Monday, November 22, 2021

Thanksgiving Checklist for Genealogists!

 Thanksgiving 2021 is this week! Many of us will be busy preparing meals, preparing to receive traveling family members and friends or traveling ourselves. I hope the genealogists of the family is also preparing. Here is a handy checklist of items to help you get the most genealogical or family information out of your family members at Thanksgiving:


George Washington Stringfield family, ca. 1902


-Pen and Paper: To take notes while family members are telling family stories, sharing family recipes, etc.

-Voice Recording Device or Video Camera: To record family members during the holiday and capture old family stories as well as the new ones being made on Thanksgiving. Remember it's always a good idea to get your family's permission to record their conversations.

-Camera: To take a million photographs of family members. Just remember to download the photographs from your camera or phone immediately after Thanksgiving, identify them and organize them on your computer and backup devises.

-Family Group Sheets: Passing out family group sheets to family members might jog their memories about your shared ancestors and maybe more information can be gleaned. It might also get them interested in the family if they can see names and information right in front of them.

-Unidentified Photographs: Bring out the unidentified photographs so family members can take a look and hopefully identify those in the photos.

Unidentified Photograph, Houston County, TN. Archives


It's not everyday that our families get together and as genealogist we need to be prepared to take full advantage of the situation. We should never miss an opportunity to engage our family members and pick their brains for family information. Even if they roll their eyes and say under their breath "Here she/he comes again, the genealogist in the family"

So, enjoy your families, get as much genealogy information out of them that you can and:

    Happy Thanksgiving!


REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE, CONTACT OR  VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!!

*****

My Legacy Family Tree QuickGuide

Scrapbooks: A Genealogist's Gold Mine

http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1413


No comments:

Post a Comment