This photograph of my father, John W. Taylor, in his late teens (circa 1945) is what I believe the face of Genealogy looks like!
This Wordy Wednesday post is in response to the insulting photo LAWeekly.com posted on their site to publicize the upcoming 42nd Annual Genealogy Jamboree hosted by the Southern California Genealogical Society and Family Research Library, June 10 – 12, 2011 in Burbank, California. I have to tell you, seeing that photo quickly brought back memories of all the Picaninny Caricatures and Little Black Sambo stereotypes that were created during the Jim Crow era depicting the black race in this country. So I know first-hand, if not more, just how everyone felt when they saw that photograph!
GeneaBloggers were encouraged to send letters to the editor about that photo, and then we were asked to select a favorite ancestor photo to post on our blog sites which would send the message of what the Face of Genealogy looks like for us all. Once complaints started rolling in about the photo, by 3:15 pm EST on June 5th, LAWeekly.com removed the photo and replaced it with the photo of a “Jamboree app” on an iphone. To catch the backstory about The Face of Genealogy, visit http://www.geneabloggers.com/face-genealogy/.
Claiming Kin Genealogy 
What a great photo…
And oh my, what I missed while I was so busy with work.
I’ve got to get back into the geneablogging saddle again…(Have created a new link for your new site in my blog sidebar.)
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Hi Dee!!! Thank you so much for checking out my new self-hosted blog site and for the wonderful praise about my face of genealogy feature photo! Yep, you’ve been missing all of the action at geneabloggers.com! But it’s understandable when there’s so much family research to be done – LOL! Thank you for linking to me via your site; I’ve had you listed among my favs since this site went live last month. Again, thanks!
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This is a great photograph. Mr. Taylor was a very handsome man. This confirms what your brother, Jon told me, that he favored his dad. I only got to meet your dad very late in his life at holiday celebrations, & I also went with Jon on a couple of occasions to your dad’s nursing home. This photo is another reminder of my sorrow at not being able to know your father better. From the many stories I have heard about your dad, he was a wonderful man.
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Hi Debbie –
Thanks so much for checking out this young photo of dad. Yep, out of us three kids, Jon favors dad the most. I’m sorry too that you didn’t get to know him before his stroke in 2004. Dad was a mover and shaker and was always on the go seeing to his family, church, and community. Stay tuned, for I will be sharing more about his life in the days and weeks to come!
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What a handsome photo of your father. And way to knock down those ugly stereotypes. I applaud you.
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Thank you so much Jenniepak for stopping by to view my face of genealogy post today; I truly appreciate you! Removing the stereotypes is a must for us all and will forever be an on-going process. Again, thanks for spending time at my place in cyberspace!
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