Archival film · 1902–1915
Everyday American life in 1915
Watch the surviving films of streets, schoolchildren, markets and work, then open the original Library of Congress records.
Watch and read →Real records · Real footage · Shared memories
Find the place you remember. Discover the life you never saw.
Old places, ordinary lives and unanswered questions. Watch, read and browse free. Join only when you want to contribute.
19 entries to explore
Charlestown, Indiana · Amusement park
Rose Island: the park the river took away
See the surviving ruins, watch the film and help reconnect family photographs with the people who knew the park.
Explore the place →Photo: Gmiller123456 / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Food history · Original 1921 records
A 1921 grocery list for a family of five
Rebuild a week of milk, bread, meat, produce and sweets from the original USDA bulletin. Watch the film and read the prices.
Watch and read →
Charlestown, Indiana · Mill and Scout camp
Tunnel Mill and the John Work House
A limestone tunnel, a water-powered mill and generations of Scout memories. Two state markers leave a measurement question open.
Explore the place →Photo: Nyttend / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Pike County, Illinois · Vanished town
New Philadelphia: the town Free Frank built
Maps, archaeology and descendants preserve the story of a vanished Illinois town and the people who built it.
Explore the place →Photo: Nyttend / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Photo mystery · Circa 1894
Can you identify this wedding portrait?
The original photograph survives. The couple’s names are missing from the catalog. Inspect the portrait and source record.
Open the story →Source photograph: Library of Congress. See the story for the catalog record.
Southern Indiana · Wartime history
When Charlestown became a wartime boomtown
Follow the farms, workers, housing and family moves behind the ordnance plant using original wartime records.
Open the story →War Department booklet, 1941 / National Archives, public domain in the U.S.
Food history · Film and sources
What did people really eat in 1900?
The story is bigger than one ingredient. Explore food budgets, household labor, meal routines and movement.
Watch and read →Medical history · Film and sources
Why could a small cut become deadly in 1900?
Examine the historical danger of infection and the limits of medical treatment at the turn of the twentieth century.
Watch and read →
Medical history · Film and sources
Did people have allergies in 1900?
Explore the historical records and the differences between having symptoms, naming a condition and counting cases.
Watch and read →South St. Louis, Missouri · Bowling alley
Do you remember Western Bowl?
League nights, a rooftop sign and a basement daycare: help fill in the people and details behind this neighborhood bowling alley.
Explore the place →O’Fallon, Missouri · Identification needed
The ice cream shop with the missing name
A memory of chocolate-dipped frozen custard is the first clue. Can a photograph, street name or menu identify the shop?
Explore the place →Jeffersonville, Indiana · Identification needed
What was Greenrose Sports Center?
A Spring Street name and memories of “old races” start the search. Dates, photographs and the people are still missing.
Explore the place →Clarksville, Indiana · Local history
The Blackiston Mill Road files
Explore the vanished mill, old bridge and cemetery records. Documented history, memories and local legends stay clearly separated.
Explore the place →
Louisville, Kentucky · River history
When the Ohio River froze at Louisville
Follow the winter river story and help identify the dates, faces and places in surviving family photographs.
Explore the place →Source image: Library of Congress. This waterfront image is not presented as a frozen-river photograph.
Louisville, Kentucky · Amusement park
Remembering Fontaine Ferry Park
Help recover the photographs, rides, workers and family memories of a vanished Louisville amusement park.
Explore the place →St. Louis County, Missouri · Route 66
A night at the 66 Park-In Theatre
A drive-in survives in local memory. Ticket stubs, car-line photographs and remembered employees can help complete the file.
Explore the place →Cincinnati, Ohio · Baseball history
What do you remember about Crosley Field?
Open the Cincinnati ballpark file and help preserve the photographs, neighborhood details and memories that remain.
Explore the place →
Charlestown, Indiana · Wartime industry
Indiana Army Ammunition Plant
Discover the industrial complex that changed Charlestown, and the family papers and worker memories still needed.
Explore the place →War Department booklet, 1941 / National Archives, public domain in the U.S.
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