Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Photo Archives Project The Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Photo Archives Project aims to (1) make rare ancestral and local history photographs accessible, (2) identify unknown photograph subjects and (3) educate and involve local organizations as well as the general public. The project began in 2003, when James “Fuzzy” Randolph, curator of the Waynesburg College Museum (now Waynesburg University), introduced me to the institution’s senior class photographs of 1852-1938. Such a rare collection and untapped resource for ancestor photographs led to the realization that other such collections must exist and that all such collections should be made available to anyone who would be interested in seeing them. The project truly took form in 2005, when a conversation resulted in the sharing of the Helen Mae (Jacobs) Fonner Collection by George and Anna (Fonner) Blystone. Since then the project has grown and evolved to include thousands of photographs from numerous Greene County, Pennsylvania families.

The Greene Connections web site and all related projects are free and have been researched and compiled on a volunteer basis. Photographs have been shared by families, individuals and local repositories such as the Cornerstone Genealogical Society, Greene County Historical Society and Waynesburg University Museum. Contributor credit and photograph citation information are maintained and displayed with every photograph.

The Photo Archives Project can be viewed in two ways: (1) as digital images online at www.greeneconnections.com (visit the Photo Archives home page) or (2) as photograph reproductions at the Cornerstone Genealogical Society (First Greene County Courthouse – Annex, 144 East Greene Street, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania).

In order to protect copyrights and privacy of living persons, photos are primarily limited to the years pre-1930. Exceptions have been made at the request of families and with the permission of the copyright holder and/or living persons featured. If you see data or photos on this site that you believe to be inappropriate or incorrectly documented please contact Candice Buchanan.

Photos are organized into collections, which in most cases are labeled to reflect the creator or contributing family. Collections are not limited to the family names reflected in their titles. Many families collected photographs of extended family, friends and occasionally of events and locations in their area, as well. Be sure to search collection indexes for names of interest.

Requesting High-Resolution Images

In many cases, the photographs displayed on the web site have been reduced to smaller, faster-loading versions for ease of use. However, almost every photo on the site has a high-resolution version that can be provided to anyone interested by emailing the COLLECTION NAME and ITEM # to Candice Buchanan. Please note that some photos shared with Greene Connections have not been provided as high-resolution files. Though it is our request and scanning policy that all photos be provided at high-resolution, not all contributors are able to do so.

Ordering Photograph Reproductions

Because the Greene Connections Photo Archive Project is a volunteer operation, we have arranged for photograph reproductions to be ordered directly. To do so:

(1) Identify the photograph you want reproduced by its COLLECTION NAME and ITEM #
(2) Go online to http://greeneconnections.shutterfly.com/ where you will see Collections organized alphabetically. Click on the appropriate Collection title and then locate the desired Item #.
(3) Follow Shutterfly directions for ordering. Various size prints may effect photo cropping so be sure to view the Preview option for each photo on the order form to ascertain that you are satisfied with the appearance. You can adjust cropping and other photo details once you create your account.

Shutterfly limits the text that can be printed on the back of the photographs, so I recommend that you copy and paste photograph information, particularly the citation, from the photograph’s online display. This information can be easily printed to a label and stuck onto your photograph reproduction when it arrives to assure correct identification and documentation.

Identifying Photographs Shared By Others / Correcting Photograph Information

Please contact Candice Buchanan if you can identify a person or subject in a photograph, have additional information about a photograph, have a correction to a photograph's data, have a better version of a photograph, etc.

Sharing Your Photographs

Your participation in any of the Greene Connections projects is very much encouraged and desired! These projects are all that they are because of generous researchers and relatives sharing their family photos and information.

Please keep copyright and privacy issues in mind and please understand that any material shared with Greene Connections that does not meet the standard of the guidelines stated above may not be able to be posted.

When sharing photos you have several options. You can scan and then email or burn a CD; you can visit a local photo or copy shop to have them scan and then create a CD or make photo quality reprints; or if you live in or are visiting in the Waynesburg, Pennsylvania area you can meet with Candice to have your photos scanned directly to the Greene Connections photo archive files. CDs and photo reprints can be mailed to Candice Buchanan, 63 W. Franklin St., Waynesburg, PA 15370. With any photo submissions please provide your full contact information so that you can be given appropriate credit and be contacted for any further information needed.

If you are going to scan photos or have someone scan photos for you, please follow these steps:

(1) Photographs in an album or other layout in which they are particularly arranged, should be submitted in original order. Context clues will otherwise be lost.
(2) Scan all photos in a full color setting, not in grayscale or black and white.
(3) Scan all photos at the highest quality setting, ideally at least 600 dpi (if necessary you can use 300 dpi, but please no smaller).
(4) Writing or photographer stamps on the back of the photos should be scanned as well so that your photo can be correctly documented.
(5) Save each photo as a tiff file (or if desired, a jpg file at the highest quality setting, ideally 90-100%).
(6) Do not alter the size or allow your email to shrink the photo when sending.

Please understand that photos not meeting these requirements may not be able to be used in the Greene Connections photo archives.

Feel free to contact Candice with any questions about what you have and how best to share it with Greene Connections.