How to Gather Family Memories

A Family History is More Than Just Dates

There is no better time to fill in the details of your family tree and gather family memories than at a family celebration such as Christmas, Easter, birthdays and anniversaries. Take a little time in planning to capture your family history at one of these events and take the opportunity to gather the family memories and life stories of your key story keepers.

Plan ahead of time and phone, write or send emails to the family members who are coming and tell them you want to take the time to talk with them while you are together about your family history. Don’t be surprised if some don’t respond. Instead concentrate on those who are receptive to the idea of capturing the family memories for all. Often once someone like you raises awareness you will get some very enthusiastic responses!

With those who do respond positively, ask them to look for any old family photos that they may have and to bring a selection of them with them. Have them ahead of time write down the details of the names, place, event and people in the picture. A good way to record these details is to write on the back of the photo with a soft 2B pencil which won’t damage the photo.

Obtain an audio recorder with a good microphone or a video camera to record your family memory gathering. You may find that one of your children, a nephew or niece, or another family member has talent in either audio recording or videography. Enlist their help and by getting them involved you will engage their interest in the project and free up your time up to co-ordinate other things. Make sure you have plenty of video tape, audio tape or memory cards to suit the recording method as nothing would be more frustrating than to run out, especially if it is on a major holiday when many stores will be closed. Oh yes, if it needs batteries add them to the list!

Tell everyone that you will want to talk with them and set aside a time at the event when you will gather to talk. You may want to arrange some one on one time with the key story keepers in addition to having a group session with the interested parties. Try and view the photos that have been brought along in advance, ask the bringer to give you a quick outline about them and then at the family gathering use them as story starters and pass them around, asking each person in turn what they know about the event, place or people in the photo.

Don’t be afraid to go with the flow as one story will lead to another but remember that someone, the organiser, will need to listen to the tapes or watch the video and edit the recordings into a family history presentation so gently steer the discussion back on topic if it is in danger of going off on a tangent.

Family Celebrations are Ideal for Family Story Gathering

It is common to find different parts of the same story or completely different perspectives of events may be held by different members. As stories are passed along from family member to family member often details are lost and sometimes the person telling you the story now may have had it told to them completely wrong or they just remember the story differently. It is the editor’s job to check out the facts later. Don’t fall into the trap of,”that’s not right” and waste valuable time if you can’t clear it up quickly. Try to talk separately with the key family story keepers or the quieter family members who may be too shy in talking in front of a group. You may need all of your diplomatic skills if conflicting stories pop up.

Take the time to prepare your family history questions ahead of time. Perhaps you want to focus on a specific event, time period or people. As you talk to your family before the family gathering other questions will suggest themselves. You may find that our free eBook on “How to Write an Autobiography” will help you frame your questions and organise your thoughts.

Arrange to scan the photos that your family have brought along as quickly as possible and give the originals back to them immediately if possible. If not then arrange to return them promptly, look after them securely and name or caption the photos so you know the exact who, what and when details for each picture. It is also important to edit the recordings and if possible transcribe the audio into text.

After you completed your family story gathering and everyone has gone home do be generous with your results and share the information you have gathered with your family. Do make a master recording and copies of any audio, video or photographs to share with everyone or perhaps arrange another get together to view the video or listen to the recording. Don’t forget to include yet other extend family who weren’t at the first event and by doing so create the chance to extend your story collecting even further.

By taking the advantage of Christmas or other family celebrations you and your family can give a gift to each other that will give pleasure for many years to come.