Keller Branches

The Idea

A family tree holds relationships and dates, but the stories often sit between the records: where people lived, how family lines moved, and which evidence supports a connection. I wanted relatives to explore those patterns without having to navigate a genealogy export.

The project also needed clear boundaries around privacy and certainty. Public pages should protect living relatives and distinguish a documented record from an imported assertion or a detail that still needs review.

Building a Family Atlas

I built Keller Branches as a Python/Flask application that turns GEDCOM family-tree data into searchable ancestor and descendant views, individual life-event pages, and a map of places and broad migration patterns.

The work connects parsing and normalization with relationship modeling, geographic exploration, and narrative design. Source-aware evidence labels and expandable citations let readers examine the basis for a story. Privacy rules keep living relatives out of the public experience by default.

What the Project Entails

• Transform structured genealogy exports into connected people, families, events, and places.
• Build searchable ancestor and descendant views alongside individual life-event and family-connection pages.
• Use maps and place pages to explore family origins and communities; map routes communicate broad patterns rather than exact travel itineraries.
• Make evidence and uncertainty visible through record citations and source-aware labels.
• Apply privacy rules before information reaches public pages, keeping living relatives private by default.

What It Demonstrates