 Friends
I thought this might be of interest to those of you who
might be interested in researching your family's genealogy.
I am writing about the methodology I am employing in
researching my own family's genealogy. Since this is the
first time for me to take on this type of project, I know
this will include a lot more trial and error than anything
else. Now a couple of months into this project and all I can
say is "HOLY SHIT THIS IS FASCINATING". I really gotta say
though, there is no way in The World this could have been
accomplished years ago, at least not as easily. Recent
technological advances such as image scanning, biometric
profiling, and ChatGPT, to name a few, make this incredibly
fast and simple....and fun.
Anyway, for many years I wanted to trace my family history
back as far as I could, more specifically, the Rose family
history. With all of the mundane tasks and projects that
fill our daily lives, it is often difficult to find the time
to work on a project of this magnitude. With us now settled
in our new (but old) home in the Japanese countryside, I
decided it was time to finally tackle this project.
I have files and photos from way back in the day that stayed
in storage until this year, 2026. I spent a couple of months
at the beginning of the year, almost every day, sorting
through literally tens of thousands of computer files, and
scanned over 4,000 recent and old photos. Now I am taking
the pieces of the puzzle and putting them together in an
organized and meaningful form.
Hopefully these methods prove useful to you. Anyway, here
goes.... |
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Workspace
This was an important consideration when I decided to take on this project. I
have a wife and three kids at home (home educated) literally 24/7, and although
they are all wonderful, the two younger dudes can get a little rambunctious at
times. When we moved to our present new (but old) house in Japan, I worked
pretty much on outside landscaping and repairs. This year I began working on the
interior, which included new walls to enclose a hallway and make it part of our
bedroom. This resulted in a master bedroom with an adjacent master bathroom, and
a huge storage area in between. What to do? I decided to convert this area into
a workspace, complete with custom shelves for holding pictures. Without this, it
would have meant spreading thousand of pictures out on a table, or even worse,
on the floor....in the way for everybody. Anyway, I used our old dining room
table, one of the four chairs, installed a couple of LED lights, and VOILA,
there was my genealogy project workspace. I highly recommend that you find, or
make, a similar area of your home if you plan to do this type of project.
Information Sources
The beginning of this genealogical journey began with going through computer
files, previous social media account posts, and emails with the following being
a more complete and descriptive list of information sources used: |
- Computer files - This
literally included tens of thousands of files containing information from
back in the day including:
- File entries included old tax statements, credit card
statements, fuel receipts, etc. These all gave an invaluable insight to
places I went and when. This information will be matched up to dateless
pictures that have already been scanned and the picture, and associated date
it was taken, can then be added to the story pages of my blog.
- Email Messages -
This was another time consuming process but necessary due to the huge amount
of information I found. Keep in mind that the sent email messages are the
ones you want to use. This is usually a reporting to friends and family what
you're doing at a given time. These email messages were already added to the
pages of my blog. Unfortunately to complete the file sorting project, there
was not time to read the emails and a lot of personal drama is now being
publicly displayed. This really doesn't bother me much and I plan to delete
these once the pictures are posted and the emails are no longer needed.
- Facebook Posts - All posts
and messages in Facebook can be downloaded in chronological files. These are
almost as valuable as the sent email messages in determining what you did
and when.
- Scanned Photos - This took
almost a full months working almost every day for about eight hours per day.
For this project I purchased a fast refurbished laptop computer, a new
scanner, a new wired keyboard, and a new wired mouse....yup old school and
still prefer a direct computer connection. The total came out to be about
4,000 photos scanned already with more on the way.
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ChatGPT
I really had to "swallow my pride", "eat my words", um, forgetting about
practicing what I preached....pick a cliché. When ChatGPT became "a thing" I
totally slammed it and labeled a cheat and even when on rants about how this was
going to what destroys modern society by replacing humans and slowly
infiltrating into every aspect of our daily lines....well, this could happen.
Anyway, I began using it for simple tasks in order to "check it out" and the
next thing I found was that doing genealogical research was almost impossible
with out it, or at least, significantly more difficult. I give you the following
example. |
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SCANNED PHOTO |
ChatGPT ENHANCED PHOTO |
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This actually turned out to be a picture of classmates my mom was in school with
in 1944. She is not in the picture but her name is listed on the blackboard,
which was unreadable for me, but ChatGPT was able to pick the name out with no
problem.
The original search prompt was: please analyze
this photo and provide as much information as possible including, but not
limited to the following, approximate date, location, age of the students,
school, and more
There was no bias contained in the search prompt and this is the information
ChatGPT returned: |
- Approximate Date
- The blackboard clearly reads: GRADE 6 – 1944
- That is almost certainly written at the time the photo
was taken, not added later. The clothing, hairstyles, and classroom décor
are fully consistent with mid-1940s North America, specifically the WWII
era.
- Conclusion: Very likely
1944 (±1 year at most).
- Age of the Students
- Grade 6 students in North America in the 1940s were
typically: 11–12 years old
- Occasionally 10 or 13 depending on birth month or
retention
- The children in the photo visually match that age range
very well:
- Boys have pre-teen facial structure
- Girls show early adolescent development
- No one appears older than about 12–13
- Conclusion: Approximately
11–12 years old.
- The Teachers
- There are two adult men at the back: Primary classroom
teacher (center, tall, wearing suit and tie)
- Likely either: The principal, or Another faculty member
present for the class photo
- In the 1940s, many elementary classrooms were taught by
women, but male teachers were still common, particularly in urban public
schools.
- The formal suit and posture suggest this is a posed
class portrait rather than a candid.
- School Type & Environment
- Strong Indicators of North American Public School:
English language on chalkboard
- Standard wooden desks with metal frames (very typical
U.S./Canada 1920s–1950s)
- Blackboard handwriting style
- Classroom wall educational posters
- The chalkboard includes: Arithmetic
- Agricultural terms (carrots, radishes, tomatoes listed
on left)
- A visible “Honour Roll” list of names
- Probable Location
- While we cannot name the exact school from this image
alone, there are strong contextual clues: Likely:
- United States or Canada
- Urban or industrial area
- English-speaking public school
- If this connects to your earlier Buffalo / Western New
York research:
- The classroom architecture is consistent with
1930s–1940s Buffalo public schools
- The student mix suggests a working- or middle-class
neighborhood
- If this is related to your Kenmore / Buffalo context, it
would fit very naturally.
- Clothing Analysis (Very
Date-Specific)
- Boys:
- Side-parted hair, neatly combed
- Button-down shirts
- Ties (several wearing patterned 1940s ties)
- Sweater vests
- One boy in darker jacket (possibly from a more formal or
religious household)
- Girls:
- Peter Pan collars
- Puff sleeves
- Printed cotton dresses
- Large hair bows
- Braided styles
- Cardigans
- All very typical wartime 1940s fashion.
- No 1950s styling elements are visible (no poodle skirts,
no post-war fuller silhouettes).
- Classroom Wall Details (Very
Interesting)
- On the right wall:
- A Moon Phases educational chart
- A labeled science diagram (possibly of enamel or
anatomy)
- Geography / social studies clippings
- Historical images
- Above:
- Framed western art print (cowboys on horseback)
- Possibly a landscape print
- This suggests:
- Standard American curriculum
- No religious symbols visible
- Secular public school setting
- Names on the Board
- The Honour Roll includes names like:
- Bernard
- Lil Rose - my mom
- Pearl
- Sylvia
- Nettie
- Betty
- Mabel
- Jean
- These are common Jewish and Eastern European immigrant
family names of the period — though not exclusively Jewish.
- If this photo connects to your Jewish family research,
that would be consistent with:
- 2nd-generation immigrant children
- 1940s Northeast U.S. urban public school
- Photographic Characteristics
- Silver gelatin print
- Matte finish
- Typical school photographer framing
- Likely taken by a local studio photographer
- The slight tilt of the hanging pictures suggests:
- Normal classroom environment, not staged in a gym
- Architecture Clues
- High ceiling
- Single hanging industrial light fixture
- Thick plaster walls
- Tall blackboard
- Old-style heating system likely below frame
- This matches pre-WWII school construction (1910s–1930s).
- Social Context (1944)
- Remember:
- 1944 = WWII ongoing
- Fathers of many of these children likely overseas
- Rationing ongoing
- Clothing would reflect practical wartime materials
- Yet the children appear well-dressed, suggesting:
- Stable family environments
- Urban middle or skilled working class neighborhood
- What We Cannot Determine From This Alone
- Exact school name
- Exact city
- Identities of students
- Exact photographer
- Unless:
- The back of the photo contains a studio imprint
- Or this connects to a known family collection
- Most Likely Summary
- Year 1944
- Location: Likely U.S. Northeast or Ontario
- School Type: Public elementary school
- Grade: 6
- Student Ages: 11–12
- Socioeconomic: Working to lower-middle class
- Cultural Background: Likely mixed immigrant community
- Photographer Professional: school portrait photographer
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My recommendation based on this particular use of ChatGPT. This was invaluable
for determining this was in fact a class picture my mom was associated with. She
is not actually in the picture (most likely sitting off to the right) but her
name, Lil Rose, is written on the blackboard. She was 13 years old at the time
this pictures was taken, which was actually May 3, 1944, as written on the rear
of the photo. I think ChatGPT is an extremely useful tool for analyzing photos
for general dates, locations, and other information, but that's pretty much
where the usefulness ends. The enhanced picture looks really good, but after
closer inspection, there are a lot of changes to the students in the picture....see
if you can find them on your own.
Anyway, that's all for today. More coming as this project progresses. Until
then.
Howie |
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