Lisa Louise Cooke, Photographs and Me

Label Your Pictures (preferably in pencil!)

While at the gym the other day, I listened to Lisa Louise Cooke’s podcasts on organizing again. I had wanted to talk about her plan for photos, but I couldn’t remember all the details. I still like her ideas, but won’t be able to implement them fully for a while.

If you have Windows she suggests that you use the official “Pictures” folder. Then make a new folder for your family history photographs (pictures of people, not documents). Hers is called “Lisa’s Tree,” mine is called “Amanda’s Ancestors.”  You could call yours anything as long as you put all the pictures in the file consistently.  I thought about “Family History Photos,” but Amanda’s Ancestors is the name of my OneNote Notebook and since the file begins with "A" it will be at the beginning of the folders list (I have LOTS of picture folders). Then in this folder, make new folders for each of your family lines. Within these surname folders make folders for each family group. Photos of unmarried individuals are filed with their parents until they establish their own family. 

Cooke also suggests making location folders within the surname folders too, so you can include pictures of where they lived. Start with the state and then make new folders for county and cities as needed. This is a good idea too, but I will modify it and group the photos by state. As I’ve noted before, my father’s family didn’t move around much, so it seems silly to have a Tennesee folder for every branch of his family. Besides, at some point I expect I will have pictures of places where ancestors lived, but will not have pictures of the actual ancestors.

Right now, I don’t have that many digital copies of family history pictures. Consequently, I just have surname folders and location folders. As I collect more digital photos, I can add family group folders within the surname folders as well as other states, counties and cities.

Here is an example of how my picture folder might look someday:

1. Amanda’s Ancestors
1. Eldridge
2. Epperson
1. Joseph & Sarah Fuller Epperson Family
2. Joseph Bolen & Bennie Eldridge Epperson Family
3. Joseph Oscar & Mary Kate Bolen Epperson Family
2. Hood
3. Nordstrom
4. Tennessee
1. Bradley
2. Knox

An example of how this filing system would work: photographs of my papaw, Joseph Bolen Epperson, would be filed in his parent’s family folder, “Joseph Oscar and Mary Kate Bolen Epperson Family” until his marriage. After his marriage, his photos would be filed in his own family folder, “Joseph Bolen and Bennie Eldridge Epperson Family.”  The family group folders will be listed alphabetically. However, if you would prefer them to be listed chronologically, you could simply start the folder name with the year the family was created. 

Example:

1. Amanda’s Ancestors
1. Epperson
1. 1872 Joseph & Sarah Fuller Epperson Family
2. 1903 Joseph Oscar & Mary Kate Bolen Epperson Family
3. 1931 Joseph Bolen & Bennie Eldridge Epperson Family

For more details on Lisa Louise Cooke’s digital picture filing system, listen to her podcast here.