Words from a Reader

The “Writing Life Stories” e-mails I receive are such treasures. As soon as I see there is one in my inbox, I read it immediately. I look forward to them and never know how they will touch me. They can be interesting, informative, humorous, and/or touching.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Where are Your Precious Photos Stored?

How do you preserve your family history? Does your family history consist of, not only stories about your family, but photographs, documents, letters, and other keepsakes?
For years I kept photographs in those albums with the sticky plastic that held them in place. But I learned in my genealogy society in Albany, Ga how to take care of precious pictures. Acid-Free! Those are important words. Keep your valuable documents, old letters and other historical pieces of your family history, in archival quality boxes, folders and holders.


I have a box of old letters written by my father to my mother when they were sweethearts and just after they were married when my father had to leave her for a while to find work. The brittle pages of the letters had to be handled with care.



Almost all of these letters I've copied on acid free paper, but I still store those originals in archival boxes. These letters are about 90 years old. And the paper quality was poor to begin with. I feel so fortunate to have those letters written in my father's hand and to read those words of a young man who was desperately in love with the girl who was to be my mother.
Don't procrastinate. Store those important papers now to use in your future book or just to save for future generations.
Do you have any tips for our readers on how you save and protect important keepsakes and photos?


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