![]() ![]() Once Brown has communicated with the family a bit, though, they almost always agree to take the heirloom back, she said. Usually, when Brown reaches out to a family, they think she's a scammer - "they think I'm looking for money." "Because in the end, some of the most fantastic, insane, craziest, most majestic movie-esque stories I've found have been behind the simplest of Join me as I try to find the descendants of this photo album from the 1800s □ Understanding history and genealgoy skillsets is vital to helping return these lost heirlooms to families! #genealogy #historybuff #historytok #myheritage #familymystery #familytree ♬ original sound - Chelsey Brown "I learned to understand the value behind the simplest of items," Brown said. More often than not, it's photos and the letters with the best stories to tell, not the expensive art or diamond jewels. People don't realize how many of their own ancestors' important items are being sold for a quick buck, she said, or collected by museums. ![]() ![]() "Dad, Mom, Grete, Lottchen and Hermann: no one is alive anymore."īrown said it was "such a powerful letter" and was just one example of the kind of items that are out there. "I am able to give you a sign of life from me after so many years," said the letter, which Brown had translated from German with some help from her followers. There was one letter Brown found in October 2021 written by a woman the day she was released from a concentration camp. ![]() "So this is my way of giving this generation and the generation under us, a family heirloom to have, to cherish, and to pass down." It's the simplest items that have the best stories Instead, she makes some money from selling journals to her fans so they can create their own time capsules. She told Insider that she thinks it's wrong to profit that way, and spends her own money getting them back to their families for free. She said there is an "underground market" for war-related letters and photos, where sentimental items can sell for thousands of dollars. "How can you keep their memory alive if you don't have those heirlooms? If you don't have their stories?" she asked.īrown said she prioritizes items from World War I or World War II, particularly if they are Holocaust-related. She now has more than 240,000 followers who come along for the ride as she finds the descendant families of WWII dog tags, decades-old school books, or a Valentine's Day card from the 1940s. "I remember thinking to myself, oh my gosh, all of these artifacts have such great stories to tell."īrown started collecting items that could be traceable to past owners, documenting the journey on TikTok as a hobby alongside a new career in interior design. "It would break my heart every time I would pass boxes of family heirlooms at the flea market - photo albums, jewelry, diaries, love letters, you name it," Brown told Insider. That's where she realized objects hold stories too. In her spare time, she would decorate friends' houses and apartments, seeking treasures at flea markets and antique shops. She started her career at ABC News as a TV producer, but always felt like there was something missing. She now has over 240,000 TikTok followers watching her work, and the moral dilemmas it can bring.Ĭhelsey Brown always loved telling stories - a passion that led her to fame on TikTok reuniting people with their own family history. She scours flea markets and antique shops finding lost treasures that she can send back. Chelsey Brownĭecorator and genealogist Chelsey Brown returns long lost heirlooms to families. Chelsey Brown and a diary she found at a flea market. ![]()
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