I have old photos that are not of my family. Where can I post these so I can get them to their relatives?

Question

In a box of old photos, I have found several pictures of my ancestor's neighbors, friends, et cetera. I know if someone had pictures of my ancestors, I would want them. So I want to give these photos (which have no relevance to me whatsoever) to their relatives. They are labeled with names, and I scanned them. Is there some sort of database I can use to connect with people and exchange old family photos? Thanks!

Answer 1

Hey, good for you!  It's really nice that you want to return these photos to their families!  Somewhere out there, there's probably a relative would be thrilled to have the pictures.  Most likely, it will be someone who's been doing some family research and actually knows who the people were.  So the best way to find them is to go where they hang out.  Here are a few places where you'll be most likely to find someone who recognizes the folks in your pictures:

GenForum: http://genforum.genealogy.com/

This website has message boards for people who are researching specific surnames.  

Ancestry: http://boards.ancestry.com/

Ancestry.com also has surname message boards. You don't have to be a paid member to use the boards.

Rootsweb Mailing Lists: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index...

Rootsweb has mailing lists for people who are researching certain surnames.  You have to join the list in order to post a message yourself, but if you don't want to join it, you can send a message to the list administrator and they will forward your message to the listmembers.

USGenWeb: http://usgenweb.org/

Every county in the U.S. has a USGenWeb site, run by volunteers who post genealogical information on the families who lived there.  If you know the county where these people were from, this would be a great place to post your pictures, since most genealogists visit their county's genweb site at some point.  Just contact the county coordinator and send them the scans of your pictures.

When you post your message, be as specific as possible... list their names, of course, but also where they were from (or where the picture was taken), the approximate date, and the names of your ancestors who they associated with.  In addition to posting the information, you can also search the boards for the names of the folks in your pictures... you may find someone who's already posted a message about them, and you can contact them instead of waiting until they see your message.

There are also many "Lost and Found" websites for posting old pictures.  However, many people don't think of visiting those sites ("surely MY ancestors aren't there"), or they just don't know about all the different ones.  So the chances of someone finding and recognizing your pictures on those sites isn't that good as with the websites I already listed.  But it certainly can't hurt.  The more places you post the pictures, the better the chance of finding a home for them.  Here are some lists of Lost & Found websites:

http://www.cyndislist.com/lost.htm

and

http://www.cyndislist.com/photos.htm

Good luck!  And bless you for caring for someone else's family treasures!

Answer 2

Have you tried ; peoplefinder.com

Answer 3

Try here:

www.cyndislist.com/photos.htm

There are places you can post the pictures.

You may be able to reunite some people with their ancestors.

I did it with some old photos.

Good luck and have fun

Answer 4

My cousin reunites old photos as a hobby.  She is a photographer. She generally posts the names and a general time period in a post on GenForum under the appropriate surname.  She has been really successful in placing alot of the photos she finds.   Here is the website........

http://genforum.genealogy.com/

Good luck and it is a really admirable thing that you are trying to do and people WILL appreciate you for it.