Adding life to Family History ancestry/library/view/ancmag/5081.asp

1. Adding life to Family Historyhttp://ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/5081.asp It is only natural for family historians to want to share what they learn and find with others. This is what sets family historians apart from other hobbyists.

3. Many ways to share Family History • Family quilts • Family Photos and Art • Family Area • Family Cookbooks • Family Traditions • Cemeteries • Interviews • Family Trips • Family Reunions • Family Associations • Family Web Sites • Family History Books

4. Family quilts • Family Pedigree Quilt • Make a quilt for each child with their: • Birth and place • Picture of the birth place • Picture of parents, grandparents and great grandparents • There are techniques that allow you to print pictures on fabric for this project

5. Family Photos and Art • Photo books of our ancestors • Scrap books • Some people can even do paintings from old photos • Look at the activities that took place in the old photos

6. Family Area • Is there a place in your home that could be dedicated to your ancestors • An ancestor room with all your family photos • Family collectables (clocks, jewelry, paintings, dishes etc.) • One family had an old jewelry store display case to put mementos in

7. Family Cookbooks • Old recipes from the past • Can you imagine what they can tell you of your ancestors likes and dislikes. • They provide an interesting glimpse into the lives of our people

8. Family Traditions What traditions are you creating in your family? • Use old traditions • Create new traditions • It is good to write a paragraph or two about the traditions origin.

9. Cemeteries • Get a cemetery map • Take pictures of the headstones • On the map mark all your ancestors grave sites and the locations • Highlight each site on your map

10. Interviews • Types of interviews • Cassette tape • Video • Written • Create a multi-media presentation of your ancestors • Just think in 50 years what you would be leaving your ancestors • Remember to do your history also

11. Family Trip • Sites to your ancestors history • Lessons in geography and history, what better way to learn history. Fewer experiences in family history can match the thrill of walking the soil of your ancestral homeland.

12. Family Reunions • Get to know your relatives • Immediate family • Aunts, uncles, cousins • Distant relatives: great aunts, uncles and cousins Book “Your Family Reunion: How to Plan it, Organize it and Enjoy it” by George G. Morgan

13. Family Associations • Join a family association • Cook • Kimball • If you don’t have an organization start one! Public libraries have a book in their reference section listing known family associations.

14. Family Web Sites • This is a way to open up the door to other family members • Great way to share data and information • Great way to find distant relatives • Can be a single page, large web site • MyFamily.com

15. Family History Book • Publish those histories you do • Remember to donate one to the Church Family History Library for others to find the copy • Ways to put the book together • Spiral bind • Hard bind • Loose leaf binder • Schaffer Binding 300 West 14 or 15 South

16. Family History research is not like other hobbies. Create some type of project and get it out there for others to see.