This week’s #FridayFind is the height of your great-grandfather…?

Written By Dmitri Schmidt

If you’ve never done any genealogy research yourself, your first association might be a long list of names pulled from census reports, birth certificates, and marriage licenses. You might think to yourself, a family tree is nice, but what about personal attributes?

One place you can find more details, besides particularly juicy newspaper clippings (see our find on grand theft in St. Louis) or boastful advertisements in the city directory (see our December webinar), is a draft card. Without a photograph for reference, a draft card can tell you things like height, weight, and even eye color.

Where else have you found more personal information? Reach out to us at emma@backlog-archivists.com

Dmitri Schmidt
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This week’s #FridayFind isn’t the height of your great-grandfather but his “other obvious physical characteristics that will aid in identification.”
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This week’s #FridayFind is an elusive date of death.