TOM ALLISON: PCGS Speaker for January 14th

Tom Allison, a wiz at finding other peoples photographs, will be Pasco County Genealogical Society’s January Speaker for our meeting this coming Saturday.  If you would like to hear about the art of hunting and gathering of photographs along with techniques he uses and his lifelong passion on this topic, mark this day on your calendar.

Tom has been interested in photography for over 45 years. He started in High School in 1962.  After serving in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War (1963-1967), he attended college in the San Fernando Valley, California, taking advertising design and photography.  From 1970 to 1980 he had a photography business in the San Fernando Valley area.

Tom says “Knowing my love for the photography field, my Mother and Father gave me a number of photographs and glass negatives of their families.  Not knowing who these family members were, I started questioning my parents, getting the names of the people in each photograph.  This got me very interested in my ancestry and collecting old photographs.  As the tears went on I would search antique stores and yard sales, purchasing photographs and old negatives.  As my collection grew, I would fill out a 3 x 5 card to develop some type of filing system.  My cards had data such as: surname, first name, town, city, state, subject matter, male, female, family child, scene, etc..  As personal computers became more affordable, I started converting my 3 x 5 cards to a database file.

Collecting photographs is my passion!  To find an old photograph and find a family member that has never seen or did not know that the photograph existed makes me feel it is all worth the time and money.”

Tom has organized his collection of average families, farmers, factory workers and common people throughout America and is her to tell is about his passion.

ý Mark your calendars, January 14, 2012, the meeting is held at 9016 Fort King Road, Dade City, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, business meeting to start at 10 A.M. and the Program following at 11 A.M.  Hope to see you there.