Bob Taylor, CEO of The Family History Guide, L3C, has been actively doing family history for over 25 years. He has combined his passion for genealogy with his background in instructional design to produce a new learning resource for family history—The Family History Guide.
"I'm excited to be part of a breakthrough in how people learn and get involved with family history. Our vision is to raise the number of people involved in family history, worldwide, and help them be more successful."
Find Stories You can Upload to Memories
As you begin to make a family tree, remember that a family history is more than just a collection of names and dates. By adding the stories that you remember about your ancestors, you can bring your family history to life.
Locate stories of interest in your personal collections, including letters, family books, and personal memories.
Suggestions for some stories ... think about how you can preserve similar stories from your own family:
The Love Story
The touching story of how her father won over her mother makes us want to record how our parents and grandparents fell in love.
The Holiday TraditionFamily traditions are often passed down for generations, even after the reason for those traditions have been forgotten. Decades from now, think how much your grandchildren will love hearing the little ways your family made holidays special.
The Family Adventure Story:
Most children don’t remember the most exciting moments of their young lives. Think about the time your parents or grandparents took you on a big adventure. Wouldn’t it be nice to save those stories in our family tree maker software so that your own children can learn about the adventures you had in your youth?
The Story Behind Treasured PossessionsAs we travel through life, we collect mementos rich with memories. Yet when someone passes away, the story behind those treasured possessions are often forgotten.
It inspired us to learn more about the everyday objects that matter to the people who matter to us.
5 Strategies to Inspire Relatives to Share Family Stories
To help you and your relatives start the discussion about meaningful family stories, we’ve asked five leading family history experts how they evoke stories of the past. Follow the five steps below to learn how to spark family history conversations with your loved ones.
1. Begin with Baby Steps
“Grandma, can we look at that old photo album together again? I’d just love to get one or two of your quick stories recorded.”
2. Create a Starting Point
Write down facts that you already know about their life. That way you can begin a family history conversation by asking about specific events such as births, marriages, deaths, house moves, or job changes.
3. Sharpen Your Focus
“A question like ‘Tell me about your childhood’ will often be answered with ‘There isn’t much to tell’ or ‘You don’t want to hear about that.’”
To help your relatives find interesting stories to share from their past, Amy recommends asking about specific events or activities. Use questions such as:
- “What was your favorite (or least favorite) chore when you were a child?”
4. Seek Different Perspectives
Next time you’re at a family event, start off a story with “Remember when…” and keep talking until someone chimes in. Make sure you take notes or record the stories. Reminiscing about when you and your siblings secretly raced boxes down the stairs can inspire an older relative to reveal their own youthful shenanigans.
5. Recruit a Family History Team
Share stories and photos with relatives. Not only does this bring your family closer together, it also inspires others to contribute. For example, publish old family photos on a blog and ask relatives to comment with their own memories.
Easy Steps to Use Photos to Research Your Family History
Old photos are an easy way to start researching your family history. They spark memories for your relatives, help you get to know the people behind the names in your family tree, and are an engaging way to learn more about your family history.
Perhaps you've wondered, “Who are they? What’s the story behind those photos that make them special to my family?”
Find old family photos that pique your curiosity
Select one compelling photo to share
Although it’s tempting to share an entire album, Rachel recommends starting small. She’s found people share more in-depth stories when asked about a single photo. If you ask about too many photos at once, you risk overwhelming relatives or making it unclear where to start.To find a good photo to start researching your family history, look for one that piques your curiosity, or that you have heard talked about in the past.
Ask relatives to contribute.
Rachel finds that people are more likely to share their memories when directly asked. A simple “Hey, I just found this photo of grandma when she was newly married. Do you have any memories about her?” can inspire your family to share their stories.
Other helpful APPS
StoryWorth (free 30 day trial)
“StoryWorth brings memories to life and facilitates the preservation of memories and personal histories through simple question prompts emailed directly to users each week. . . . In time, with minimal effort and using only technology that’s already familiar, users create their personal histories, one story at a time.
All storytellers are sent one question each week, and they can answer that question or choose a different question to answer. With 600 interesting and unexpected questions to choose from, ranging from light and frivolous (“Did you ever pull any pranks?”) to deep and introspective (“What has strengthened your faith?”), the storytellers found it simple to find questions that appealed to them. Storytellers can also add photos and audio clips to illustrate the story.
Twile
Twile turns your FamilySearch tree into a free and private visual timeline of everything that has ever happened in your family. It is designed to make family history more engaging and accessible to the whole family, especially the younger generations.
Rachel finds that people are more likely to share their memories when directly asked. A simple “Hey, I just found this photo of grandma when she was newly married. Do you have any memories about her?” can inspire your family to share their stories.
Other helpful APPS
StoryWorth (free 30 day trial)
“StoryWorth brings memories to life and facilitates the preservation of memories and personal histories through simple question prompts emailed directly to users each week. . . . In time, with minimal effort and using only technology that’s already familiar, users create their personal histories, one story at a time.
All storytellers are sent one question each week, and they can answer that question or choose a different question to answer. With 600 interesting and unexpected questions to choose from, ranging from light and frivolous (“Did you ever pull any pranks?”) to deep and introspective (“What has strengthened your faith?”), the storytellers found it simple to find questions that appealed to them. Storytellers can also add photos and audio clips to illustrate the story.
Twile
Twile turns your FamilySearch tree into a free and private visual timeline of everything that has ever happened in your family. It is designed to make family history more engaging and accessible to the whole family, especially the younger generations.
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