Identifying Sources of Family Information
In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage—to know who we are and where we have come from. Without this enriching knowledge there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainment in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness and the most disquieting loneliness.
Genealogy is
research. As with any historical research project, knowing where to look
for information is part of the answer to the research question. So, if
the subject of our research is our family and ancestors, where do we begin
to look for information?
The search for answers
begins at home. Most families have a treasure trove of family information,
right at their fingertips, that contains names of ancestors and important
dates.
Listed below are typical family documents. Most families will not have every item, but almost all families will have at least one.
- Bibles and Prayer Books
- Letters and Diaries
- Scrapbooks
- School Annuals or Yearbooks
- Photographs and Home Movies
- Family Papers
- Heirlooms (artifacts)
- Memoirs and Autobiographies
Family Bibles are especially useful for providing clues to names and dates. In the late 1700s, newly married couples customarily received Bibles as wedding presents. These Bibles had blank pages for recording marriages, births and baptisms of children, deaths, and other important family rites. If your family has a family Bible, you will likely have a great head start on your genealogical research.
NOTE: Always check the publication date of the Bible. Events listed in the Bible that took place before the publication date were recorded after the event took place. For example, your family Bible was published in 1955. In it, your grandfather’s birthday is listed as April 24, 1943. That means that someone recorded your grandfather’s birthday at least twelve years after he was born and relied on memory for the information. So double-check that date!
Letters
and Diaries
Letters and diaries
are excellent sources of not only names and dates but also more detailed
personal information. Before the mid- to late 1800s, intercontinental travel
was rare for most Americans. Families separated by large distances might
never see one another. Many letters, therefore, contained descriptions
of family members, especially younger children who had never been seen.
Diaries and letters also give us information on daily life and our ancestors’
opinions on topics of the day. The handwriting itself reveals something
about the writer.
Scrapbooks
A scrapbook is usually
a cornucopia of family documents: letters, postcards, party invitations,
birthday cards, wedding and birth announcements, newspaper clippings, certificates
and awards, photographs, ticket stubs, grammar school report cards, programs
from plays or recitals, maybe even a lock of baby hair!
School
Annuals or Yearbooks
See what your mom
looked like as a teenager. Find out the extracurricular events in which
Grandpa participated, or learn that your aunt was voted “most likely to
succeed.” Use yearbooks to learn about popular culture during the twentieth
century. You’ll find yearbooks in public libraries in many towns and in
school libraries.
Photographs
and Home Movies
Hopefully, most
of your family photographs are labeled with names and dates. Sometimes
you don’t need a label to recognize a member of your family, no matter
how far removed. (Everyone on your maternal grandfather’s side, for instance,
may have very large ears.) In the 1800s and early 1900s, photographers
mounted photographs on cards containing their name and address. These cards
give clues about where photographs were taken. In Lesson 7, you’ll look
at photographs in greater detail.
Family
Papers
Families keep various
papers for various reasons. These papers include deeds, wills, marriage
licenses, voter registration cards, immigration papers, Social Security
cards and receipts, military discharge papers, and membership cards from
professional and social organizations. Family papers can be a source of
vital statistics and can provide background on a family’s interests and
socioeconomic status.
Heirlooms
(artifacts)
Family heirlooms
are often sentimental sources of family information. Certain heirlooms,
such as samplers or quilts, often contain names and dates. Other treasured
objects have stories or family legends associated with them that are also
passed from generation to generation. Sometimes family legend is just that,
a legend that has grown beyond the truth to something larger. But some
family legends are true. Genealogists should strive to verify truths through
research and supporting documentation.
Memoirs
and Autobiographies
Memoirs and autobiographies,
like letters and diaries, are good sources of family information. They
paint mental pictures of particular people at a particular time. Unlike
letters and diaries, these documents were intended to be read by many people.
The author tells us what he wants us to think, thereby, revealing
a great deal about himself.
Your club may consist of members who have been adopted into their families, have blended families through remarriage, or have extra or nontraditional parents or family members. These club members may wonder whom they should research for their genealogy project.
Environment plays an important role in determining who we are. Many people believe it is as important as genes. Adopted children may more closely resemble their adoptive parents than their biological parents in mannerisms, attitudes, and beliefs. You share a common history with your family.
Club members who do not share a common heredity with their families still share a common environment. Genealogy is the study of family, whether linked by genes or by circumstance. Club members with more than one figure in a generation (for example, a father and a stepfather) may choose to follow both family lines by using several charts. Or they may choose to follow the family line of the person they feel closest to, whether that family member is related by blood or not.
?Lesson
Plan: Family Information Scavenger Hunt
| Overview: | Club members will
learn how to find and use sources of family information in their homes.
|
| Purpose: | To identify sources
of family information that can be found outside of an archive, or records
center. To emphasize that genealogy is research and study of the family
and that family information can be found in the home.
|
| Time: | Two club meetings
|
| Objectives: | All competency goals in the NC Informational
Skills Curriculum, all grade
levels, especially Competency Goal 4 (The learner will EXPLORE and USE research processes to meet information needs). Competency Goal 2 in the NC English Language Arts Curriculum, all grade levels (The learner will synthesize and use information from a variety of sources). Skills I, II, and III in the Social Studies Curriculum, all grade levels. |
| Materials: | Paper, pencil or
pen
One source of family information (from list) per student Be a Family Detective handout, one per club member |
Procedure:
- Brainstorm sources of family information that club members might have at home. Use the ideas in Lesson 1 as a guideline. Encourage club members to come up with other ideas. There are virtually no wrong answers!
- List the ideas on a chalkboard or overhead projector for club members to copy.
- Have members search their homes for sources of family information from the list. Members will gather information from their chosen sources using the Be a Family Detective handout as a guide.
- At the next club meeting, have club members present their information. With parental permission, club members could bring their family sources to the meeting for a show-and-tell.
Lesson 1 Handouts:
Linebar graphic by Vickimouse (http://www.vikimouse.com/)
