Try not to Smile: Snapshots of our Ancestors as Children

AncientFaces is a 100% free and family-friendly memories community - a place we remember and share about the important moments and people from our lives. By sharing our memories, family stories, and information we uncover while digging for our roots, we unlock meaningful connections with others today, and the possibilities of new discoveries tomorrow. See first hand the power of sharing and what you can discover about a sibling, spouse, grandparent, friend, coworker, or ancestor...

Welcome to AncientFaces! A 100% free community where we remember people from our past. At AncientFaces, we believe in the power of remembering together. Through Collaborative Biographies we connect with others who know the person, and discover more together. As you participate in the AncientFaces community, we invite you to familiarize yourself with our Community Standards. These guidelines are in place to ensure that AncientFaces remains a safe and respectful place for everyone, worthy of preserving the memories of the people we remember.

How in the world is it that when our loved ones die we have only their social media accounts to remember them by? Why is it all that’s left online is a memorial page consisting of a tombstone and an obituary, and if you’re fortunate enough to have a writer in the family, MAYBE there is an obituary consisting of three paragraphs about who the person was? People are important in life and in death. How our loved ones and ancestors lived their lives, what they did with their time, and who they impacted - is important.
We all Deserve to be Remembered, and it is up to us, the people that knew them, to show & tell their stories before our memories get lost in history. AncientFaces is Where We Remember Over the last 20 years we've seen tens of millions of people show that they agree that Everyone Deserves to be Remembered (EDtbR). It is up to each and every one of us to share our memories & family stories of those people important to us. Through storytelling & sharing who these people really were, we unlock meaningful connections with people today, and the potential of new discoveries tomorrow. In 2020, to celebrate our 20 year milestone & to share this mission with the world we've released our first video. If you live in our neighborhood in Silicon Valley you might have noticed the spot on your favorite television channels ;) Thank you - each and every one of you - for your role in making AncientFaces a family-friendly community and the place to remember & celebrate the lives of people who matter to us.

These Lost & Found photos may have been found in dumpsters, in the walls or attic when remodeling old homes, inherited from a distant family member, or sold at flea markets or antique stores. They may have been in treasured family albums, with or without names, but no one knows who they are and how they fit into the family. The one thing that all of these photos have in common is this: They all are orphan photos that have lost their families. The AncientFaces Community is full of people who invest their time to reunite these photos with family members. These photos below are just a few of the thousands of Lost & Found photos waiting to be re-united.

"Thank you for helping me find my family & friends again so many years after I lost them. I get the chance to remember them all this time later." Highlights of just a few of the many successes of sharing memories within the AncientFaces Community. From reuniting Lost & Found or 'orphan' photos with their families, seeing faces of relatives for the first time, to the many connections made with family & friends, and the profound discoveries about our loved ones and ancestors. Special moments like these are why it's important we share.

With Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1st, 1939 World War 2 began. The United States didn't enter the war until 1941 when Germany's ally Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The war was challenging not only on the military, but also for civilians. Incessant bombing of cities like The Blitz on London and other cities in Great Britain lasted around 8 months, every night, all night long. Rationing of foodstuffs and other goods needed for the war effort, victory gardens, nights spent in the Tube, blackouts, and sending your children to the countryside for safety. By 1944, the need to end the many years' long war became desperate. And so came D-day in 1944 - a plan to reclaim occupied ally France from the Nazis and to gain a platform from which to invade, and destroy, Nazism in Germany.