Maureen Taylor - America's Foremost Historical Photo Detective

Maureen Taylor is a VoiceQuilt gift giver and friend. More importantly, she’s also an internationally acclaimed family history expert that helps genealogy and family history buffs identify and date the subjects in old photos. The Wall Street Journal describes her as the nation’s foremost historical photo detective and she’s been featured on Hallmark Television, The View, The Today Show, Martha Stewart Living and more.

During the 2011 holiday season, Maureen packaged her detective work on old photos as a Christmas gift. Clients uploaded an old picture and paid roughly $35 dollars for an elegantly matted version that included a brief essay with Maureen’s historical commentary.

At VoiceQuilt, we’re always looking for new ways to capture family stories and preserve family history. When I spoke with Maureen, she told me that one of the historical photos from this promotion featured a young couple, a client’s great grandparents. The historic photo was taken shortly after the couple had moved from Pennsylvania to Hoboken, New Jersey. Maureen was able to provide a fun analysis of the couple’s clothing styles– as well as intriguing historical context for why Hoboken was the destination of choice! (Hint: A lot of Pennsylvania coal shipped to Hoboken during that era!) Her client gave the framed matte and essay to her mother as a Christmas gift.

Maureen will be offering these photo history gifts again on her site in February. She will also be offering a free monthly teleseminar where she answers questions about old photos submitted to her site. Maureen is also available for detailed hourly phone consulting.

Have an old family photo that mystifies you? Need a special gift for a Grandmother, family genealogist or family history buff in your life? Check out her site here.