So what is a “family historian”?
Fun fact – Merriam-Webster does not have a definition for family historian. And that is our usual “go to” source, right?
Well, trust me, in my years of doing photo scrapbooking as a hobby and later as a business, I have run into many family historians – and they tend to fall into 2 camps:
First – you have the genealogist style collector of the family’s memorabilia, photos, and documents who loves working online sources and visits library collections to document and complete the ancestral lines of their family. Generally, we think of them as data-driven — focusing on raw data and evidentiary records.
Second – the person in the family who is somehow ending up with the previous generations’ collections of boxes which hold photos, memorabilia, and documents. This is at times because they happened to take photos at reunions and events, shared them with the family and got labeled “family photo taker”. Or they might have gone through a photo album phase – and word got out to family members. Oh dear.
There is another factor that enters the picture – aging.
Yep, when you get to be the last living generation in your family, you probably have (as I do) the boxes of grandparents’ photos, funeral notices, and memorabilia handed down to your parents who added their photos, funeral notices and memorabilia and when you cleaned out their homes, you got to add those boxes to your own photo/memorabilia boxes. Sound familiar?
Of course, you might fall into my camp which is a bit of a hybrid.
As a newly-married without children, I found myself attending a Genealogical Society meeting in Boulder, Colorado. Intrigued, I talked to the grandmother in my husband’s family who was thrilled that someone was even interested – much less collecting info. She told me she would write a couple of old maid aunts back east who knew some stories.
Sure enough, they responded with a letter she shared with me. Something was also said about “skeletons in a closet” and they attached a name to the person. I was on “the hunt” and actually found a newspaper story in a book at the University’s library in the genealogical section. Sure enough, the named ancestor who might have been a Pinkerton detective shot someone of political importance in the night after much drinking by seemingly everyone. Though specifics were missing, it was an intriguing story to which I quickly and properly attached documentation of the source, etc.
Along came children, moves to different cities, careers, divorce, another move, law school as a single mom, second marriage, litigator career and busy, busy, busy. OK, a little time was given to taking photos here and there, but that was it!
And then, someone introduced me to creating photo albums – it was a fun hobby. And the family began to ask for copies. Eventually, as my kids married and had kids, I got a DSLR camera. Why? All the pictures of the grandkids were blurs – grandkids run ALL the time. With the DSLR, I could capture “action” photos – of them, their sports, etc.
You got it – I was labeled the family photographer.
And then, my grandparents were gone – their pictures and memorabilia landed with my parents. And then, my parents were gone – well, thankfully my mom, the last to go, had put her family photos she had in “unsafe” albums. I just HAD to transfer those to “safe” albums. As my sister and I cleaned out their house, she gave me all the photos & memorabilia boxes because I was the “family historian”. See how that works?
So here I am – last generation – thinking about how I want to get what I have in all those boxes in shape for passing along to the next generations. And I need to hop to it!
Yes, a few years ago I joined the Castle Rock genealogical society (I highly recommend them – www.crcgs.org). I began to learn more of the genealogy methods and information. But honestly, I still was drawn to just use the facts and data to outline ancestor lives. What really got me excited was to learn stories about the times and situations they lived in and weave what I had inherited about them around the info I got in genealogical searches. Then pulling that into a narrative of their Life Stories really was my goal.
You see? I am a hybrid – and I am quite happy to be in that camp. I am equally as interested in reconstructing what those ancestors’ lives were like, and learning about other members of their families.
We look at those who came before us, to our past, as a source of inspiration and gratitude, for guidance, a sense of belonging, and for wisdom and experience. And yes, studies show that the power of reminiscence improves not just emotional health, but also physical health.
According to Demko’s Family Storytelling Boosts Health, the restorative power of nostalgia lowers the heart rate, improves memory and mood, reduces depression and stress, and increases a sense of overall physical well-being.
So, why am I taking you down this road? Ok, partly because it has been my journey, also. But you never dreamed being a family historian would be a health boost, right? I do believe it.
So I would be remiss if I did not share that my absolute treasure is finding the tools available at FOREVER that aid me in this search and preservation work. Yes, I loved learning of the permanent storage (not rented, but owned) which will be available to our family for my lifetime plus 100 years along with the caretaking of changing the modalities of the audio, video, photo and documents stored. My account managers will share these for years to come.
BUT, another wonderful tool was an improved service on which I just attended a training this week – their Family Research department has added a “coaching” service. They had in place the Research Projects where they will do research for you, which I plan to use. But they have added a less-expensive option now of “Coaching Projects”.
The new Coaching Projects are perfect for the family genealogist who loves doing their own research but still needs help. Their expert genealogists meet you “where you are” in your research to provide personalized monthly coaching sessions helping you set goals, stay on task, learn new skills and get feedback on what you find.
I can’t wait! My great-great grandfather who was only a stick figure in the one photo my mother had – and she knew no real stories about him – was in both the Indian wars in the 1850’s and the Civil War in 1855. My research turned up the fact that there is a pension request filed by him – I even have the official number assigned to it.
Unfortunately, it is housed at NARA – National Archives and Records Administration. They do not respond to phone calls, online or mailed requests. Short of going in person to Washington, D.C., there is no way for me to get a copy of his pension. And those are documents that hold a LOT of personal information about the person. OK, FOREVER Family Research – here I come!
Which camp are you in? Or are you a hybrid like me? Either way, if you are in my shoes of needing a little Research help or other “family historian” help (whether it is with managing the family historian boxes, their contents, digitizing them, etc. or if it is with locating a historical document like my “pension” search) – then feel free to jump on a call with me and ask your questions. Click on a convenient link to set time for a brief call HERE.
