{"id":11012,"date":"2015-07-09T12:08:57","date_gmt":"2015-07-09T16:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=11012"},"modified":"2021-04-21T11:22:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T15:22:55","slug":"how-to-find-old-family-photos-more-in-newspapers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/how-to-find-old-family-photos-more-in-newspapers.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Find Old Family Photos & More in Newspapers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena\u00a0Philibert-Ortega shares some of her favorite old photos that she\u2019s found in historical newspapers.\u00a0If you want to know how to find old photos, try learning from Gena\u2019s unique experiences and tactics. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt I love to read and research old newspapers. The diverse news stories you can find are always amazing. But newspapers also provide a visual feast of images. Let\u2019s face it, images tell a story much more powerfully than words alone. Images provide us with additional information as we research our ancestor, their place, and time.<\/p>\n

Often when we research an ancestor we are focused on finding information about that single person and perhaps their family. In some cases you might find your ancestor\u2019s photo in the newspaper \u2013 it\u2019s helpful to know how to find old family photos that offer more insight into their lives. Here are some of my favorite examples of old photos I found while browsing in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Old Family Reunion Photos<\/strong><\/p>\n

Newspapers are a great resource for finding family stories. Newspaper articles provide information about a person\u2019s life from cradle to grave \u2013 and all the activities in between. One way they report on family stories is through articles about family reunions \u2013 and these articles can have photos that are very helpful to family historians.<\/p>\n

Family reunion photos may be of everyone at the gathering or just a few members, such as this reunion photo of two of the older members in attendance at the Chenault-Chennault clan\u2019s 1952 reunion that drew over 255 relatives from seven states to Dallas, Texas. One of the issues discussed at the reunion? Whether their surname should be spelled Chenault or Chennault.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 1 September 1952, section III, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s great to have this old family photo and the accompanying information about those relatives pictured. Mrs. Blanche Chenault Junkin was a retired teacher and stated she had \u201cwon three college degrees after she was sixty years old.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes a \u201cfamily reunion\u201d isn\u2019t a large gathering of descendants, but instead a celebration of a singular family event \u2013 such as this photo taken on the occasion of Mrs. Nancy J. Atkinson\u2019s 91st birthday in 1922, when her eight children came to pay her a visit and help celebrate.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Colorado Springs Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado), 10 September 1922, page 20<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Multi-Generation Family Photos<\/strong><\/p>\n

How many generations of your family could you have pose for a family photo? Unfortunately, in my current family we max out at three \u2013 but for other families, four to six generations can be found in one photograph. Newspapers are a great place to find these types of multi-generation family photos.<\/p>\n

This five-generation family photo is of Mrs. Eliza Heminger, her son George Heminger, Mrs. Lillian Hall, Mrs. Ethel Campany and Ethel\u2019s baby daughter Leafy.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Grand Rapids Press (Grand Rapids, Michigan), 12 January 1907, page 11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Multi-generation family photos are just one of the general interest-type stories and images that one can find in old newspapers.<\/p>\n

Natural Disaster Photos<\/strong><\/p>\n

Telling your ancestor\u2019s story is more than just finding vital statistics about him or her. Filling in the details about their life is equally important \u2013 as well as finding out what was going on in the times they lived in \u2013 and for those stories, you need newspaper articles of the day. You can find all types of photos from historical events in the newspaper \u2013 and often if the event was big enough, those photos were not limited to just the hometown newspapers.<\/p>\n

For example, photographs of this 1915 Italian earthquake were published in a Northern California newspaper. Most likely this was the 13 January 1915 Avezzano earthquake that killed 30,000 people. Photos of the devastation, printed weeks and months after the event, were the only way that distant family, friends, and concerned parties could size up the destruction.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, California), 6 February 1915, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

California is no stranger to earthquakes. One of the most famous is the 1906 San Francisco earthquake<\/a>, which not only caused destruction from the shaking but the subsequent fires. Three days after the earthquake of 1906 struck, 500 city blocks\u2014over 25,000 buildings\u2014had been smashed or burned; the earthquake and fire combined to destroy over 80 percent of the city. So many old news articles and images can be found for this earthquake that it\u2019s quite easy to put together information about how a family was affected during and after the disaster.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Register Star (Rockford, Illinois), 18 April 2005, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Genealogy Tip:<\/em><\/strong> As you put together a timeline of your ancestor\u2019s life, make sure to note any events, including disasters, which may have impacted them. Once you have identified dates for those events, search the newspaper for accompanying photos and stories.<\/p>\n

School Group Photos<\/strong><\/p>\n

One thing I love about newspapers is the ability to find all family members, not just adults. Children, teens, and young adults are well represented in the newspaper, especially when it comes to school activities. Numerous school group photos can be found in newspapers. While we may think of class photos, graduation announcements, or sports highlights, other types of school happenings are also well documented in old newspapers, like this 1939 photo from Brownsville, Texas, of the new student leaders at the high school and junior college.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Heraldo de Brownsville (Brownsville, Texas), 6 October 1939, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unlike the photo above that includes everyone\u2019s name, this next photo has only one student name: Miss Borghild Asleson. However, this old school photo provides some important social history regarding attending college during the Great Depression. This class photo of students at Park Region Lutheran College in Minnesota shows them paying their tuition with wheat grown on their family farm. You can imagine how important that payment option was to families during those hard economic times.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
National Labor Tribune (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 24 September 1931, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it comes to uncovering old newspaper photos GenealogyBank has proven to a great resource. The examples of historical photos shown in this blog article are just the tip of the iceberg. Newspaper photos provide an important element in telling your family story, whether you are searching for the people photographed, an event, or a place. Old newspapers can help you tell that story with this rich resource.<\/p>\n

If you are looking to find old family photos, begin your search at GeneologyBank today. Our helpful records will take you one step closer to getting a clearer picture of your family history with you stories, photos, names and dates of your ancestors. Learn more about your ancestry today with our historical newspaper archives.<\/p>\n

Related Family Photos Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n