The sky was brilliant and clear as Michael Grzegorski, his wife and five children set off for midnight Mass on Christmas Eve 1918. He urged his children to look up at the central Wisconsin sky. “Look at the stars in the sky and see if you can find the Star of Bethlehem,” he said. As the … More Farmer Dies on Way to Midnight Mass
I recently met a woman tending to her grandparents grave, a bit frustrated by the misaligned bricks that formed a border around the headstone. I asked her a few questions about the bricks, and she told one of the most touching stories I’ve ever heard. Her grandmother died in 1963. Her grandfather visited the cemetery … More Cemeteries Have Great Stories to Tell
Sir Winston Churchill was a statesman, a military strategist and the prime minister of Great Britain during the perilous years of World War II. He was also a prolific author and one of the most quotable figures of the 20th century. The son of an English father and an American mother, Churchill was given honorary … More Treasured Wisdom from Sir Winston Churchill
Oral history is one of the most important arrows in the historian’s quiver. Source documents, photographs, databases and the like offer their own advantages, but audio and/or video interviews deliver information not available with other types of media. It’s one thing to read about someone and the details of their life. But being able to hear … More Preserve Oral History, While You Can
Some of the most memorable images in our archive are old black-and-white photographs that were hand tinted to add color to parts of or the entire photo. Color film eliminated the novelty of that practice. Today we can do the process in reverse to create special, stunning images from even ordinary color prints. A couple … More Color Splash Your Photo Library
It seems every word he spoke had swagger. John Wayne’s words definitely had impact; sometimes followed by a right hook. When the indomitable actor said he’d have your hide, you believed it. Born Marion Morrison in 1907, Wayne became the ultimate Hollywood icon, starring in such classics as Stagecoach, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, … More Treasured Wisdom from John Wayne
Orignally published on LinkedIn. The Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero understood the importance of how lives of the present are linked to those of the past. More than a half-century before the birth of Christ, Cicero wrote, “For what is the worth of a human life, unless it is woven into the life of our … More Six Reasons Genealogy is Worth Your Time
The Auckland War Memorial Museum in New Zealand has just digitized and published an amazing collection of photographs of United States servicemen who were stationed at Warkworth in northern New Zealand during World War II. The museum is asking for help from Americans to identify the service members. Nearly 1,100 images can be viewed on … More Rare Photos of WWII U.S. Servicemen in New Zealand
We just created a promotional video to give the world a look and feel of what Treasured Lives is all about. The HD video runs about 40 seconds and can be viewed in the embedded player below via Vimeo. Genealogists and family history buffs are increasingly using video to help bring stories to life. They … More New Treasured Lives Promo Video
This image from the early part of the 20th century has the hallmarks of the Midwest frontier. The young woman tending the steed has a serious look of determination. Was she a ranch hand or a hard-working farm wife? We don’t know, since there are no notations on the front or back of the print. Based … More Eye on History: Ready to Ride
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