Though you probably won’t uncover photos of your ancestors in these collections, you can gain great context about the way they may have lived, the events they lived through, and the locations they called home.
When a user, like The Library of Congress, uploads their photos to flickr they all show up in their Photostream. The user can optionally group these photos into Albums, and further group these albums into Collections. While the latter two are easier to browse, be aware that not every flickr user utilizes these features - and also there may be more photos in the photostream that are not in any albums.
You do not need a flickr account to browse these free photo collections. Be aware of photo rights, however, and do not distribute any photos without checking their license first. Ready to explore? Here’s my list of historical photo collections found on flickr!
“Itinerant photographer in Columbus, Ohio”. Flickr: The Library of Congress. No known restrictions.
Dance at the J.W.B. Servicemen’s Center, Waukegan, Illinois, 1919. Flickr: Center for Jewish History; No known copyright restrictions.
Misc. Collections
“NACA Employees Looking Sharp for a Staff Photo at Ames” Flickr: NASA on The Commons; No known copyright restrictions.
“Florida State Normal and Industrial School class of 1904 portrait: Tallahassee, Florida”. State Library and Archives of Florida. Flickr: Florida Memory. No known copyright restrictions.
“Group of men and women at shore”. Flickr: California Historical Society. No known copyright restrictions.
U.S. Historical Societies
The New York Historical Society has the full collection of the Children’s Aid Society Records and the New York Foundling Hospital Records, among others.
“Game of Marbles, 1919” Flickr: UA Archives / Upper Arlington History. No known copyright restrictions.
Derry, NH Winter Carnival Queen 1920s, flickr: Derry Public Library, Some Rights Reserved.
Miami University women’s basketball team, 1911. flickr: Miami University Libraries Digital Collections
U.S. Universities & Their Library or Digital Collections
“Tea with friends, and one must wear one’s finest hat!” Flickr: Photos of the Past. No known copyright restrictions.
“Great-uncle Leon Griffin, about 1920” Flickr: Jim Griffin. Found in the group Dated Vintage Photographs (pre 1945). Public Domain.
Various Flickr Groups
“Barfields”. Flickr: Valerie Some Rights Reserved.
Family Histories, Genealogies, and Surnames on Flickr
Ed Donlin (Donlin / Yocum / Herzner / Stadtmiller / Vornhagen )
Mitchell Family Tree ( Mitchell / Medden / Fielding / Winder / Hill / McIntyre / Gardner / Johnston)
Out of My Tree Genealogy and The Social Historian ( Brown / Savage / Bulmer / Bond)
Know of another flickr page we should add to the list? Please let us know!
