Maps can give context to our ancestors’ lives, flesh out a family story, or document a family’s migration. This week I describe how to use online maps and directories to find historic addresses on modern maps.
Indianapolis Blog Posts
Birthday
I take a look at my hometown paper on my birthday. It’s fun to discover the headlines my parents read in the paper the day I was born. I’ve picked out a few items to highlight from The Indianapolis Star for Thursday, October 29, 1959.
Steps
This week I share some favorite family photos that include steps, stoops and stairs.
Fun and Games
One of my father’s childhood stories is about having fun with some old tires. It’s the sort of fun a boy during the depression could create with found items.
Working
My great grandfather was a laborer, working all his life. He made the transition from rural farmer to city worker in 1913.
School
Have you looked at old high school yearbooks? Not just your own, but your parents or even grandparents. A few years ago I discovered the yearbooks from my grandparents’ high schools had been digitized and put online.
Character
My great Aunt Grace looked for the positive even when life was a challenge. Aunt Grace was a character with character.
In the City
This story is about the garbage collectors in my father’s boyhood neighborhood during the mid-1930’s.
Police Woman
When I heard stories about my great Aunt Sadie’s exploits as a policewoman, I imagined her like the main character, Pepper Anderson, of the old TV show “Police Woman”
Favorite Place
My favorite place is a neighborhood on the east side of Indianapolis: Irvington. My great grandfather, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and I have all called Irvington “home” at some point.