Autobiography Session Information

Joe Bott was leading a double life until early in 2016. A US Navy Veteran, he earned degrees from Glassboro State/Rowan University and Rutgers in Biology and retired from Tyson Food in April of 2016. His love of pictorial history and identifying people and places began long ago, but his internet service began in 2001.

In 1998, Joe was literally bitten by the bug. No, not the infamous genealogy one, but a humble mosquito. This lead to a, still relatively rare, case of encephalitis.  This left him with much time during his recuperation. It was during this time he began his family history, where his love of historical photos sparked an idea for utilizing the internet for good: Identify photos and reunite orphan photos with families. Dead Fred launched - over a dial-up connection - with 2,000 of Joe's own 15,000 photos, and has continued to grow.

More about Joe and Dead Fred can be found at http://dosouthmagazine.com/dead-fred/, by Marla Cantrell