The pictures tell the story
Morrisville and Preston Progress, Thursday, Dec. 18,1997 - 9
Guest speaker at geneology group’s meeting stresses importance of keeping family photos
By David Leone
Staff Writer
Everyone knows that a picture is
worth a thousand words.
What many do not know is that the
paper the picture is printed on can be
worth just as much.
That was the topic of the area’s
genealogy group meeting held
recently at the Eva Perry Regional
Library.
“It didn’t use to be scholarly to use
photos in history writing.” says Dick
Lankford, Assistant State Archivist
from the Division of Archives and
History. “Photography is just as
much a record as a paper collection.
It’s just a different format.”
As the speaker for the group’s
November meeting, Lankford talked
about the importance of preserving
photographs with a personal, cultur
al and historical significance and he
described how the photos often have
more to meet the eye.
“We look at old photographs and
see what we can glean from them,”
Lankford says.
Take a century-old photo of a
horse and buggy in downtown
Raleigh.
The driver’s shoes and clothing
can dictate area fashion, street
facades show area architec-
ture, all helping to
nail down '
the date and i
place the pic
taken. \ •tm
For the
genealogy grou]
members, this
could mean finally putting a name to
the face in a box of old photos, find
ing an ancestor in the family line.
“How to deal with background
details is a topic we’ve discussed
before,” genealogy group member
Scott Lee says.
The group meets monthly and is
open to anyone interested in their
heritage.
“People come to get answers to
Photo by David Leone
Genealogy group members John Baron (right) and Scott Lee take a look at one of the old photographs
encased in glass and a frame during Dick Lankford’s presentation. Lankford explained to the family his
tory buffs how photos can be dated by their composition and sometimes even by the type of frame they
are encased in.
a person finds in his collection can
narrow down the date the photo was
taken to that time period.
The same plate or paper dat-
ing process can be used
questions,” Lee says.
In the process of researching one’s
incestral heritage, the other group
nembers can help with some of
chose answers.
On special occasions, speakers
like Dick Lankford can provide
insight.
Lankford described how look
ing at the paper or plate they were
printed on could date the pictures.
For instance, the
Daguerreotype and the
Calotype were the first pho
tographs invented in 1839.
Daguerrotype photos use no nega
tive - instead are exposed onto a sil
ver emulsion copper plate covered
in glass. The photographs are
exquisitely detailed.
Since Daguerreotypes were phased
out in the 1860s, any Daguerrotype
!>„ for all pictures
taken since
& / then, Lankford
^ ' says.
He added that
■ even the housing
/ or frame the photo
® . encased in can
reveal some of its his-
The cartes-de-visite
photos of the mid-to-late 1800s were
paper images mounted onto 2 14 by
4 or 6 14 by 4 14 inch cards.
“Cartes-de-visites got so popular
people were actually collecting
them just like we collect baseball
cards today,” Lankford says.
Therefore, a politician’s photo
graph might just be one many, and
not mean he was related to the peo
ple in the rest of the collection.
Lankford’s presentation
was not entirely academic
though. He also spoke of the
necessary care for the differ
ent types of photographs.
Take the Ambrotype, used in '
the late 1850s. Using alcohol to
clean the photo wipes the image
away.
Tintypes (actually made of flat
tened iron) will rust if left wet or in
a moist area, while water will dam
age some glass plate negatives taken
during the same time period.
And old roll film, used between
1889 and 1951, consists of cellulose
nitrate, and is extremely flammable.
“Nobody really likes to have
nitrate film, ordinarily because it is a
fire hazard,” Lankford says. “There
were actually people killed copying
these films.”
Even the film that was used up to
about 1970 has its problems.
Chemically unstable, this “safety”
film eventually degenerates.
After Lankford’s presentation, the
15 or so genealogy group members
began to pour over their own pho
tographs - checking for the details
that could help them put a time or
name to the pictures.
Lee explained the need to know.
“We’re all historians,” he says.
“We all are descended from some
body important and famous. A lot of
people take pride in finding they
descended from someone famous.”
Others are just plain curious.
Lee stressed the need to record that
heritage. One obvious way to do so
is by taking pictures. People love to
see old photos of their parents,
grandparents and so on.
There is another way to keep them
alive, Lee says.
“You probably know your grand
parents. Have you ever written any
thing about them?” he asks. “Your
children and grandchildren would
probably love it.”
In his spare time, Lee himself is
writing a book of stories about his
family members.
This practice has proved
invaluable, he says.
“At a family reunion I
encouraged them to take
15 minutes to write
something down about
one of their grandpar
ents,” Lee says.
A second cousin sent
him a tale of a grandfather who
had taken her along on his postal
route. The anecdote included the
grandfather spelling out the deadly
fate to which would befall the girl if
she ever dared to open the glove
box.
“It just helps you understand peo
ple,” Lee says.
Town board
okays extension
of waterline
along Davis Drive
The Morrisville Board of Com
missioners approved funding to
design a project to extend water
lines near the intersection of Davis
Drive and Aviation Parkway.
The lines would serve residents of
the Holly Creek subdivision as well
as those along Davis Drive and
along Morrisville-Carpenter Road
to the west of Davis Drive.
The project will consist of ap
proximately 3,800 linear feet of 16-
inch water main along Morrisville
Carpenter Road; approximately
4,500 linear feet of 12- or 16-inch
water main along Davis Drive and
approximately 1,800 feet of 12-, 8-,
and 6-mch water main in Holly
Creek Road.
Bass, Nixon and Kennedy con
sulting engineers will design the
system for $35,000.
Also during the public comment
time, Barbara Robinson asked for a
stop light at Church Street and
Chapel Hill Road, but learned that
the intersection is in Durham
County. The board voted to write a
letter to the City of Durham re
questing its help in the matter.
Local church to perform cantata, puppet show at Triangle mall
Chamber Corner
New directory
to make debut
in January
The Morrisville Chamber of
Commerce will be meeting at the
business of one of the Cary mem
bers of the chamber this month—
Insty Prints at 1155 Kildaire Farm
Rd. (across from Blockbuster
Video).
The business after hours event
will be held Jan. 15 from 5:30 to 7
p.m. Also on Jan. 15, the Issues and
Eggs breakfast will be held at Sor
rento’s in Triangle Factory Shops
Mall from 7:45 to 9:15 a.m. Ken
neth M. Atkins, director of the
Wake County Economic Develop
ment Department, will be the
speaker.
The Business After Hours event
for February will be at Sterling
Montessori School on Church
Street at Treybrooke Drive on Feb
ruary 4.
The new Chamber directory will
be distributed in early January to all
Morrisville and Preston residents,
all businesses in Morrisville, Pre
ston, Raleigh-Durham Airport and
Research Triangle Park, and to
chamber members.
The chamber office will be
closed from Dec. 22 until January
5.
New chamber members for the
month of December include Air
Cargo (A.C.S.), Anthony & Com
pany, Bitting Electric, Inc., Coastal
Federal Credit Union, Diversified
Contracting, Inc., Edible Complex
Food Court, Homestead Village,
Garage Storage Solution, Jillian’s
Billiard and Cafe, Joyce Produc
tions, Inc., K&N Electric, Inc.,
Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.,
L&M Electric, Inc., Morris
Plumbing Company, Nationwide
Insurance, Network Communica
tions Technologies, Peter Cabrera,
C.P.A., Raleigh Office Supply,
Relaxation Station, Sheraton Impe
rial, and Summit Properties Part
nership, L.P.
Morrisville First Baptist Church
will help shoppers get into the
Christmas spirit at Triangle Factory
'Sliops Mall on Thursday^ Dec.’18.
At 6 p.m., a presentation by the
church’s puppet ministry will be
featured. ^
At 7 p.m., the choir will sing “Ev
erlasting Light,” a
Christmas cantata
candlelight
by Claire
Kloninger and Mark Hayes.
Thank You For
Reading The Progress!
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