The Time Machine
Last week, Flickr’s official blog spotlighted a dusty nook of the massive photo-sharing: Flickr Commons. Launched in 2008 with the Library of Congress, it’s an ever-evolving collection of more than 50 global public photography archives. Flickr developed the page to crowdsource information about these historical photos, which the site’s users have been more than happy to do.
The project soon became much more than a pursuit for amateur historians. “Coincidences happen on the Web,” says Flickr administrator Zack Sheppard. One Flickr user, for example, identified this race car driver, Bob Burman, as her great-great-grandfather. The photo was taken around 1910.
Here, we’ve compiled a few of the most compelling stories of lost ancestors and reunited families.