Where have your ancestral family photos ended up? With a relative, friend, several states away in a historical society, or in a box somewhere that was thankfully saved?
From today’s Pioneer Press:
“When a plastic Rubbermaid garbage can and a cardboard box full of unidentified black-and-white photos were dropped off at the Barnes County Historical Society in Valley City, N.D., last month, curator Wes Anderson started looking for clues.
He quickly realized many of the shots had a connection to Forest Lake, Minn.”
Wes Anderson did some digging and determined where to send the photos.
“Anderson tracked down Brent Peterson, executive director of the Washington County Historical Society in Stillwater. “They all looked to be of the same era,” Anderson said. “There were definitely a lot more trees there than here. Just by deductive reasoning and sheer stubbornness or accident, I got them to where they belonged.”
Anderson found the right person to send them to. Brent Peterson is a great guy, a champion of history and genealogy for his county, and one person who knows these are valuable to descendants.
Read more about the work to identify these photos and the fascinating chain of possession of them at TwinCities.com
© 2018, Paula Stuart-Warren. All rights reserved.
