Tag Archives: Family History

Charles Gerber, second from right.

The Story of Charles Gerber—a Life in Photos and Documents

A few years ago after my grandmother passed away my father and I found a box of photographs and documents in a closet. At the top were photos we recognized: family trips, cousins, weddings and births, but as we sifted through the box we went further back in time until finally reaching the turn on the twentieth century.

At the bottom of the box were photos of her father—my great-grandfather—during World War I, his Army discharge papers, and paperwork for things like apartment leases and life insurance. As we assembled the pieces a portrait of a man began to emerge. Continue reading

GC1964-1

Digitizing History—Grandpa’s Travels

Growing up I remember sitting in my grandparents living room as my grandfather narrated a slide show of my grandmother and his latest travels. They spent over 50 years together wandering around the world and my grandfather never missed a chance to take a photo (or 50). Lately I’ve been going through his old slide collection and digitizing a large portion so that he can provide captions and stories to accompany the photos. Continue reading