Are you doing everything you can to preserve your family history?

[Preface]
The idea for this post has been rattling around in my head since April of (2017). Truly, the inspiration stems from the events of December of 2015, when my maternal grandfather died unexpectedly. Those events started a cascade of hectic life in which I've not been able to finish several projects- some of which I'm attempting to get taken care of now. When he passed away, I realized I had made a mistake in my approach to documenting and preserving my family history. I had spent a lot of my time talking to my grandparents about what they knew about their family history, as well as listening to stories of their own lives. I hadn't been able to write down everything, but in the years since I started my research, I tried to record as much as I could. But what I suddenly realized when my grandpa passed away, was that I had never recorded audio or video of him talking and telling his story. Right now, his voice is mostly a memory. And in today's technologically advanced world, I am kicking myself for not realizing this while he was still alive.

Anyway, as soon as I did realize this, when he passed away, I realized I needed to do more to record my other grandparents. I grew up with my Grandma Mayville telling me lots of stories about her family. I'd listened to many of the stories over the years. I'd written some of them down, and memorized others, but I realized I needed to record her telling her stories. Grandma Mayville died unexpectedly in April 2017, which was a major blow to me and my family. While I am very sad that I don't have any recordings of my Grandpa Mayville telling stories, I am grateful that his loss caused me to record my grandmother. I now have over 100 recordings of her, and have worked to also record my paternal grandparents.

That leads to my post today. What are some of the key things that we can be doing to preserve as much of our family story, especially from the oldest generations of our families, while these is still time? In a world still ravaged by a pandemic and increasing natural disasters (tornadoes, wildfires, floods, etc.), we are receiving more reminders daily about how fleeting life (and family photos/heirlooms) can be. This post may be long, but its contents are important. 

You should start working with the oldest generation of your family, then work towards the present generation in terms of documenting memories, photos and other aspects mentioned below. If you ARE part of the oldest generation of your family, it's even more important that you start documenting your knowledge and memories. You likely have knowledge and information that will die with you if not documented, preserved, and shared.


What can we do to preserve our family history?

1) Label & Scan Family Photos

    Can it be time-consuming, tedious, and a hassle to label and scan all of those photos? Absolutely. My grandmother had, almost certainly, over a thousand photos of her side of the family. How many of those photos were labeled when I came across the boxes of photos? Probably a few dozen at best. Getting these labeled was IMPERATIVE, because in many cases, she was likely the only person who could identify some of the folks in some of the family photos she had. I sat with her for hours to identify and label the photos. I then scanned them into the computer, and uploaded a majority of them online, where I further created a website displaying many of the photos. This helps me preserve the photos, while also making it easy to share them when I meet a new cousin. 

You should even dedicate time to scanning and preserving photos for whom the identities or subjects are unknown. Why? When you meet new cousins you can share those photos and see if those cousins can identify the subjects of your unknown photos. I do this all the time with new cousins I meet via DNA testing- I send them a link to my family photos website and ask them to take a look at the unidentified photos in particular. Every once in a while, I find a cousin who knows a subject or location in one of my family's photos! Once, I was able to help in reverse-- a man contacted me who was related to the ex wife of my grandma's uncle. Because I had a similar photo with people labeled in it, he saw it in my family photos and was able to identify a photo he had in HIS possession, which contained people unknown to him. It turns out he had a photo of my own grandmother!

Why is it important to label photos? I cannot tell you how many times I have been to an estate sale or antique store and seen a pile of unlabeled photos. When you die and leave unlabeled photos, there is a tendency for family to throw out, sell, or otherwise get rid of photos when they don't recognize who is in them. If you label photos and they still end up leaving the family somehow, the identification you put on the back can help rescuers return photos to other family members.

Why is it important to scan/preserve copies of photos? This is important in the event that something were to happen to the original copies- fire, flood, being lost or otherwise damaged. Having digital copies allows you to preserve the photos no matter what might happen to the originals. It also makes it much easier to share your photos with other family members, etc., especially those of whom you might meet in the course of conducting genealogical research and/or DNA testing.

 How do I do it?
    -Set aside time specifically for the project. Pick a couple of hours per day, assigning whatever time frame you need to make sure it gets done.

    -To label photos, write on the back with a pencil or other photo-safe marking pen (see universityproducts.com). Alternatively, you could purchase acid-free plastic sleeves and label the sleeves rather than directly writing on the back of the photos.

    -When labeling, try to clearly indicate who is in the photo, and if possible to accurately do so, indicate the approximate year and location the photo was taken. Don't forget to label photos of yourself, other immediate family members, etc. The common error in the history of our families is to think "well, I know who that is so I don't need to write it down!" Future generations might not know, so label it and save a headache down the road.

    -When scanning photos, use a high resolution scan to catch as much detail as possible. A standard flatbed scanner or printer/scanner option should work fine. For small photos, I love my FlipPal because it catches the small photos in extremely high detail, allowing me to preserve details most other scanners can not. FlipPal has gone out of business, but the machines occasionally sell on eBay and other marketing platforms. I do NOT trust or recommend "scanning" apps or features on smartphones, but if it is the absolute only option you have, it is better than nothing. 

    -When scanning, you want to scan both the front and back of each image in order to preserve any information (and your labeling) whenever possible. If possible, you should also rename the image file name to include identifying details such as who/what is in the photo. Do NOT include spaces in the file name.

    -See further down the page for more detailed advice on preserving/storing scanned images.


2) Label & photograph family heirlooms or artifacts

Why is it important to label and photo-document family heirlooms/artifacts? Much like above with photographs, labeling heirlooms, artifacts, family furniture pieces, etc. helps those left behind understand that it's an important piece of family history, and helps them understand why. Too many estate sales and antique malls are full of objects and heirlooms whose importance and familial context was unknown to heirs. For example, we have a small wooden chair that was my grandfather's when he was young. We have photos of him in this chair as a baby (and it may have even been in the family generations before him). We would have never known what this chair was when we found it in the basement, had he not provided that information and context to us!

How do I do it?

   -Set aside time specifically for the project. Pick a couple of hours per day, or whatever time frame you need to make sure it gets done.

    -Label the item in regards to what it is; who it belonged to/where it came from; time period IF KNOWN; and any other details that might help preserve the history of the item.

    -Generally, it is a good idea to create a spreadsheet of all items and keep in a safe place (see below for more details on preserving/saving data such as this). Your spreadsheet should include at least one photo of the item, and a description of the item.

    -What you use to label objects/furniture/etc. depends greatly on what the heirloom/object in question is. If it is a framed portrait or piece of art, consider writing identifying info on a piece of (acid free) paper and incorporating that into the back of the frame if possible. If it's a piece of jewelry, card, coin, or other small memorabilia, you can use an acid-free baggie or sleeve, including both the object and a piece of (acid free) paper in the bag. For bigger items you may need to rely solely on the spreadsheet discussed above, or if the piece has an enclosed space (such as a drawer, lid, etc.) insert an acid free piece of paper with identifying information, into that enclosed space. One example, we have a vase that my grandmother's aunt left a piece of paper inside of, describing the item, who it belonged to (her own grandmother), where it came from, and who was to get the piece after she passed away.

    -Do not use pins, tape, or other materials in direct contact with the object - this could damage the item you are trying to preserve. 



3) Scan/photograph & document important family documents

It should go without saying that your grandparents' marriage record; a military document for your great-great grandfather; prayer cards documenting the deaths of family members; a baptismal certificate; the family Bible; an old diary; and many other examples are important documents for your family's history. Even old school papers can be important pieces to preserve. These documents share the story of ourselves and our ancestors. Scanning these items and preserving them (see below for more details on preserving scans) is an important way to flesh out details of our/ancestors' lives. 

One example of this: When clearing out my great-uncle's home after he passed away, family members found a 5-year diary of his from the time that he was in middle and high school. This is a dated diary he kept for a 5 year span, in which he noted seemingly mundane things such as going to work, getting paid, going to school, etc.; but also recorded time and activities spent with his parents, grandparents, cousins and other relatives. This was such an amazing and valuable way to learn more about what life was like for my ancestors back in that time!



4) Record our family members telling their stories

 

   -I used a simple point-and-shoot Canon camera to record videos of my grandmother (and since then, my paternal grandparents and other family members) speaking about their memories, speaking about photographs or certain heirlooms, telling stories they were told about their ancestors, etc. If you have a camcorder or other recording device that should work fine-- just make sure to consider what file format you will end up with and how easy or difficult it may be to preserve that format.

    -Record whatever family members you have available to you-- great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, great aunts/great uncles, parents, and others! Just make sure you have permission.

    -Remember that if you are the oldest generation, you should record yourself speaking (or consider writing down) details and memories of your life, of your relatives that came before, etc. Is it potentially awkward to sit and record yourself? Sure - but your recordings will be cherished and valued by family members generations in the future - even cousins!

    -For ideas of prompts to ask family members or record of yourself, see this previous blog post on family surveys.

    -I recommend making the videos/recordings relatively short (2-3 minutes in length, maybe a bit longer). This helps ensure the file does not have issues being preserved down the road. Very large video files can be difficult to transfer or may have copy errors, etc., causing an inability to access the file.

    -When possible, creating a transcription (i.e., writing out what is said in each file, verbatim, into a text file), is a good backup to the video in the event that the video/audio file were to be corrupted or have some other issue in the future.



5) If you are the holder of family photos, heirlooms, or other important documents or keepsakes, make sure you have a plan for who happens to those items when you are gone

    -Have a written plan in place, preferably indicated in a will or other relevant legal document, for who should get specific objects after you pass away. It's not pleasant to think about, but passing away without a plan may mean important family photos, documents and heirlooms end up getting sold, donated, or worse, thrown away. I recently bought some items at an estate sale of a single woman who had a huge array of family heirlooms and photos. She left no descendants and the person handling her estate had seemingly not contacted cousins. I contacted a cousin who was devastated to learn their family heirlooms had all been sold at an estate sale without them having a chance to attend themselves. I was able to return just a few things to them, but having a plan in place would have prevented this scenario.

    -If you are not able to indicate such wishes in a legal document, clearly label items with your wishes (though this may not pass legal muster depending on local laws regarding estates), or pass items to their designated caretakers ahead of time. 

    -If you do not have descendants or have discussed the situation with descendants who have indicated they are not interested in family photos or heirlooms, consider your cousins, however distant. There are many people researching and interested in their family history nowadays, so you may find when discussing with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th cousins or their descendants that one of those family members is interested in a particular family heirloom or set of photographs pertaining to their branch of the tree.

    -If all else fails, consider designating a local genealogical society, a historical society, research library or other institution which may accept donations of your family photos or heirlooms. If you have ancestors from different locations, you may wish to look at multiple institutions local to those particular areas your ancestors were from.

Once you have labeled, documented, and scanned...
BACKUP your data! All of those photos, documents, and videos add up. Make sure you backup these files in more than one location. Having everything on your computer is great until something happens to that computer! I usually back everything up on at least one flash drive and one external hard drive. Some folks have an extra external hard drive that they store in a different location such as a safety deposit box, a fireproof safe, etc. For some items, like the recordings of my grandmother telling her family stories, I made many copies and distributed these to family members. This helps ensure that if my copies get destroyed in some way, there should be other versions available elsewhere as backup.

In addition, finding an online storage solution is beneficial in case something happens to the physical file(s). Some store on the Cloud. I have a domain name and online server I pay for (through GoDaddy.com), where I have uploaded most of my family photo scans and videos. Other online storage platforms that include both free storage and additional paid storage, are Dropbox and Google Drive. Both of these sites allow easy sharing with family members as well. Some folks have established Facebook groups for their specific family groups, and upload photos and documents there as an additional means of preserving and sharing information/data with their family members. 

Make sure you utilize local and cloud-based storage in a complimentary manner- do not rely solely on backing up your data on your computer OR the Cloud (or vice versa). Utilizing both a computer, external hard drive and the cloud is the best strategy to help ensure your data isn't lost.


Organize your photos/documents

Some people use acid-free, archival quality sleeves, folders, binders and boxes. I store my photos flat, in acid-free plastic sleeves placed in bins, that are organized loosely by family name and size. Large photos are stored in archival boxes purchased from universityproducts.com. Old books, particularly fragile ones, are stored in acid free cardboard (again from University Products). Old cloth is stored in acid free tissue paper, in an acid free box. Overall, there are a lot of storage options, and some objects may require specialized storage or preservation care. You may need to consult an archivist at your local historical society or museum, for tips on proper care of your specific item. 

Make sure you're using archival quality products to label/organize/store your photos, documents and heirlooms! 

If you use paper with acid in them, this can eat at or otherwise destroy objects you are trying to preserve. If you use a non-archival quality pen, that pen can bleed through or otherwise damage a photo or other object. I have used universityproducts.com for years to purchase safe materials to use in preservation of photos, documents, and other objects.

While long, the above is a brief overview of steps you can take today to more completely document and preserve your family's history, photos and objects. It can seem like a daunting task, but breaking it up into manageable chunks can help you accomplish this important task. Future generations of your family, both closely and distantly related, can benefit from your action today. Please note that I am not a professional archivist but have studied various techniques for preservation. What works best for me may not work best for you. If you have specialty items (especially old clothing or other difficult materials) you should consult a professional for assistance in properly preserving your object(s). 

I will *probably* update this post if I think of more topics related to the above discussion.