Hi there! I'm Lisa Lisson, and I'm passionate about helping people like you discover their ancestors and expand their family tree without feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about the next steps.
Your unlabeled family photos aren't a dead end
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Hi, Reader, If you've been doing genealogy research for more than five minutes, you probably have them. A box. A folder. A stack of photographs with faces and zero names. They arrived from an aunt who was cleaning out a closet, or a cousin who "heard you do genealogy," or in my case — literally in the back of a car at Thanksgiving. They're sitting somewhere right now, and every time you look at them, you think: I should do something about these. Here's the thing — you can. And it doesn't require a lucky break or a distant cousin with a perfect memory. It requires a method. I just updated my most-read post on this exact topic: How to Identify Mystery Faces in Old Family Photographs Four methods, in the order you should actually use them — starting with provenance (how the photo got to you in the first place) before you ever open an app. The post has everything you need to start making real progress on that box. >>>> Read: How to Identify Mystery Faces in Old Family Photographs <<<< And if you want to go deeper — my Cracking the Family Photo Code webinar covers the full research process for $37. It's exactly what I'd hand someone who wants to work through their photo collection systematically. Talk soon, Lisa P.S. A quick personal note: This August I’ll be walking the Susan G. Komen 3-Day in Boston — 60 miles over three days — in memory of my mom. I don’t often share personal things here, but this one is close to my heart. If you'd like to learn more or support the fundraiser, here’s the link: http://www.the3day.org/goto/lisalisson . |
Are You My Cousin? Newsletter
Hi there! I'm Lisa Lisson, and I'm passionate about helping people like you discover their ancestors and expand their family tree without feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about the next steps.
Hi, Reader, With Labor Day coming up, I’ve been thinking about work, specifically, the work our ancestors did. When I look at my own family tree, I see a lot of farmers. Farmer. Farmer. Farmer. Not particularly exciting at first glance. 🙂 But an ancestor’s occupation can tell us much more than simply how they earned a living. Their work could influence where they lived, why they moved, who they interacted with and even the types of records they left behind. And sometimes, understanding why an...
Hi, Reader, Apparently August still triggers the part of my brain that thinks I need new school supplies. I haven’t actually gone back to school in quite a few years, but give me a good pen, a fresh legal pad and an excuse to wander through the office-supply aisle, and I’m happy. So after last week’s look at school records, I thought we’d continue the back-to-school theme with a different question: What are the “school supplies” I actually use as a genealogist? I’m fairly minimalist when it...
Hi, Reader, Where I live, “back to school” is a little complicated. We have traditional-calendar schools, year-round schools, modified year-round schools…basically, somebody is always going back to school. But August still feels like back-to-school season. And for genealogists, it’s a good reminder to ask a question we often overlook: What records did our ancestors leave behind when they went to school? School records can be surprisingly useful especially when you’re trying to place a family...