| 
A Look Back Through the Years 
| We all know that when we look back on the years gone by in our busy lives, our memory of important events begins tofade. Unlike many families, who have lost touch with their past, our family has been fortunate to have saved many important articles and photos which document a surprisingly long history. Especially now that our family has spread out to the four corners of America and with the new millenium upon us, I thought it an appropriate time to combine the early days of our pioneering family, with the early days of this new medium, the internet. As a third generation photographer in my family, my original idea for this page was to simply go through the myriad of negatives and prints that have been collecting dust in my parent's cellar for many years, select a few good ones, do a little photoshop work to clean them up and display them on this site for you. |  | That would be too easy! | | As time goes on, I increasingly realize the value of our documented history and the affect that it has had on my life. It goes much deeper than just a bunch of photos of my parents generation thrown in an old shoe box. | Take a look at some of the treasures which must be sorted through before they can be displayed here: -
More than one hundred 4x5 inch and 5x7 inch glass negatives from my father's family, dating to the beginning of the 20th century. The photographer is unknown, but we believe that my grandfather, Jan Kana is responsible for many of the elaborate posing sessions. -
A genealogy which has been traced back on three lines to the Mayflower and the first settlements in America. Thanks to Ted and Jere Austin for the research they have done on this! -
Letters dating from 1791, by various ancestors that were kept by Sarah Elizabeth Hegeman. Recently they survived a basement flood! -
A story about my great, grandfather, Mathias Steuczek, in which he narrowly escaped death in the Austria-Hungary and Turkish war and then was persecuted for his religious beliefs before coming to America. -
Documentation of publicized events which took place 70+ years ago, complete with photos and 16mm film shot by Herb Austin. | | When you add the thousands of photographic prints and negatives in varying quality covering the last one hundred years to go through and retouch, I might have to quit my day job! | |  | | But, I won't do that yet. I've decided to add new photos and historical info periodically, when time and resources permit. So, come back and visit often, and don't be surprised if you see (and hear) some things that you didn't know, or were long forgotten. Yours truly, might even make acameoappearance! | | I encourage you to e-mailme with your comments, suggestions, corrections or addenda! For a word on obtaining copies of these images, click here. 
My sight grows worse and worse as time marches on. Perhaps you're having trouble seeing the people in this picture too!
Try these glasses! | | Click on the Album you would like to view All photos © 2002 the Austin-Kana archives This family album was designed and constructed byTitus Kana
|
