Does our past matter? Maybe not.

When I go to work in the morning, it makes little difference whether I know the names of the people who came before. But I do love the stories. Like the immigrant who fought and lost in the Siege of Charleston, the Confederate soldier who survived Bull Run only to become a lifelong cripple after he fell off a plank crossing a ditch on his way to the hospital for treatment of a respiratory infection. It's one thing to know in a vague way that my ancestors probably bought and sold slaves. But knowing the actual names of some of those slaves -- and having copies of the paperwork documenting how they were traded by my ancestors like bales of the cotton they picked -- brings me to a much more powerful realization of the reality of that heritage. Some stories make us swell with pride; others cause us to and cringe in shame.  

There are thousands of names in the database, including those of some who were quite prominent in various times -- including John Harewell, who is commemorated with brasses in St. Peter's Church, Wootton Wawen, Warwickshire, England.  And on my wife Kathy's side are the fascinating Donelsons, including Rachel Donelson, wife of President Andrew Jackson. (The Donelsons are

featured prominently in American Lion, Jon Meacham's new biography of Andrew Jackson.)

Most of the historical photos you see on these site have been deteriorating in cardboard boxes in various attics for years. Some were ruined completely. I got them from various places -- some when my father died, others from my sister, Anne. I even got some portraits of our grandparents from a distant cousin in California, who was kind enough to send them to me. 

Depending on the needs, I've been scanning these, storing them on disks, and touching them up in Photoshop. 

You can help, if you will, in several ways:

1. Download the photos online. Don't download them from this site -- these are just low-res versions to whet your appetite. Go to the full photo album at www.carlcarter.net/coppermine, where you can download high-resolution versions, which you can take to the store to get your own prints. You can also upload your own historical photos. Let's make sure they never again deteriorate in someone's attic!
2. Contribute your photos. What's rotting in your attic? Scan the photos and upload them for us all to see at the photo site. You'll have to register, but that just takes a minute. If you don't have a scanner, send them to me. I'll scan them and return the originals to you.
3. Register at this site. This will give you instant access to PDFs with extensive genealogical information on the Carter, Harwell, Summers, Donelson and related lines. You can also post names and other information that we can add to the family database. I invite you to ask questions, provide corrections, and pass on the stories you've heard. (Note: This registration is different from the photo site mentioned above. Sorry about that, but they're two different systems, and to use the best tool for each purpose, it's necessary.)
4. Pull together your own information and share it with us. Check your old Family Bibles. Scan birth certificates. Upload documents (PDFs etc.) and information to this site and photos to the photo site.
5. Interview your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and anybody else who's lived long enough to see things you can only read about in history books. I hate to think of all the opportunities I've missed. For years, I was around grandparents who had been born in the 1800s -- long before there were cars or airplanes, let alone computers and networks. Turn on your digital recorder and capture their voices. Transcribe what they tell you and upload it here. You can even upload MP3 sound files.
6. Think multimedia. For the moment, this site is all data, pictures and PDFs, but there's no reason we can't add video and sound. Think how cool it will be in 50 years of your grandchildren have a video of their great-grandfather talking about the history he's seen!
7. Most of all, spread this stuff around! I'll die one of these days, and if nobody else has this stuff, it may die with me. That's why I'm putting it online -- so we can all have it. Download the stuff. Burn disks and store them safely. Give copies to your kids, nieces, nephews, cousins, parents and anyone else who may someday have an interest.