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Introduction: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega gives tips to make sure your descendants have, understand, and appreciate your family photos. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.”

One of the genealogical tasks I’ve been working on is scanning family photos. As I gather photos to scan, I’m finding that I have ancestral photos I didn’t remember I had and that I need to share with family.

But there’s another thing I’m finding as I scan my inherited collections. Most, if not nearly all, of the photos are not labeled. No names, places, or dates. Nothing. Now in some cases this isn’t a problem because I can identify the people in the photo, but unfortunately there are many I can’t.

This problem is also making me consider the photos that I have taken of my family. I haven’t labeled many of those either because, after all, I know who the people are in those photos (kids, parents, siblings, etc.). That’s the same thought those people staring back at me from 1950 were thinking. They too didn’t plan for the day that they would no longer be around to identify who is in the photos.

Photo credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html

The Garbage Can Is a Photo Repository

Let’s face it: many of our family photos will end up in the trash. Why? Our descendants will inherit hundreds if not thousands of photos, and when they do they will have to make decisions about what they want to keep. Now in some cases, photos that will be thrown away make sense. No one wants your photos of the animals you saw at the zoo in 1976. Or for that matter the 25 photos my dad accidentally took of Shamu jumping at Sea World. Photos of your memories from trips and events will be the first to go. Especially when they don’t include people. That makes sense.

But what about photos of family and friends? Are those friends identified on the back of the photo? Is the event or occasion listed on the photo? Without some context, your photos are destined for the trash can. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s the truth in a world where kids don’t want to inherit a bunch of stuff. Especially stuff that will mean work for them.

I faced that with photos inherited from my mother-in-law. Some are pictures of her and friends at a get-together. No one is identified and we don’t know anyone in the photos (except my mother-in-law). Keeping one of those photos makes sense but not the 10 that we inherited. It’s too bad, but those photo have no meaning for us.

Photo credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html

Preserve Your Photos for the Future

How do you ensure that your photo collections (both those you’ve inherited and ones you have taken) are cherished by the generations to come? Well, there’s nothing that is foolproof, but some things to consider include:

• Labeling photographs with names, location, and dates (when known). Even adding some details about their importance. Make sure to use photo-safe pencils or markers and not ballpoint pens which can indent the photos.

• Stay away from labels like “grandma” or “brother” since the person looking at them has no idea whose grandma or brother the person was. The photo I inherited that labels one of two women as “Grandma Chatham” could possibly be at least two women, and besides – not knowing which Grandma Chatham it is – I also don’t know which of the two women were Grandma Chatham.

• Organize your photo collections. Whether you use archival safe albums or boxes, use something. Make it easier for others to find and enjoy those photos.

• Carefully remove photos in “magnetic” albums (albums with self-adhesive pages). These can cause long-term damage.

• Scan and share your collections. This makes it easier to share with family members and post onto online trees. The more copies of that photo that survive, the more chances that it will survive generations to come.

• Spend some time with your family going over the photos and telling stories about them. People are more likely to keep and find value in things that they know the story behind.

Decades ago, I was visiting with someone who inherited a collection of non-labeled family photos. She told me that she was going to throw them away. I was horrified. How could she do that? Now this was a woman involved in scrapbooking and genealogy. She knew the value of family photos. However, she had no one to ask about the photos and they would never be identified. So, they lost their value for her.

Today we are closer to technology to help identify the unidentified, but it’s best to make things easier for our families and not harder. Though it still upsets me that that woman threw her family photos away, I understand. Don’t let that happen to you. Take some time now to identify, scan, and preserve your photos.

This would be a great project for the upcoming new year. Speaking of which: Happy New Year to you!

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Note on the header image: family photos and records. Credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html