What I Found in a Photo

While enrolled in a basic genealogy online course through Boston University I discovered that you can tell a great deal about the lives of people from looking at old photos and analyzing the objects around them.  Nothing is meaningless. To test my research skills I decided to work with a favorite photograph of my maternal … Continue reading What I Found in a Photo

The Battle Standard of Treason

It now stands on the west side of the Chesapeake Expressway just before the toll plaza heading south towards the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It will be seen by countless thousands of vacationers driving to the beach for their summer vacation along the Atlantic Coast.  A vast majority of those vehicles will have license plates from northern … Continue reading The Battle Standard of Treason

“Money Cake”- Tales from 4th Street

As a child in Brooklyn, the first notable event in my family that came after the Christmas and New Year's Holiday was my maternal grandmother's (and her twin brother's) birthday. This year will mark the 111th anniversary of their birth on 23 January 1906. At a family reunion back in October, my mother and her … Continue reading “Money Cake”- Tales from 4th Street

The Perils of Disproving Family Legends

I am knee-deep in genealogy paperwork this weekend.  A package from the National Archives containing the military records of my great-grandfather, Sidney J. Kelly, Sr. spilled over 100 photocopied pages across my table that probably have not been disturbed since the 1920's at a time when his widow was seeking assistance with pensions and death … Continue reading The Perils of Disproving Family Legends