facebook page:

"Every - and I mean EVERY - genealogist should walk a cemetery with a professional headstone preservationist. I had the pleasure of doing just that this morning, and I learned SO MUCH. Fantastic opportunity, and I am looking forward to working with them more in the next couple of weeks."

And I meant it. His name is David Via, and he is a preservation professional. He travels the country, logging around 20,000 miles a year, traveling from cemetery to cemetery. He is, as he himself stated it, engrossed in the cemetery preservation community. You can see one of the many stories of his work here, on progress-index.com, from August, 2012.  (I've posted this article, as he does not have a website of his own.)

He's been working on Valley Brook Cemetery off and on for the past ten years, starting after a large storm did severe damage in 1997. He has an outstanding memory, considering the number of memorials he touches each year. Remember Bertha's story from earlier this summer? When her headstone disappeared? He knew exactly who she was and where her site was on the grounds, and that was before we even walked away from our vehicles.

As we walked the grounds, he was able to provide commentary on what makes our cemetery unique, the types of stone used to create the markers, and more. We actually came to realize - there were five of us altogether - that our entire cemetery has shifted to the east. When you look at where the markers are from the original plotting process and where the roads are now... they are all off of the original design. We had one of each of us stand at the markers of a corner, and one in the center, and you could physically see the way the landscape had changed.

He was as excited as I was about my newest discovery here, these wooden posts that are inscribed with the various sections of the cemetery. The one pictured clearly states I.O.O.F. and I.O.R.M. on two sides, marking two of our fraternal sections (International Order of Odd Fellows and Improved Order of Red Men). Anything fraternal usually gets me excited, so to have someone else share that with me was a great moment. These markers were not necessarily unknown, but are not included in the vast majority of documentation available on the cemetery, so for many in our local community, this is new information. It was an incredible moment for me to realize that Mr. Via not only shared my passion for the historical significance of these posts, but also for the cemetery itself.

One of the seven section markers I have
been able to locate in the cemetery.
©Ancestral Journeys, 2013.

The post, labelled "I.O.O.F." on one side
and "I.O.R.M." on the other, indicating
the sections for fraternal societies.
©Ancestral Journeys, 2013

Have you heard of the pinky finger test? 

I learned so much from David Via, including the pinky test.  He showed me, quite literally, how an unstable monument can be tilted over with just the force of his pinky finger. The things he taught me to look for in terms of identifying a potentially unstable headstone were truly priceless. He described how to spot those that have had work done to them, and those that need work immediately. The lesson even included a new app on my phone, "Bubble Level." This is a digital version of the classic level, which will tell you what angle the headstone is sitting at. Anything more than 10 degrees, and the headstone needs attention.

The three hours we walked the twenty acres provided, as he put it, a "truckload of information." 

I did my best to soak it up. 

Interior of the sexton house shed walls.
©Ancestral Journeys, 2013.

He gave me suggestions on "properly" photographing a headstone for preservation purposes; because maybe the marker is ok for now, maybe it will last for several more years... but if it has to be rebuilt in ten years, will they still be able to tell what the exact dimensions were?  We had conversations on cemetery folk art and why its important. We discussed the "graffiti" on the interior walls of the sexton house shed. We talked about why Masons follow the customs they do, and how to get our local chapter engaged in the cemetery preservation effort we have put forth (he's a Mason himself). 

I can tell you, membership in the Association of Graveyard Studies has risen to the highest priority on my list. Absolutely. 

My day with David Via, preservation professional, is one I'll be thinking about for some time. I'm looking forward to working with him further, as we'll both be in and out of the cemetery in the coming days. I told my daughter he looked a bit like Santa Claus - and he does - with a long white beard, white hair and the right stature to play the part. I would have to say, he has become my "cemetery Santa." 

Tweets from 2012 Jamboree: Day 3

The last and final installment of my favorite tweets coming out of the SCGS Jamboree, 2012. Please make sure to look over Day 1 and Day 2, as well!

• @ironhide781: "So sad to leave Jamboree, it's the best genealogy conference I've ever attended." [Figured we'd start with a nice compliment.]
• @terrifraser: "Takeaways: Blogger summit 2 #scgs12 Thomas MacEntee always moderates comments. Anonymous uses Microsoft Live Writer to compose blog posts."
• @baysideresearch: "Decided on What's New with RootsMagic 5 for my first #scgs12 session of the day."
• @demascot54321: "Genealogy research and Trip planning."
• @FamilyStories: "Will be attending Warren Bittner's Complex Evidence ~ Will be streamed. Who's joining me?"
• @AuntJill: "Best mindmapping tool I've seen yet is bubbl.us. Thanks to Ancestral Breezes for @scgs12 tweets." [You are most welcome. This has become a "thing" for me. It allows me to follow the conference from home, and also keeps everything in one place. If I'm going to make the list anyway, I might as well share.]
• @ACoffin: "Attending 'Mapping Madness' with @ronarons. I'm a sucker for anything maps."
• @terrifraser: "Attending 'Using the 1880 DDD Census' at #scgs12 with Jana Sloan Broiling CG."

(I included the above tweets so you would know which session the information was coming from. The twitter stream was very active Sunday morning, and it could be easy to get lost.)

• @toniasroots: "According to @megansmolenyak there are things in newspapers other than obituaries. Who knew?"
• @ACoffin: "Some free map sites: NYPL, David Rumsey, LOC, Perry Casteneda at UTexas."
• @ACoffin: "Don't forget Cyndi's List map page."
• @toniasroots: "All newspaper sites have some content everyone has and some content no one else has."
• @ACoffin: "Arons: search Google Images for maps, too. #scgs12 Use place name."
• @a3Genealogy: "@toniasroots LOL... This is a hard concept for some researchers. Slow down, take your time, and peruse the whole newspaper!"
• @ACoffin: "Arons showing different results between Google Maps and Bing Maps. He uses both. So do I."
• @toniasroots: "GenealogyBank has a great collection for people with New England and New York colonial roots."
• @toniasroots: "NewsLibrary.com can be used a la carte - no subscription necessary. Contemporary content, not historical."
• @ACoffin: "Bing maps:can only save 10 places in your collection. We all know Google lets you save more on your map."
• @toniasroots: "Newspaper search tip. Put in surname and keyword 'died'." [Also, death, buried, burial, grave, ceremony, etc.]
• @toniasroots: "Archives.com limits you to 10 newspaper searches per day."
• @FamilyStories: "This is EXACTLY why I wish census occupations were indexed. Bonus Points to the company who does that. @findmypastUS"
• @baysideresearch: "The CountyCheck feature in RM5 is great!"
• @rjseaver: "I like sequence of Bittner's slides. Document, discussion, source type, info type, evidence type, source citation. Logical."
• @toniasroots: "Elsewhere Around the World - a curated site with links to international newspaper sites."
• @rjseaver: "Bittner finally get to the evidence conflict stage-two direct pieces from original sources don't match. Indirect evidence proves."

ilovecoffeebook.com

• @rjseaver: "Bittner's talk is excellent tutorial on doing research in New York City."
• @toniasroots: "Major papers, like ATL Constitution, LA Times, etc. look for PQ in menu - this is their historical archives done with ProQuest."
• @ACoffin: "Arons: see if  your library has ProQuest Sanborn Maps Geo Edition."
• @toniasroots: "Ancestry.com obituary collection crawls sites of lots of smaller newspapers."
• @toniasroots: "Obitsarchive.com another a la carte site. Has contemporary obits."
• @rjseaver: "Bittner says software wants conclusions and limits evidence analysis. People lead complex lives."
• @ACoffin: "Hmmm.... LinkedIn Maps. Interesting." [Care to elaborate here?]
• @ACoffin: "Maps aren't just about places. Arons is discussing mind maps now."
• @baysideresearch: "RM reader for iPad/iPhone later this summer!"
• @amycrow: "Not correct. Limit is 10 views, not 10 searches RT @toniasroots Archives.com limit 10 newspaper searches/day @megansmolenyak" [Thanks for the clarification.]
• @baysideresearch: "Looks like @geneabloggers may have a full room for his Illinois session!"
• @rjseaver: "#scgs12 Lisa has her 10 Golden Rules of Genealogy on her website for free gotgenealogy.com."
• @ACoffin: "Take away from Hovorka's session: we need to allow new genealogists to be new." [Amen.]
• @toniasroots: "Be committed to ANALYZING your data."
• @amycrow: "That's the key: 'If I look at your citation, can I get back to the original?' - C Witcher (The comma doesn't matter! <g>)"
• @rjseaver: "Jana says to look for court cases associated with land deeds. Federal land records are largest pre 1900 set of records."
• @ACoffin: "Bertillon cards= predecessor to fingerprints. Incl. photos, measurements, etc of the subject."
• @rjseaver: "really need to check American State Papers for cases concerning my ancestors. Jana rocks!"
• @toniasroots: "Create timelines whenever you can."
• @baysideresearch: "It's expensive inheriting stuff from people. How to preserve?" [Ain't that the truth.]
• @baysideresearch: "Resolve to DO NO HARM to your inherited items. @familycurator"
• @susankitchens: "Frugal curation. Because we don't have budget n staff."
• @baysideresearch: "Archival cardboard storage boxes are acid-free, etc. #scgs12 they are layered to help protect docs, etc."
• @susankitchens: "First, do no harm. Temp swings not good. Moisture, pests, human handling, oils."
• @baysideresearch: "Newsprint is so inherently acidic it will break down."
• @baysideresearch: "Look for lignin-free boxes."
• @baysideresearch: "@familycurator showing damage to doll stored in china cabinet."
• @susankitchens: "Layered protection. The idea of the day for #stuff #preservation"
• @baysideresearch: "@familycurator has a curator's first aid kit w/tissue paper, sheet, tape, etc. all acid free!"
• @baysideresearch: "Make-it-yourself 4-flap-enclosure = most useful archival tool."
• @toniasroots: "Make your own archival container to fit any size item. @familycurator is showing us how." [Jealous.]
• @baysideresearch: "More DIY: custom cotton bag for multiple items."
• @ACoffin: "If you're into frugal curating, @familycurator has a book coming out about it in a few months."
• @baysideresearch: "Wash purchased muslin to remove all the sizing chemicals. No fabric softener!"
• @susankitchens: "Reversible is key for whatever you use to encapsulate it. Plastic is good for the foto to hand around @ family reunion. #preservation"
• @baysideresearch: "Put buffered paper behind newspaper to prevent acid build-up."
• @susankitchens: "Buffered paper - acid free, lignin free next to, say newspaper, in archival sleeve."
• @baysideresearch: "Avery sheet protectors are good option."
• @baysideresearch: "Also, funnily enough, ziplock sandwich bags are fine too!"
• @susankitchens: "Ziplock bags. GLAD are polypropylene. (good) @familycurator researched. Passed light test. #preservation"
• @susankitchens: "Who knew? Zip loc bags. Used by archaeologists, n for Police evidence bags."
• @baysideresearch: "Encapsulation not the best option for photos - image may stick to the plastic if you remove."
• @susankitchens: "Time capsule. Purpose, plan. AWESOME. Mama's got a milestone bay coming up."
• @baysideresearch: "Use a pretzel container. Seriously!"
• @susankitchens: "This presentation TOTALLY needs to go into #Maker magazine."
• @baysideresearch: "'just say no' to anything that will require a player 50 years from now. No good."
• @susankitchens: "Register your time capsule: International Time Capsule society, Oglethorpe Univ, Atlanta, GA"
• @baysideresearch: "@familycurator's book How to Archive Family Keepsakes coming out in August!" [You can pre-order on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/How-Archive-Family-Keepsakes-Memorabilia/dp/1440322236/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=11ED8PIUYXZ2E&coliid=I30W1VQPVAQ2VA]
• @familycurator: "Caugt @acivory showing how to make genealogy Mac Dashboard #scgs12 - my take-away #1"
• @JanetHovorka: "What I learned at #scgs12 RT @susankitchens: XLNT question-how can we build more mentoring it's all about respect. Be it, act it. U got it."
• @JanetHovorka: "Nailed it. RT @susankitchens: The FEAR of doing it wrong gets in the way. Yes. You MUST make mistakes. Gatekeeping comes frm fear."

yogainthedragonsden.blogspot.com

And with that, it all comes to an end. I love the last two: 

Mentoring is all about respect.

You must make mistakes.

Well said, everyone, well said. 

Photography: Dealing with Albums & Glass

In my vast collection of family memorabilia, childhood arts & crafts projects, diaries and letters, I only have one or two of those photos. You know, the ones that have been under the same piece of glass for a hundred years and you are so afraid to touch it, but really need a copy for preservation purposes, but you just don't know what to do!


So, I asked.

I didn't ask an archivist, though I could have. I didn't ask a historian, another genealogist, or anybody who I would consider an expert in framing and glass. Perhaps I should have.

Instead, I asked a photographer.

Because the glass and the frame, though probably of some historical value, is secondary. If something has to be damaged, ruined, or left in disrepair in the process, I'd rather it be one of those. I want the photo.

Keep in mind, I have a personal connection with this particular person, and we've struck up numerous conversations relating to genealogy and photography, and how those intermix. See my previous post, with significant contributions by Mr. Mike Brown, Photography: Questioning the Scanner.

The question I posed to him was this:

"How do we deal with old photos that we inherit that are glued to a photo album, or have been in a frame for who knows how long? Do you take it apart or try to preserve as is?"

His response is worth a read. I picked up a trick or two, I hope you will also.

"Reproduce before you try anything. Then if what you try goes wrong you have a backup copy. [Great advice for just about anything, right?] I have had customers that brought in photos that were cut out of the album page and still had the page glued to the back of them, this works if there are no photos on the other side of the page.

Sometimes it is possible to find something that will soften or remove the glue without harming the photo, but I really do not like to experiment with important or irreplaceable photos. Album pages cab be reproduced as a whole or one can just do a single photo at a time, to me much better than trying to take it apart. 

As for removing photos from a frame, the same thing applies, reproduce before you try anything. [Again, refer back to the techniques he describes in the post above to take a picture of a picture.] Here you really need to know what you are looking at. The usual problem is that the photo was not framed correctly and it is in contact with the glass. Moisture has gotten in and caused the photo to stick to the glass. If it has been in there for a very long time it can be quite difficult to get it apart without doing damage to the photo. If it is a black and white photo, remove the frame and try soaking the glass and photo in a tray of room temperature water. This may take several hours and one has to be very careful when trying to peel them apart, but it sometimes works. 

Most importantly, if you are at all unsure about the original or the process, don't do it. Take it to an expert and get some advice one on one.  

Be forewarned, if the photo looks like it has been retouched or colored, do not try this as the water may very well remove the coloring. I have had people tell me that they have done this with color prints, however, I do not like to do so. 

[How do you know if its been "colored"? Take a look at the examples below for an idea. Although this example is a "full" colored image, not all images were done this way. At times, it was much more pastel, or only part of the image.] 

Original image, non-colored.
William W. Brown and sister, Bessie, 
Colfax County, Neb.
Private holdings of author.

Same portrait session as above,
but with coloring added.
William W. Brown, Colfax County, Neb.
Private holdings of author. 

There is a special situation that I should mention. I have had customers who had house fires and when the fire department got done putting out the fire, every photo hanging on the walls was soaked and starting to get stuck to the glass in the frames. The cure for something that has just gotten wet is not let it dry out. As soon as possible, submerge the entire thing in water (ever see a bathtub full of framed photos?), carefully separate the photo from the glass while its wet, then let the photos dry. The damage to the house was extensive, but the house was rebuilt, and when all was said and done, the same photos, in new frames, hung proudly on the walls." 

 This brings me to a couple of questions for all of you; the readers.

• Have you found a product that works to remove photos from albums? I would especially like to find something that works on construction paper type surfaces, as I have a lot of those. 
• Have you done this? Does anybody have a story of submerging a framed photo to separate it from the glass? Success or failure, I would love to hear about it. Leave a comment, or put the story in your own blog, and send me the link. So far, I've been to chicken to try. 

Always willing to take questions and input on the issue at hand, please leave a comment for myself or Mr. Brown below. Between the two of us, we'll try to get to it as soon as we can. 

With over 50 years of photographic experience, Mike Brown is now semi-retired from the everyday hustle and bustle of owning a photographic studio. He now splits his time between consulting, teaching and mentoring in the photographic world and trying to keep up with a whole herd of grandchildren (another of which was just born!)

Photography: Questioning the Scanner

Photography. All genealogists use photography in some way or another. We preserve old photos and documents, we pursue images from around the world of headstones and cemeteries, we transcribe using digital imaging techniques. As we progress more and more into the world of technology and digital media, our photography skills must advance with us.

Breckenridge, Colorado
Image Copyright Jen Baldwin,
Ancestral Journeys, 2012

I am not a photographer. I have always been curious about the art, and have enjoyed the hobby as a creative outlet. However, the technical aspects behind a camera often elude me. My advantage is a personal connection with a semi-retired photographer, Mr. Mike Brown. So, I asked him a few questions that had been on my mind for a while.

One of his favorite things to tell me is how much better it is to take a picture of something versus scanning it. What?  My scanner is one of my best friends. Everything gets scanned! So, that was one of my first questions: why take a picture of something when I can scan it?  Although his answer is long, its worth reading through to the end:

"If one is serious about reproducing photographs, I am convinced that the only way to do so is to copy them using a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR). You also need a couple of lights and some filters and a bit of knowledge. Your camera should have a lens that incorporates a "micro" mode and will accept a polarizing filter. You will also need a set of polarizing filters for your lights (two lights are recommended). A tripod rounds out the equipment list. Now this sounds like a lot of gear, but hang on, it's really not that bad. Of course the camera can be used for other things from family reunions to documenting grave stones, so it is not just a single purpose item. The polarizing filter for the camera ($30.00 or so, depending on the size needed and where you get it) is also a great thing to have when shooting a great scenic photo as it helps get those deep blue skies. For lights, get thee to the local farm store and pick up a pair of "chicken brooder" lamps, maybe $10.00 each. Put a 100W, Daylight balanced CFC bulb in each one. You will need a sheet of Polarizing film that is big enough to cover both of your lamps. Theater supply or larger camera stores carry this for about $50.00 or so a sheet (the sheet is 17 x 20 inches; one sheet would make a filter for both lights).

A tripod is a very handy item for photographers and they come in an extremely wide range of sizes and prices. For this you do not need a very big or too expensive one. In fact, a good way to use a small tripod while copying photographs is to lay the tripod flat on a table so at the camera looks down at the floor, place something heavy on the tripod so it does not fall from the table, lay the photographs on the floor, clamp the lights to a couple of chair backs, turn off the other lights in the room and you are in business! 

Once you have all of this, you can easily reproduce just about any photograph or document that you want. Originals that are too big too fit on a scanner are not a problem, just back up till they fit. Have one of the old oval convex portraits where the middle of the picture is several inches higher than the edges? Have a photo that is stuck to the glass and you are getting too much glare? Maybe a painting with glare from some of the brush strokes? Want to lighten up the image on that old tintype that is almost too dark to see? All of these problems can be easily solved with the equipment described above. The technique is called "Double Polarized lighting."

But the biggest use of this type of lighting is when you are faced with trying to reproduce an old photo that displays "Silvering". Silvering is usually visible in the darker areas of the image as a result of the halides breaking down and the metallic silver becoming visible. By simply turning the filter on the camera one can just dial out the unwanted reflections and capture the image!  

These are copies of the same silvered photograph, one taken with the Double Polarized Lighting method, the other scanned with a typical flatbed scanner. Neither has had any other work done to them except for resizing."  

With Scanner

With Camera

"And of course, if you really want to go first class, some of the more affordable cameras come with the ability to connect directly to your computer so you get to see the images as you take them. Doing so allows one to easily quality check each image as you work your way through the stack. 

I realize that not everyone may be all that interested in this kind of do it yourself photography and may want to send this out to someone else. If that is you, then I would suggest contacting photo studios in your area and asking them if they can do copy work employing the "Double Polarized Lighting Technique." If they say no or do not seem to know what the term means, go somewhere else!"

I'll have more from my conversation on photography within the realm of genealogy in future posts. Feel free to leave comments or questions for Mr. Brown, or myself, and I can include those, with his responses.



With over 50 years of photographic experience, Mike Brown is now semi-retired from the everyday hustle and bustle of owning a photographic studio. He now splits his time between consulting, teaching and mentoring in the photographic world and trying to keep up with a whole herd of grandchildren!

The Diary

Last year I was entrusted with a family collection of photos, letters, documents... even one reproduction Civil War medal. You know how this works. You get a huge box of unidentified memorabilia, some of which is garbage, some of which you already have (somewhere) and some of which are pure gold. As in, "this should really be in a museum but I'm probably going to keep it for a while anyway" gold.

The Diary is one of those pieces of gold.

The "Carlyle Collection" as I have named it all came to me from my great grandfather's sister's family. Carrie Brown, daughter of Oscar and Frankie (previously mentioned in several other posts) married Adam Carlyle, and Carrie was good at saving things. So were her daughters. I have certainly gained the honor of becoming the family curator, and eventually the collection ended up in my lap. A title I will gladly carry through to the end. The collection had been organized, to my great delight, to a certain degree by a member of the Carlyle family more recently. He even labelled some of those unknowns for me, which is nearly unheard of.

But no one told me about The Diary.

I had spent days documenting, digitizing and doing my best to filter through the collection. It came contained in seven binders and several other collection devices: boxes, plastic bags, loose pieces. The process had been long and tedious - and I still had to go through and translate all those letters, find where all those pieces belonged. I was really just beginning, but the cataloging was dragging on and on, until I was just done. Done.

Then I found The Diary.

In a very plain looking brown bag. On the front was written, "Diary of Carrie E. Reid 1895 Given to Lizzie Christie (1),  Jean Mouat (2), Helen DeVries (3)." In the top left corner a address label was placed for William DeVries of Bellingham, Wash. (Can you say 1940 US Census?) The back of the bag had a printed label for "PayLess: We're Your Mall in One... We've Got It All Together." Obviously, a modern addition to The Diary. The handwriting on front I recognized from some of the photos I had seen in days previous. Even the pen used was the same. One of the names, Helen DeVries, was familiar, but other than that, I had nothing.

Carrie E. Reid wrote The Diary.

Inside the bag was a dictation notebook, similar to the commonly used white and black notebooks seen across colleges everywhere. The front cover, brown with black and gold embossed lettering, reads "Cyclopedia Book, Exercise and Dictation". The back and inside covers are littered with helpful information, such as "How To Tell the Age of Any Person", in chart form, the "Strength of Ice" and "Origin of the Dollar". Held together with a piece of blue tape along the spine, obviously an attempt made several decades ago. The first page entry is dated Tuesday, Jan 1, 1895, by C.E. Reid, "Diary".

               "This being the 22nd Anniversary of Mother's and Father's wedding we 

                  wished to have some enjoyment so we decided on having a little party."

I was immediately obsessed.

Inside were a few items, other than the script of Carrie Reid. She appears to be writing from somewhere in Canada, so a program from the Grand Opera House in Ottawa (Canada), for Tuesday, February 18th, highlighting Madame Albani in performance, made sense. A color print, on thin paper, slightly torn in the corners, of "The Doctor", published by J.A. Austen & Co., Chicago. A small scrap of paper, written in pencil, "July 4th, 1896, Saturday night..." along with a very fragile sample of hand crocheted lace, folded several times over. The last entry is from Jan. 1st, 1896, "Leap Year".

I hope to find out who Carrie E. Reid was, and where her family ended up. How is she related to me? How did this diary, this very precious item, end up in my hands? The trust my family places in me... wow.

Some of the entries are long, involved stories. Some are very simple, one sentence, maybe two. The transcription will hopefully be completed this year, and the storage of this item for preservation carefully considered. It is a treasure, a family heirloom, yes. But more than that, it is a historic artifact. One for the museum, perhaps.

The Diary.