Researching your family’s history makes it possible for you to leave a legacy of memories for future generations.
I’ve chronicled the story of my grandmother, Albine, and her story will be available to my grandchildren, their grandchildren, and descendants after them.
As a photo coach, I show my clients how to safeguard their memories like I’ve done.
Here’s how to research your family and share their story.
Let’s get started with a compelling reason to research your family line.
Why research family history?
Your family, like mine, has stories stretching back generations and centuries with stories that are perplexing and others that are inspiring.
How did families live through crisis moments like loss of loved ones, world wars, and depressions?
What challenges did they face and how did they persevere through those?
Your family’s legacy can offer hope to those in the future who come across to read and see the memories that you’ve compiled.
Take note: your goal isn’t to capture every single story, photo, video or other memory but you want to preserve and safeguard the most meaningful memories.
Step 1 Choose your tools
I use FOREVER®, an all-in-one memory keeping system.
The platform lets me easily:
Digitize old files from printed photos and VHS tapes to slide shows, audio cassettes, and more;
Store files for a lifetime plus 100 years and with the goal of storing even longer, guaranteed;
Write brief or detailed descriptions of photos, videos, and other files like I’ve done with my grandmother in this photo with my daughter;
Research your family’s history with the help of FOREVER®’s professional genealogists;
Create photo books, like thinking-of-you mementos or books of one’s life and give meaningful gifts all year long.
Step 2 Interview living relatives and digitize files
Talk to your cousins and oldest living relatives about where they grew up and stories that they remember.
If you’re looking through family photos, letters, or other memories and something seems puzzling then ask them to help fill in missing pieces of information. They may know someone on a video or in a photo that you don’t know.
And they may know why that person or place is significant.
Step 3 Go farther back in time with free records and professional assistance
There are numerous places to access free records to aid in your search. Some cities and small towns have historical societies. They may have information on specific family members, but they’ll certainly have newspaper clippings and records to show what an area was like.
I’m from Southern California which is known for its urban sprawl over hundreds of miles.
In the city of Downey, known as home to legendary pop singers Karen and Richard Carpenter, houses and streets are clustered between the 605 freeway to the east and the 710 freeway to the west.
It’s an urban-suburbia setting and yet it’s still the headquarters of Rockview Farms, a popular dairy.
Visit the Downey Historical Society and you can find documents of dairy farms operating as recently as the 1960s and stories of fires burning down barns in the ‘50s.
Downey, Cerritos, and Artesia were known for dairy farms in the early part of the 20th century.
Your town, county, and state or province in Canada will have historical societies.
A link to listing of historical societies is below.
Step 4 Digitize older files and upload to FOREVER®
Researching your family can help you declutter older files and let you digitize them so that they’re ready to be permanently stored.
Gather all your older files from photos and video tapes to slide shows, handwritten letters, audio tapes and more.
Keep them in one spot and begin sifting through the ones you want to keep and the ones you want to discard.
I’ve written about this before. Scroll to the end of this post for a link to a previous post.
Step 5 Chronicle the files
This is a fun part and gives you a chance to relive your memories or imagine what life was like those many years ago.
FOREVER® is a powerful tool since it gives you space to type in data about the file as you can see in the above photo and describe what people are seeing.
You can write something brief like identifying the people or what the video clip is about and why it’s important. It may be inspiring or instructive or both. Imagine. This photo of me and my siblings has been digitized and safely stored thanks to FOREVER®
There’s space to write a longer narrative, too, with full paragraphs and tell a complete story. That way, people who access the files many decades from now will know why it’s important.
FOREVER® for future generations
Take note: family research is a fun hobby and can be a serious pursuit, but remember that this isn’t a task you’re doing just for you.
You want the legacy to be accessible and meaningful for future generations who you’ll never meet.
FOREVER® is the best permanent storage solution that I’ve found.
As I wrote above, your files are guaranteed to last for a lifetime, plus 100 years and with the goal of being accessible well beyond that time frame. The FOREVER® Guarantee Fund will migrate your files to newest formats when the current format becomes obsolete. No extra cost to you, your children, and future generations.
You own your account so you’re in control and your files are stored in their original size and are never compressed.
There are more benefits that I’ll be glad to share about and how it benefits your family research.
How can I help you research and safeguard your family story?
I’m a photo coach because I believe family stories have value and meaning that must be passed along to future generations. I would love to coach you through the process to achieve your photo goals.
Do you have questions about researching your family history and the best ways to safeguard your files?
If so, contact me and let’s set a time to visit and I’ll be glad to help as I can.
Enjoy this post on decluttering and digitizing
Let’s Declutter and Digitize Your Older Holiday Photos and Videos and Store Them with the Newest Ones
Historical Preservation Societies via Preservation Directory.com