Attribution and Licensing Notice for Modified Public Domain Images
Overview
GG Archives includes a significant number of public domain images, primarily in the Immigration and Steerage sections. Many of these originated from repositories such as the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and the New York Public Library (NYPL).
🌟 Core Collection vs. Public Domain Materials
The majority of images in GG Archives are derived from original ephemera and historical documents acquired through significant investment in passenger lists, brochures, ship menus, magazines, immigrant identification papers, and related archival materials. These items are scanned in-house and often restored for clarity, ensuring high-quality digital reproductions of rare and unique historical sources.
Public domain images — particularly those from repositories such as the U.S. Navy, Library of Congress, NARA, and NYPL — represent a smaller but important supplementary component of the archive. They are presented here with attribution and modification notes to provide additional historical context, especially in the Immigration and Military sections.
In the Military collections, especially the U.S. Navy section, images typically appear as “Official U.S. Navy Photos.” These may have been obtained through repositories, magazines, or archives, but are treated consistently under that designation.
📌 Modifications Made by GG Archives
- Removal of marginalia or borders (if distracting)
- Restoration from faded or aged originals
- Contrast or tonal enhancements
- Occasional colorization where historically appropriate
📸 Source Acknowledgment
To the best of our ability, GG Archives attempts to identify and acknowledge the original source when available. However, some images have lost attribution over the decades. When known, attribution will appear in the caption as:
- Official U.S. Navy Photograph
- Library of Congress
- National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
- New York Public Library (NYPL)
Editorial Policy:
We only work with clear, mostly clean images (not watermarked or stamped).
Many images undergo restoration or enhancement (cropping, tonal adjustments, or colorization) to make them suitable for online presentation.
Prior to 2010, public domain materials were grouped together in “PD” folders. Since 2010, we have adopted repository-specific tracking (LoC, NARA, NYPL, US Navy).
Some materials came from public domain databases in the early 2010s that lacked consistent attribution. In such cases, images may appear as “Public Domain – Source Unknown.”
When a public domain image was reproduced in a magazine article, attribution is made to the magazine, as that is the published source of record.
⚖️ Licensing & Use Restrictions
GG Archives does not license modified versions of government or public domain images from other institutions. If you need a high-resolution or unmodified version for legal or commercial use, you must consult the original repository.
Modified versions presented on GG Archives are intended solely for educational, genealogical, and historical research use.
🔍 Researcher's Note
Some repositories, such as NARA and LoC, may have specific restrictions on commercial reuse even if the image is believed to be in the public domain. We encourage you to visit their respective rights and reproduction policies for more information:
Note: This page also describes a structured dataset published by GG Archives. This dataset is indexed in academic catalogs and research databases to improve accessibility for students, genealogists, and historians.
📚 Suggested Citation
You may cite this page in your research using the following formats:
Chicago (17th edition):
Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives. Public Domain Image Attribution & Licensing Notice. Milwaukee, WI: GG Archives, 2000–2025. Accessed [insert date]. https://www.ggarchives.com/AboutUs/PublicDomainImageAttribution.html.
APA (7th edition):
Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives. (2000–2025). Public Domain image attribution & licensing notice. GG Archives. Retrieved [Month Day, Year], from https://www.ggarchives.com/AboutUs/PublicDomainImageAttribution.html
MLA (9th edition):
Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives. Public Domain Image Attribution & Licensing Notice. GG Archives, 2000–2025. Web. Accessed [Day Month Year]. https://www.ggarchives.com/AboutUs/PublicDomainImageAttribution.html.
Disclaimer: Inclusion of modified images on GG Archives does not imply that GG Archives holds copyright or licensing authority over the original work. All images are presented for educational and historical research use only.
For further information about a specific image, refer to the page where it appears or contact GG Archives.
