I had intended for a long time to 'do something' with the family photos my mother turned over to me years ago - about 150 years worth, 5 generations. But, other than putting them in albums, nothing inspired me to work on this project. However, the need to create a Web site for my Web Design class at Capella University gave me the inspiration and motivation I needed to at least get started. I completed the class at the end of June, 2003 and received an A.

My guilty conscious helped, too: after my sister's death in 2001, it occurred to me that I am the last one left of this line who actually knew some of these people or had heard stories about them. At my age, it's time to stop procrastinating, since it will probably take a very long time to put together a fairly complete history.

If you're primarily interested in costuming or the historical side, don't miss the 'more photos' link in each subsite. You'll find some wonderful photos of family members and friends that were selected primarily because they are rich resources and fun to look at!

Speaking of history... it won't be complete. For one thing, my mother was a first-generation American. Her people came from the Ukraine and Poland. About 20 years ago, another branch of the family put together what information they had and produced a family tree. While it's better than nothing, the information is far from complete. I did try checking the Ellis Island information and couldn't find any of them! I'll try again one of these days using some of the name variations I'm now aware of.

On my father's side, there is (or was) a family tree and a family bible. Unfortunately, when my father's brother died, his deceased wife's family took boxes of keepsakes, photos, lots of family history. I was quite young and, looking back, do not understand why my mother and others didn't fight to get some of that back. Oh, well... what's done is done!

My father's people came to America in the 1700s, but have very little information on that side of the family. Doing the research is near the top of my 'to-do' list. What little information I have come up with is included in the site.

A resource for costumers and historians
I hope that this site will have some appeal to others like myself who just enjoy looking at old photos. I've used several of them as resources in costume design and would be delighted if other costume designers found them a useful resource as well. Be sure to check the 'more photos' link on each subsite.

If you'd like to use any of the photos, please contact me. I'd like credit, of course, but also can provide larger versions that may show more detail. Use the Contact link in the navigation bar at the bottom of any page.

NOTE, November 2004: I created this site before I took Capella's Photoshop class, and learned to use all of the wonderful tools for 'rescuing' old photos. I will be reprocessing most of the images, as time permits. Eventually, you should see a huge improvement, now that I actually what I'm doing!

Information, please
And I'd love to hear from you with comments, if you have them, regarding your experience on these pages or any information you might have about any of the names you find on these page.

Enjoy!
Sunny

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