Identifying Mystery Relatives
A Practical Guide
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NOTE. An edited version of this article appeared in print in the summer 2020 issue of AVOTANU. It can be viewed here.
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| There is a question which puzzles many genealogists:
is it possible to put names to the faces of unidentified relatives and
friends whose photos we inherit from other family members? Some of these people may be our own ancestors, others may be strangers, but there was a reason their images were preserved by the family. Discarding these photos would not be smart. Keeping them is a source of frustration. When the older generation is gone and there is nobody to ask, the only hope is to discover another copy of the same photograph, one with an all-explaining caption. Is it possible to find such a photo in the possession of others? Is it possible for others to find you and be willing to share the information? Analyzing a photo Before discussing the search options available to us today, it is helpful to spend some time studying the photo, while writing down the questions that come to mind. How did we acquire the photo? Who gave it to us, where, when, under what circumstances? If the photo was inherited from parents or a relative, do we remember the first time we saw the photo? Has anybody commented on the photo back then? It may be quite possible that this mental exercise will revive old memories we did not realize we had. If there is absolutely nothing written on the front or the back of the photo, this may be an indication that the person photographed was a family member or a close friend, whose name was known to everybody in his generation; it is also likely that he lived in the same city. Usually, people inscribed their photos to others for a special occasion, or when they were separated by great distances and wanted the recipients to remember them. There were exceptions of course, as in the case of the Soviet Union where having “relatives abroad“ could be a reason for discrimination and persecution, including criminal prosecution on made up charges. In that case, people exchanged cryptic notes, meaningless to the stranger’s eyes. Studying the image itself may provide clues that will help with research. If there is a studio stamp, it may help to establish the range of years when the photo was captured1). Moreover, it is important to compare the address of the studio with the addresses of ancestors who lived in the same city. If any of them lived within a few city blocks of the studio, this may be an important step in identifying the “mystery relatives”. Clothing, including hats, also helps date an image, although not precisely. Paying attention to the background and the accessories is helpful. And, speaking about backgrounds, is the person’s cultural and ethnic background obvious in the photo? Is there an indication of his social and economic class? When studying the face and the posture of the person photographed for a length of time, say 10-15 minutes, we may recall seeing a similar face, or a similar grimace, a tilt of the head, body language in a photo of another person. The photo may even remind us of a real person who we know or knew. Group photographs, whether formal or informal, present more questions, but they may also provide clues about the family dynamics, the relationship between people who were photographed, and so on. It also stands to reason that more copies of group photos were printed hence the chance to uncover another copy is higher than in the case of a single individual pictured. If the photo is mounted on a card stock, its design and the color may help confirm the date range. A note of caution: a universal “Cabinet Portrait” engraved stamp on the card stock has no significance because such cards were printed in large quantities and sold to photographers near and far. * * * As in the case of ordinary genealogical research, when trying to identify a “mystery ancestor” there are two approaches to seeking an answer: active and passive. One can actively browse - in person or over the internet - large photo collections of public and private institutions such as the U.S. Library of Congress, or YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Unfortunately, this requires a tremendous time investment. A more practical approach in the age of the internet is to search for a “twin image” on the assumption that somebody somewhere has posted the same photo. It is quite simple. Just as we enter a word or a phrase into a search engine’s text box, an image can be “entered” by uploading it from a computer. In computer lingo the procedure is called “reversed image search.” Three of the most popular search engines that have image search capabilities are Google, Yandex, and TinEye. One of the most frequently used search engines is Google’s image search, at https://images.google.com/ . The procedure is simple and intuitive. It starts with a click on the Camera icon, which brings up a self-explanatory dialog box. Yandex Yandex is another search engine. Visually, it is similar to Google but apparently uses a different algorithm because it returns different results. Its URL is https://yandex.com/images/ . Each of these search engines seem to return many images similar to yours. If you are lucky, the twin image you’ve been searching for will likely be the first image displayed. TinEye TinEye, at https://tineye.com/ seems to find ONLY identical images, so in most cases the result will read “0 results”. eBay Web auction sites such as eBay.com need no introduction. Thousands of items are added to eBay every day, including many photographs. Going through them in the hope of finding an image of interest may take lifetime. Designing a proper filter to limit the number of returns would be a tremendous time saver. It is a trial and error process but once it is done and a search page is book marked, looking through many sale items could be done in a relatively short time. Additionally,eBay allows users to generate e-mail alerts for items of interest based on the filter. Delcampe Another major auction web site, advertising predominantly paper items, is a European-based firm called Delcampe, at https://www.delcampe.net/en_GB/collectables/. Like eBay, it too allows users to build filters. Genealogy meetings Attending your local genealogy meetings presents a unique opportunity to show your “mystery relatives” to a like-minded community of enthusiasts. It is best to print a copy of a photograph on a letter-size sheet of paper so it can be easily attached to a wall or a panel. Include a short caption, and also your name, telephone number, and an e-mail address. * * * The “passive” approach to search for images requires uploading a photo to an image hosting website and then waiting for someone to contact you. The key to success is to properly caption the photo and to add key words. The more eyes that see your picture, the higher the chances of someone recognizing it. Each image hosting website is designed and operates differently. Flickr The biggest image hosting service is Flickr (https://www.flickr.com ), which has been in existence since 2004. Free membership allows users to add up to 1000 images. In the default display mode called Photostream, many photos are displayed on the same page for easy viewing. The application allows a user to organize pictures into albums, so one’s “mystery ancestors” can be easily separated from regular family and travel photos. There are thousands of groups on Flickr, organized by interests. Joining a group allows members to add photos to that group. One can start his own group as well. During the photo upload process, keywords called Tags, can be added and the photo can also be placed in albums and groups. Both tags, albums, and groups can be modified later. Flickr provides the ability to search by photos, people, and groups. Instagram, at http://www.instagram.com has surpassed Flickr in popularity in recent years. It is free to use and so far does not limit the number of photos to upload. There are no albums or groups as in Flickr. Images can be filtered by keywords called Hashtags. Entering “mystery ancestor” in the Instagram’s search box, returns two hashtags: #mysteryancestor and #mysteryancestors. Each can be clicked on to display filtered images. There are many other free image hosting sites that will publicize the image and hopefully identify the subject of the mystery photo. They all are easy to master and all are user-friendly. Ten such sites were reviewed in late 2019, at https://www.lifewire.com/free-image-hosting-sites-3486329. The user is encouraged to read the reviews and use the sites he finds most useful. FaceBook was not designed as an image hosting site. It presents the information as a constantly flowing stream of words and pictures with no way to filter out data or easily find a previously posted photo. It is best to join a group such as “Jewish Genealogy Portal” or “lietuva senose fotografijose” (Lithuania in Old Photos), or “The Nameless Bunch - a Shrubs to Trees Companion Group” and post your photos within that group. There are other fine groups available on this site. ViewMate For a Jewish genealogist, an important resource is the ViewMate feature of JewishGen, at https://www.jewishgen.org/ViewMate/. Although it automatically displays images within a few days of being received, searching the image archives will yield many more images of photos and documents. KehilaLinks Another feature of JewishGen, just as important as ViewMate, is KehilaLinks, at https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/. The word Kehilla, means “congregation” in Hebrew. In the context of JewishGen, "KehilaLinks provides the opportunity for anyone with an interest in a place to create web pages about that community. These web pages may contain information, pictures, databases, and links to other sources providing data about that place." There are several hundred web pages dedicated to big and small cities around the world, designed and maintained by volunteers. Uploading a “mystery relative” photo onto a page of their actual or presumed place of residence presents an opportunity to reach out to other researchers interested in the same town or area. If a web page does not exists, one can easily be created. Web pages and websites, dedicated to a town or a region exist all over the internet. And, if there is no page of interest to you out there, it is not difficult to create one. OK.ru Foreign language social media platforms must not be overlooked. One example is a Russian site called ok.ru, previously known as odnoklassniki (classmates in English). The Wikipedia article states that ok.ru is currently available in English. The site is free to use but requires registration. Users can organize into groups by interests, such as the city of origin or family name. There is more than one group for some large cities. Within groups, there are many albums with photos, so a “mystery ancestor” photo can be uploaded into a “People of Minsk” album a part the “Minsk” group, if one knows or suspects that his ancestors came from that area. Personal website or a web page Since many of us have personal and/or business web sites, it is easy to add a page to it that displays only “mystery relatives”. An example of one such web page, on our website, can be viewed at http://www.bfcollection.net/subjects/anon2/anon_02.html. Newspapers They still exist and all have a web presence. Most have interest in “human interest” stories. Sending them a photo with a properly composed caption and a letter to the editor, may put the image before thousands of new eyes. Moreover, all newspapers are regularly indexed by search engines so the information can be found years from now. Smart phone An album that displays only “mystery relatives” can be created on any smart phone so that the photos are always with you and can easily be shared. * * * To test the practicality of these approaches we used an old image of a man, who looks remarkably similar to the author at an approximately the same age. The photo was taken in Jampel’s Art Studio in New York, and was originally in the possession of the Glizerman (changed to Glaser in the US) family. The Glasers were related to the Morgulyan (changed to Margulin in the US) family. Both families originated in Zhitomir, Ukraine and/or nearby areas. Using this information, we conducted the following online searches. |
1. Web search for “Jampel’s Art Studio” revealed four people with the same family name. Assuming some of them are aware of Jampel’s Art Studio of the early 1900's, they may be contacted to help narrow down the time period when the photo was taken. Searching New York City directories may also help determine when this studio was in operation. 2. Library of Congress search for “Jampel’s Art Studio”. No results. 3. YIVO search for “Jampel’s Art Studio”. Found: One person with th esame family name, active in 2000. A possible contact. 4. Reversed image Google search. No results. 5. Reversed image Yandex search. No results. 6. Reversed image TinEye search. No results. 7. eBay search. Search parameter: “Jampel” No results. Filter created: [ "new york" cdv cabinet portrait -color -poster -program ] Note. “cdv” is an acronym for Carte de Visite. Saved search; Note from eBay: “You'll receive email and Feed alerts when new items arrive.” 8. Delcampe.net Filter created: [cdv "new york" "cabinet portrait"] 9. Posted to Flickr. Image URL : https://www.flickr.com/photos/boris_photography/49811399371/in/album-72157714015466603/ Caption preared: "Studio portrait of a Jewish man. New York. Early 1900's. Card stock of the M. Smith at 331 Grand Street on Lower East Side. Also stamp of the Jampel’s Art Studio, at 22 St. Marks Place. Most likely is an immigrant from Zhitomir or elsewhere in Volyn Province, Russia. Possibly related to the families of Glizerman (Glaser in the US), or Morgulyan / Margulyan (Margulin in the US). If anybody is interested, there are several more photos from the same family, at http://www.bfcollection.net/subjects/anon2/anon_02.html" Keywords created: cdv, cabinet portrait, cartedevisite, 1900's, new york 1900's photo, 331 Grand Street, 22 St. Marks Pl., vintage studio portrait, family archive, vintage, studio portraits, genealogy, jewish genealogy, jewish history, american jewish history, lower east side, jewish immigration, Zhitomir, Volyn, Volhyn, Volhynia, Glizerman, Glaser, Morgulyan, Margulyan, Margulin, chernyakhov, mystery ancestor Added to album: Mystery Ancestors Added to groups: Antique Photographs, Antique Photos, 100 years old, The Museum of Found Photographs, Житомир – Zhitomir – Zhytomyr 10. Posted to Instagram. Image URL: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_cexgXnTmN/ Caption created: "Sunday Time Machine. This handsome chap, captured in New York some 100-120 years ago, looks remarkably like me at this age. Slide to the left to see for yourself. I would love to put the name to the face. The photo is mounted on the card of the M. Smith studio at 331 Grand Street on Lower East Side. There is also a stamp imprint of the Jampel’s Art Studio, at 22 St. Marks Place. He was, most likely, an immigrant from Zhitomir, Volyn Province, Russia. Possibly related to the families of Glizerman (Glaser in the US), or Morgulyan / Margulyan (Margulin in the US). . If anybody is interested, there are several more photos from the same family, at http://www.bfcollection.net/subjects/anon2/anon_02.html . . #mysteryancestor #cdv #cabinetportrait #cartedevisite #1900's #newyork1900's, #331GrandStreet, #22StMarksPlace #vintagestudioportrait #familyarchive #vintage #genealogy #jewishgenealogy #jewishhistory #americanjewishhistory #lowereastside #jewishimmigration #Zhitomir #Volyn #Volhyn #Volhynia #Glizerman #Glaser #Morgulyan #Margulyan #Margulin #chernyakhov" Note. We chose to include hashtags with the caption. Alternatively, they can also be added as a comment. 11. Posted to Facebook in the following groups: - Jewish Genealogy Portal - Jewish Ancestry in Volhynia / Wolyn District, Ukraine. - The Nameless Bunch - a Shrubs to Trees Companion Group. - The ORIGINAL The Yiddish are Coming...the Yiddish are Coming! Caption: My mystery ancestor. He spoke Yiddish fluently. Studio portrait of a Jewish man. New York. Early 1900's. Card stock of the M. Smith Studio at 331 Grand Street on Lower East Side. Also stamp of the Jampel’s Art Studio, at 22 St. Marks Place. Most likely is an immigrant from Zhitomir or elsewhere in Volyn Province, Russia. Possibly related to the families of Glizerman (Glaser in the US), or Morgulyan / Margulyan (Margulin in the US). If anybody is interested, there are several more photos from the same family, at http://www.bfcollection.net/subjects/anon2/anon_02.html" 12. JewishGen ViewMate. Submitted on April 24, 2020 Announced on the forum on April 27, 2020 Do you recognize? #mysteryancestor #photoID #jampel "My mystery ancestor. Studio portrait of a Jewish man. New York. Early 1900's. Card stock of the M. Smith Studio at 331 Grand Street on Lower East Side. Also stamp of the Jampel’s Art Studio, at 22 St. Marks Place. Most likely is an immigrant from Zhitomir or elsewhere in Volyn Province, Russia. Possibly related to the families of Glizerman (Glaser in the US), or Morgulyan / Margulyan (Margulin in the US). http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM80545 If anyone has a photo taken in the M. Smith Studio, or in the Jampel’s Art Studio, I’d appreciate hearing from you. It may help to narrow the range of the years when my photo was taken. Please respond any way that is most convenient to you. Thank you everybody!" 13. Ok.ru Posted in Groups/Albums: - Евреи: Генеалогия и история / Опознай фотографию [Jews: Genealgy and History / Identify a photo] - Русское еврейство / А ганце мишпухе [Russian Jewry / A gantse mishpukhe] - Житомир / 14. Lastly, this and other mystery photos are posted on our own web site, at http://www.bfcollection.net/subjects/anon2/anon_02.html * * * It is obvious that the level of effort to disseminate the information even about one photo is significant. One must decide how often sites such as e.g. YIVO Collection or eBay should be reviewed and how often image hosting site should be re-visited to check for messages. It is also important to remember that websites come and go and those who do stay, are periodically redesigned. * * * This article is work in progress, and an attempt to bring system and logic into the image identification process. Ideas and suggestions are welcome and are appreciated. Heartfelt thank you to Jeffrey Gee for the editorial review! Feel free to contact us at boris@bfcollection.net. Back to Articles page Back to FAST Genealogy Service page |