Memorial Day Reflections . . . always!

I posted this blog several years ago and feel that is still relevant today, as Memorial Day should be every year. Thank you for your family's service and may God Bless America and all her brave men & women you gave their time and souls to keeping America safe.

Every family has one if not more members of the family who have perished in a war. As Memorial Day is to honor those who lost their life fighting for the freedom we cherish, today’s blog makes this contribution. Here are some facts and information that I am sure you already know but is always good to reminder.   

With the aid of the Internet, you will find a multitude of websites that give detailed information on all the United states Military wars fought, won and lost, offering numbers of when, where and how our brave men and women lost their lives.   

Most of these sites will tell you that Memorial Day started as an event to honor Union soldiers who had died during the American Civil War. It was inspired by the way people in the Southern states honored their dead. After World War I, it was extended to include all men and women, who died in any war or military action.

To brush up on your knowledge of the American Civil War, visit the Library of Congress Civil War collection, which includes more than a thousand photographs. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/cwp/

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. The current name for this day did not come into use until after World War II. Decoration Day and then Memorial Day used to be held on May 30, regardless of the day of the week, on which it fell. In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed as part of a move to use federal holidays to create three-day weekends. This meant that Memorial Day holiday has been officially observed on the last Monday in May. However, it took a longer period for all American states to recognize the new date.

Know the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran's Day? Click on

www.almanac.com/content/when-veterans-day page.

The Remembrance poppy has been used since 1920 to commemorate soldiers who have died in war. Inspired by the World War I poem, "In Flanders Fields", they were first used by the American Legion to commemorate American soldiers who died in that war (1914–1918). They were then adopted by military veterans' groups in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Small artificial poppies are often worn on clothing for a few weeks until Remembrance Day/Armistice Day (11 November). Poppy wreaths are also often laid at war memorials.

As you create, add to, or make changes to Your Family Museum, make sure you give special attention to those in your family who were in the Military; even those who are currently serving our country. In our family museum, pictures, uniform pieces and souvenirs from Keith’s Naval Reserve Duty are showcased with much pride and respect.  When a visitor comes to our home and is taken to see our museum, I can see the pride in Keith’s eyes has he shares his memories with the guest. In turn, they usually have some memory of theirs to contribute, creating fascinating conversations.

In Our Grandparents Museum there are two albums filled with photos from my side of the family: Uncle Mike & my dad.

Uncle Mike’s military service was in the Army during WW I driving a medic truck in the  fields of France. 

There must have been a time when he visited the city of Paris, because he sent this  post card home.

Among my Uncle's things was this pencil sketch of a battle scene. There is no writing on the back to tell the story behind it. He also had this French sword. Over the years there had been many different stories about it, but the one that rings most true then the others in that since he drove the Medic truck onto the fields to retrieve the dead and wounded soldiers, he apparently found this sword and kept it.

My father, Bill’s military service in the Navy during WW II was as a Aviation Machinist stationed on the Air Craft Carrier Enterprise. When going through his papers, I found a captivating account he wrote about how he survived the Japanese air attack, taking refuge in the lowest deck on the Enterprise. 

From Keith’s side is a photo of his father’s younger brother, Edward B. Goesel, a 20- year old Airman, killed on June 18^th 1944, when his B-17 Flying Fortress was shot down over Hamburg, Germany. Missing in action, his remains never were returned home.

 

As we reflect on this Memorial Day, let us all keep in our hearts the memories we have of our family members, friends and acquaintances that have served and continue to serve our country today.  God Bless them, one and All.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be your own curator: Part Two

"If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost.

Honor your own stories and tell them, too.

The tales may not seem very important,

but they are what binds families and

makes each of us who we are."

                                   Madeleine L'Engle, American Writer

 

Your archives may not have been excavated from sites in Egypt, but rather from the basement, garage, closet, shed or storage unit. These are no less places of wonder in their own right. A museum makes no excuses for saving things. Now we can be our own museum curator, selecting a place/places in our homes, even places of business, where we maintain an orderly, welcoming, and beautiful space filled with a treasure trove of heirlooms, artifacts and achievements for all to enjoy today, tomorrow and generations from now.  
 

3. Art Collections: thought provoking memories    
    * Set aside time to go through your
       family’s art works
    * Assess the wall and counter space in
       your museum area
    * Photograph digitally or create a special
       album to display and record the
       art objects rendered to storage, or if you
       choose, to give away or sell
    * Find another home for a treasure you love. Offer it to a relative
       or friend.

4. When the artwork is that of a child’s, be circumspect:
  * Save the best and put the others in a
     labeled folder to file.
  * Create an online photo album or notebook
     album with clear pocket sleeves to display,
     protect & save artwork.
  * If the child's precious artwork is not on
     display in the museum, ensure them that
   their art is kept safe in the archives.

    

5. Photos and photo albums: a daunting task
    * Sort through, keeping the best shots, dispose
       ruined or duplicate photos
    * Replace albums if they are in poor condition
    * Create new ones with
       archival materials
    * Copy and save digitally. The satisfaction
       you receive from preserving.    
       those moments in time will be
       exhilarating. 
   * Frame and place pertinent photos in the museum to enhance the history of the displayed object.

6. Oral history: Stories, conversations, music, Living History   

* voices on cassette tapes

* images and voices on film

* keep a solid format

   backup for oral

   histories for all to

   read.

You never know in this world of ever changing formats what might come in handy. Archivists are strong believers in 'better safe than sorry.'

7. The written Word:
   The need for transcription of letters, diaries,

    manuscripts, documents:

* written longhand or on early typewriters, 
   sometimes they are hard to read. There's a wealth
   of wonderful stories that should be saved & shared,
   and if you do not personally pour over these 
   documents and transcribe/or translate what you can,
 or you will never see their words again.

8. Archives represent your heritage, culture & diversity:
   In an archive, one can re-live the past and see it in a
   new light. Archives are also places where your
   history is ripe for rediscovery. Wake up to your
   history. It will transform your family's life.   

If you have any questions concerning the topics covered here, please comment. I will answer them the best I can. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the Memories - Photograph Albums

 Creating photo collections takes time, so do it in stages. As you go through the photos, ask yourself these questions: Do I recognize the person? Do I find the photo of the subject(s) flattering? Do I like the person? Do I have fond memories of the event? Do I  have more than one copy of this photo? Have a family member or friend assist you. It can actually be fun as you reminisce about old times, cry a little bit over lost friends or family members, and look back at the places you lived and visited, etc. And cackle all you can when you deep-six some images of yourself that you would rather not bestow on posterity.  

As you create your photographic album, try not to eliminate the accidental, the blurred the botched, faded and crumpled photographs. These images document ordinary life and are windows to the past.

As we are now in the age of the download and the hard drive, the photography book is currently thriving as a medium, making the old-fashioned photo album a thing of the past. Yet, many people still desire a physical object that can be held, paged through again and again, and shown to others. Today, the photo album has given way to the self-published photo book, an online publishing phenomenon that means you or I can create our own album using preordained templates and printed from digital files.

 

The thing about digital is it allows us to take many photos cheaply and then view them on a PC or TV, making it possible to have a whole family archive on a single flash drive. But what happens to stored images when computer systems change? A picture is always a picture, a digital image is

just so many 0's and 1's. So what happens in years to come if computers can't "read" today's

binary notation? You make digital back-ups of old photo albums to preserve them for future generations. Too often photo albums are lost, damaged, or dispersed. With digital media, a person's many descendants can all  have a copy of old photographs.    

Still, the photo album survives. They have an integrity that digital storage cannot capture.

Goesel Family Albums

The process of creating an old-fashioned, hand-crafted albums is an abiding desire to tell a story with photographs which will keep album-making alive. When you hold a photo album, you sense that you are in possession of something unique, intimate, and meant to be saved for a long time. As you turn the pages and look at the images, you take in the maker's experience, invoking your imagination and prompting personal memories.

So as you find packets of photos in drawers and boxes throughout your home, spend a few minutes recalling the moment. Then preserve them. And for those digital images, once they are edited, don’t forget to look at them.

 

Here are a few pages of photographs from my family's albums. 

 

Charlie at Walt Disney World, FL

Tiffeni & friends by the pool

 

Lizzie's long-ago pictures

In a future post, I will offer

suggestions & products for

archival storage.

 

Keith's Navy Days

  

 

Next Week’s Posts: Antiques