If you’re an avid family historian, chances are you’ve wandered around a graveyard more than once searching for ancestors. Regardless of whether you are an old pro, or a beginner, you’ll find there are several handy tools to have with you when visiting a graveyard to archive history. Be sure to include…
When I first began collecting postcards, I was primarily interested in cards with local images. I gradually expanded my collection to include holiday and birthday postcards. One day, while browsing through a large rack of postcards at an antique store, I noticed several cards that were all sent to the same address. At that point, my interest in old postcards converged with my lifelong interest in family history…
Camera phones are a very popular way to take pictures. Though they can’t do all the same things as a digital or DSLR camera, they are comparable. Even better, smartphone cameras fit easily in a pocket or purse, so they can (and usually do) always travel with you, making taking photos a snap. But, in order to get the most out of your smartphone photos, you’ll need to know how to use it to its fullest potential. Are you utilizing these handy and features that are included with your camera?
In November 2008, I was recovering from rotator cuff surgery, and trying to come up with Christmas gifts for family members. At the time, I was hearing a lot about MyCanvas in various press releases on genealogy blogs. MyCanvas is an online program in which you can create personalized items like family history books, recipe books…
“Mommy, where did you get that?”
Hmmm… where did I get that? Did it belong to my grandmother? Or was it my mother’s? Wait… if it was my mother’s, where did she get it? And how did I end up with it? With the everyday busy-ness of life, work, and family, I have found it increasingly difficult to remember my own name some days, much less where I got that antique candy dish.
Today, people are living longer than they did a generation ago. The family landscape has changed dramatically as well. Yet, no matter how long we live, how often we change addresses, the one thing that will always exist is your family’s heritage; that which is passed from one generation to the next that tells about a way of life, traditions and culture.
Discovering your family’s history is a thrilling endeavor. Learning family stories, finding heirlooms, and discovering where you came from can link a person to their past and help them establish a brighter future. But as exciting as that journey can be, it can also be overwhelming when just getting started. Where do you begin? Where do you find information about your family, especially if many of your ancestors are already deceased? Here are some tips to help you begin family history.
A family history book seems an impossible feat at times.
How does one convert years of research into some semblance of stories and organize those stories along with pictures and documents into a book?
Many years ago, in the very early dawn of the internet, a complete stranger sent me an e-mail from Israel about his genealogical research into the family of Ludwig Bodenheimer. Ludwig was my great grandfather’s brother. I’d only recently discovered that he even had a brother, and that we had living Bodenheimer relatives here in the US.
Family Friday is something that I like to promote to help strengthen family bonds and get families involved in genealogy & family history. From one family historian to another, I’m sure you can relate to sometimes feeling like you’re on a genealogy island alone when relatives don’t always seem to share the same enthusiasm as you do. Sometimes they don’t know they’re enthused until you get them enthused (smile)! That’s where these Family Friday activities come in!
