I applaud your family documentation efforts!  If all you do is identify the people in the photos and date them (to the best of your ability .. even guesstimates would be valuable), then you have done *fantastic*.  Everything else is frosting on the cake.

It's the identification and journaling that give the photos context.  If you know the backstory of the the photo ... or what you *heard* (that could be a family story or could accurate) ... then all of that information is (well, should be!) treasured by future generations.   If you've done some of your own detective work regarding the photo ..... "Person X died in year Y but the youngster in this photo wasn't born until Year X-5, so the timeframe from this photo has to be from Year X-5 to X" .. even that is valuable because you've done the thinking for the people looking at the photos and given them context.

<soapbox: off>   :-)

And what a *treasure* to find that 4 generation photo!  Wow.  :-)

Well, if the photo is a treasure, then I must share it with you.   If nothing else, you can admire the fashions of well-off Indiana farm ladies in 1914. My mother always claimed that my dad's family was (1) vain and (2) reckless with their money because they had so many pictures taken. That is Lily (grandmother) on the left, Aurora (great-grandmother) on the right and Faye holding the baby, my dad's sister. The baby grew up to be a bossy redheaded executive at Lincoln Life Insurance Co. in Fort Wayne.

I know of one of Faye's quilts that was handed down in her family but I never had a chance to inherit it; it went to her daughter and then to her daughter's daughter. It's a lovely dark blue and white Broken Dishes quilt. All of her other quilts that I slept under in the farm house were utility quilts (tied with yarn) that were worn out, I'm sure.

Definitely a treasure. And some great expressions there too, more than many. We have a 4 generations of women with my adopted mom as an infant and they all look very stern.

Judy, I am so pleased that you shared that photo.   Indeed, it is very, very special. 

Aurora hardly looks old enough to be Lily's mother!  Whatever the family's financial situation was, it is so fortunate that it has been passed down through the generations.

I am lucky to have a picture of my mom, myself and my oldest daughter, when she was an infant.  My mom's mother died when my mom was 2 years old; my dad's mother died when I was a pre-teen,  so there was never any chance of getting a 4 generation picture.

How nice that your DD came for the day to celebrate and help you out.  Tell your hubby Happy Birthday for me.  Every year my DD takes her birthday and mine off and we spend the day together.  A couple of years, we went to this pottery place and painted some pottery pieces, or other special things.  

Now that your quilt is all loaded, will your shoulder complain about quilting it? We will be looking forward to seeing it.

Love the photo!  Isn't it fun to look at those old pictures--especially when they are labeled?  Fine looking women.  I've been going through old photos trying to label what I can, but sadly there is no older family  members left to ask.  

this is one of my grandmother ( on the left) and her siblings some time around 1900.  It is when they were still living in  Czechoslovakia so this must have been their native dress.

\

How very special!  That photo was taken back in the day when the subjects literally had to "freeze" (hold still and not blink) for a number of seconds for the long exposure needed to get a good image so that is why everyone looks so serious. I love studying the clothing in the old pictures because you know they were wearing their very best for the occasion.

Your grandmother looks a bit sad. Do you suppose this photo was taken just before she left the old country to come to America? Do you know if the entire group came together?

I had to chuckle when I read your post.  She came over alone at 16, but had brothers that were already here to go to.  I chuckled because I don't think her expression changed in her whole 86 years.  She died when I was 17 but my whole childhood I thought of her as a sourpuss.  Very seldom did we see her smile or laugh.  Seemed like her life was one big pity party and she only associated with family, which was big.  So, I don't have warm childhood memories of a grandma that made cookies.  Hugs were mandatory, not loving or comforting.  

That's a great picture too.  Your grandmother sounds like mine.  My sister and I have often commented that both us and our children were short changed in the Grandma department (on all sides of our families), so we intend to be super grandmas.  She's doing a very good job so far, and I'm a very sweet grandma to my daughters cat :-)

mentioning the clothing, the clothing in your picture is very special too, lots of fancy buttons.  getting a photo was a big deal.  I remember it being an event when I was a kid, I can only imagine what it would have meant in those days.  We have a picture of my husbands grandmother and her sisters, "all decked out" as my MIL said.  Which was interesting because they were very poor, but you would never have known looking at that picture, 4 very good looking young women.