10 Things that Every Young Genealogist Should be Doing
Welcome back!
Now this post feels a little click-bait-y and I feel a little bit of shame about this but I do think this structure is what I needed to get these points across so here I am, writing what feels like a Buzzfeed article.
Warning- a bit long...
Anyway, here are my top 10 most important things that a young genealogist (or any young person who think they might be interested in family history) should be doing....like....right now.
1. Talk to your family...and record it.
I admit, I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I haven't been great at this first point. It's kinda awkward to start this. These are the adults I saw only at family reunions and who still held the belief that children should be seen more than they are heard. It isn't easy to overcome that culture in my family and change the dynamic between us... but I'll sure as hell try. In two years that I've been researching, I have forced myself to get over that initial hump to really start talking to these people who hold so much of your past in their minds. You need to talk to them...before it's too late. To make your life easier, don't worry about fancy recording equipment or beautifully worded interview questions. Start small. Or rather, start large! Try recording at a family event. Ask one fun question and record everyone's responses. Next, try asking to record when everyone is sitting down to talk. Get them progressively more comfortable with the camera or the audio recording device and then ask for a sit down interview. If your family members are still pretty shy, try asking if you can do a group interview with someone else they are very comfortable with. They will have someone to bounce conversation off of and to jog memories. If none of that will work for your family. Take notes! This works wonders for my family. If sensitive family topics come up, I wait until later to write them down. But generally, I sit and jot down notes as family members speak. When I can, I write quotes from them...in the way that they actually speak!
I admit, I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I haven't been great at this first point. It's kinda awkward to start this. These are the adults I saw only at family reunions and who still held the belief that children should be seen more than they are heard. It isn't easy to overcome that culture in my family and change the dynamic between us... but I'll sure as hell try. In two years that I've been researching, I have forced myself to get over that initial hump to really start talking to these people who hold so much of your past in their minds. You need to talk to them...before it's too late. To make your life easier, don't worry about fancy recording equipment or beautifully worded interview questions. Start small. Or rather, start large! Try recording at a family event. Ask one fun question and record everyone's responses. Next, try asking to record when everyone is sitting down to talk. Get them progressively more comfortable with the camera or the audio recording device and then ask for a sit down interview. If your family members are still pretty shy, try asking if you can do a group interview with someone else they are very comfortable with. They will have someone to bounce conversation off of and to jog memories. If none of that will work for your family. Take notes! This works wonders for my family. If sensitive family topics come up, I wait until later to write them down. But generally, I sit and jot down notes as family members speak. When I can, I write quotes from them...in the way that they actually speak!
You being a young genealogist gives you so much precious time that you don't even realize is passing quickly. Take advantage of that. Don't let your anxiety and the awkwardness of the situation keep you from capturing memories from your loved ones.
Technology that might help:
Story Corps app- record and archive with the Library of Congress, all from this nifty app. They give you great pointers for an effective interview, plus you can get some examples from some great interviews they have posted!
2. Start writing things down!
Just because you're young doesn't mean the memories you have now are not important to put down in words. It doesn't have to be a full book or even an essay. You don't have to write about every small memory but some will be extra helpful in the future. For example, write about your grandparents. Describe them, their house, and any sweet memories you made with both. For me, all of my grandparents are gone and I spend a lot of writing time just jotting down dreamy memories of them. If you're not as sentimental as me, you could always just write down the facts. Write birthdays, family connections, house addresses, etc. Memories change and become less like the truth as we get older. Writing these things down now will ensure that you will always have a written account of things that matter to us as genealogists.
Just because you're young doesn't mean the memories you have now are not important to put down in words. It doesn't have to be a full book or even an essay. You don't have to write about every small memory but some will be extra helpful in the future. For example, write about your grandparents. Describe them, their house, and any sweet memories you made with both. For me, all of my grandparents are gone and I spend a lot of writing time just jotting down dreamy memories of them. If you're not as sentimental as me, you could always just write down the facts. Write birthdays, family connections, house addresses, etc. Memories change and become less like the truth as we get older. Writing these things down now will ensure that you will always have a written account of things that matter to us as genealogists.
My grandma left us a list style account of her grandparent's old farm. My writing below is inspired by that!
My Example:
Naomi Marler
pink clothes
girly
paintings on every wall
dress up dresses collected for us, put into the closet in the back room
front tree we climbed when she wasn't looking- grandma took down the bottom branch so we wouldn't get hurt
foxes coming up from the woods to her back yard at dawn
Grandma loved Dalmatians
old plastic rocking horse on the front porch
green plastic tractor- Chelsea (my cousin) and I would ride the tractor from the back of the house down the hill. It was a steep hill and we would go way too fast. Grandma hated it.
Barbies in the bathtub, one filled with water and grandma had to throw her away
Grandma's white hair
Grandma's pretty blue eyes
Grandma's soft cackle-y laugh
This doesn't have to be a story. This is just a collection of small fragments of memories. I stuck to the good one's here... but if you're like me and appreciate all that was real about a person and a memory you could add the not so great one's too if you like.
3. Join the Cause
Genealogy is not exactly a hot topic for young people right now...but that doesn't mean that it couldn't (or shouldn't) be. If you are reading this now, you are becoming interested in this hobby/passion at the right time. You see, you have the opportunity to join what I and so many others are trying to do right now. Start a community of genealogists in our age-range. In general, this hobby is enjoyed mostly by people who watched Roots when it was released and who probably started their research when it was still all paper based. They are AMAZING at what they do. We need to learn from them and keep this train going, and moving into the future. genealogy, especially genetic genealogy, has so much future ahead of it. I am passionate that it can find a substantial niche in younger generations, especially with social networking and technology the way it is today. If possible, find a community- online and IRL. Write a blog post or two, upload a tutorial, volunteer for find-a-grave, transcribe some records, read some blog posts (like you're doing now! Thank you!). Try to talk about your research with others, answer questions when others have them, be open to the community. It will help you, and it will bring people with similar passions closer together.
4. On that note, my fourth item is to Integrate Technology and Get Creative.
As a generation who have grown up with technology integrated into nearly every aspect of our life, we have an advantage when it comes to integrating that into our genealogy! We can find so many interesting and new ways to make genealogy work for us! Play around with different programs, use social media to your advantage, and always be on the lookout for apps or websites that could add a fun twist to your research.
Examples include Treelines which is a website where you can post your current tree and have your family collaborate with photos and stories.
Use Zotero or Evernote to keep logs and templates of genealogical importance.
Try using your favorite social media (like Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc) to find information you didn't know existed and meet family members!
5. Get your family member's DNA tested.
You really don't want to wait until its too late. It feels now like you have forever to do these things and focus on your research. It could be awkward to ask and it may be expensive. Do it anyway. I asked my family to pitch in to my fundraiser on PayPal. I used part of a tax return. I did what I needed to do. This is important for your research, and for anyone who comes after you.
When I started my research I didn't feel close with a majority of my extended family. I saw them once a year on average and pretty much only knew their names. I was nervous to start asking questions and asking people for things was difficult at first. But I did it and I will never regret that. Because I reached out and went out of my comfort zone, I got DNA tests from two of my grandmother's living siblings, I got information on all living cousins and where they are located today, and I got a box filled with family treasures from my grandmother's brother's widow. It is worth every bit of awkwardness, I promise.
6. Travel to the places your ancestors lived.
Travel today is nothing compared to in the past. If you can find the time, it IS worth it to go to the places that your ancestors lived. Find those repositories, the churches, the libraries, and the city halls to research. I don't know the actual percentage as it is changing constantly but trust me, not everything is online. This is a new world to me (I've only been researching for 2 years!) but I have already found interesting things in a historical society museum in a town near where my ancestors lived. Last time I went to visit, I found another platt map from 1909 which showed very clearly the farm where my great grandmother grew up. During the family reunion the week before our entire family lamented that no one could remember where my grandmother had shown them the old farm. Now here I had it plotted out for me on a detailed map- with my GGG uncle and aunt living right next door!
These places have been collecting for much longer than Ancestry or any other online database. It is worth checking in.
But even if you don't get very much in the form of documents, go for the land. Go to see what they once saw. The land that they chose to live their lives from, the neighborhoods where there children were raised, and the world in which they once existed. You will feel so close to them. Its worth your time.
7. Get a mentor.
This is something I'm in search of now. I'm trying to find someone with similar research interests who has been doing this for much longer than I have. I want to learn from them and to have a resource when I have questions. I know there are others out there who have been doing this SO much longer than I and they are a mine of information! There's no use reinventing the wheel when it comes to research. You could spend an entire lifetime making the mistakes and learning the lessons that someone else has already done. Learn from others - and do the same for future generations when you have reached that experience level.
8. Do Find-a-Grave research.
Sometimes the monotony of research can get a little frustrating... scan, print, search, add, switch back and forth to different sites, stare at the computer screen. Take a break from it and do some good! Find your closest cemetery and explore. To make it even more interesting, do Find-a-Grave research. Thousands of people have requested photos of their family's graves. YOU can be the one who does that for them. Not only is it fun like a scavenger hunt, it's also major points toward your genealogical karma score.
9. Share Your Research.
Unless there is some sort of extenuating circumstances, share your research. Please. Don't be the person that hoards family heirlooms, photos, documents, and trees. Be the person who shares it all. Start a Facebook page for your family where you post discoveries, open your family tree for people to be able to see, and bring items of genealogical importance (or at least photos of them) to family events.
My grandma was a great researcher, but not great at sharing. I'm trying to do my best to let all of my family know that my research and my collections, partially belong to them. It is their family too! I want them to get interested and to have a passion for our family's past. Don't discourage this by keeping everything to yourself. Find what works for your family, and share everything with those who are willing and interested. Again.... genealogical karma score....
10. Research further than the basics.
Genealogy starts with the basic family tree details- birth, marriage, death, and the like. But it can be so much more than that. Read about the history of the area, about prominent families close to yours, about the westward expansion, and about the culture there today. You will understand your family so much clearer if you know the world that they lived in. Research the lives of the people and the stories of the setting that surrounded your ancestor for their lives. Who knows, you might find more than you expected in one of these more indirect sources!
I know this post was long, but I felt it was important. Whatever you do, enjoy your research and honor those who came before us.
Love always and happy hunting,
Morgan
3. Join the Cause
Genealogy is not exactly a hot topic for young people right now...but that doesn't mean that it couldn't (or shouldn't) be. If you are reading this now, you are becoming interested in this hobby/passion at the right time. You see, you have the opportunity to join what I and so many others are trying to do right now. Start a community of genealogists in our age-range. In general, this hobby is enjoyed mostly by people who watched Roots when it was released and who probably started their research when it was still all paper based. They are AMAZING at what they do. We need to learn from them and keep this train going, and moving into the future. genealogy, especially genetic genealogy, has so much future ahead of it. I am passionate that it can find a substantial niche in younger generations, especially with social networking and technology the way it is today. If possible, find a community- online and IRL. Write a blog post or two, upload a tutorial, volunteer for find-a-grave, transcribe some records, read some blog posts (like you're doing now! Thank you!). Try to talk about your research with others, answer questions when others have them, be open to the community. It will help you, and it will bring people with similar passions closer together.
4. On that note, my fourth item is to Integrate Technology and Get Creative.
As a generation who have grown up with technology integrated into nearly every aspect of our life, we have an advantage when it comes to integrating that into our genealogy! We can find so many interesting and new ways to make genealogy work for us! Play around with different programs, use social media to your advantage, and always be on the lookout for apps or websites that could add a fun twist to your research.
Examples include Treelines which is a website where you can post your current tree and have your family collaborate with photos and stories.
Use Zotero or Evernote to keep logs and templates of genealogical importance.
Try using your favorite social media (like Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc) to find information you didn't know existed and meet family members!
5. Get your family member's DNA tested.
You really don't want to wait until its too late. It feels now like you have forever to do these things and focus on your research. It could be awkward to ask and it may be expensive. Do it anyway. I asked my family to pitch in to my fundraiser on PayPal. I used part of a tax return. I did what I needed to do. This is important for your research, and for anyone who comes after you.
When I started my research I didn't feel close with a majority of my extended family. I saw them once a year on average and pretty much only knew their names. I was nervous to start asking questions and asking people for things was difficult at first. But I did it and I will never regret that. Because I reached out and went out of my comfort zone, I got DNA tests from two of my grandmother's living siblings, I got information on all living cousins and where they are located today, and I got a box filled with family treasures from my grandmother's brother's widow. It is worth every bit of awkwardness, I promise.
6. Travel to the places your ancestors lived.
Travel today is nothing compared to in the past. If you can find the time, it IS worth it to go to the places that your ancestors lived. Find those repositories, the churches, the libraries, and the city halls to research. I don't know the actual percentage as it is changing constantly but trust me, not everything is online. This is a new world to me (I've only been researching for 2 years!) but I have already found interesting things in a historical society museum in a town near where my ancestors lived. Last time I went to visit, I found another platt map from 1909 which showed very clearly the farm where my great grandmother grew up. During the family reunion the week before our entire family lamented that no one could remember where my grandmother had shown them the old farm. Now here I had it plotted out for me on a detailed map- with my GGG uncle and aunt living right next door!
These places have been collecting for much longer than Ancestry or any other online database. It is worth checking in.
But even if you don't get very much in the form of documents, go for the land. Go to see what they once saw. The land that they chose to live their lives from, the neighborhoods where there children were raised, and the world in which they once existed. You will feel so close to them. Its worth your time.
7. Get a mentor.
This is something I'm in search of now. I'm trying to find someone with similar research interests who has been doing this for much longer than I have. I want to learn from them and to have a resource when I have questions. I know there are others out there who have been doing this SO much longer than I and they are a mine of information! There's no use reinventing the wheel when it comes to research. You could spend an entire lifetime making the mistakes and learning the lessons that someone else has already done. Learn from others - and do the same for future generations when you have reached that experience level.
8. Do Find-a-Grave research.
Sometimes the monotony of research can get a little frustrating... scan, print, search, add, switch back and forth to different sites, stare at the computer screen. Take a break from it and do some good! Find your closest cemetery and explore. To make it even more interesting, do Find-a-Grave research. Thousands of people have requested photos of their family's graves. YOU can be the one who does that for them. Not only is it fun like a scavenger hunt, it's also major points toward your genealogical karma score.
9. Share Your Research.
Unless there is some sort of extenuating circumstances, share your research. Please. Don't be the person that hoards family heirlooms, photos, documents, and trees. Be the person who shares it all. Start a Facebook page for your family where you post discoveries, open your family tree for people to be able to see, and bring items of genealogical importance (or at least photos of them) to family events.
My grandma was a great researcher, but not great at sharing. I'm trying to do my best to let all of my family know that my research and my collections, partially belong to them. It is their family too! I want them to get interested and to have a passion for our family's past. Don't discourage this by keeping everything to yourself. Find what works for your family, and share everything with those who are willing and interested. Again.... genealogical karma score....
10. Research further than the basics.
Genealogy starts with the basic family tree details- birth, marriage, death, and the like. But it can be so much more than that. Read about the history of the area, about prominent families close to yours, about the westward expansion, and about the culture there today. You will understand your family so much clearer if you know the world that they lived in. Research the lives of the people and the stories of the setting that surrounded your ancestor for their lives. Who knows, you might find more than you expected in one of these more indirect sources!
I know this post was long, but I felt it was important. Whatever you do, enjoy your research and honor those who came before us.
Love always and happy hunting,
Morgan
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