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Thank you to Jennifer Shoer for her second guest post for kids! If you missed Part I, you can still read it here.
Turn the Camera on Your Parents and Grandparents – Video for Family History – Part 2
The holidays are right around the corner. No matter what holiday you will be celebrating, I bet you will be spending time with your family. Sometimes it seems boring to spend time with older people, but when was the last time you sat down and asked them questions about their lives…what they love, what they remember and what it feels like to be X years old?
In my last post I told you about my grandfather, Bubba, who was an amazing family historian. He recorded the details of our lives in both photos and movie film. Bubba died twelve years ago. I will always remember how many years it has been because my youngest son was born the same year. Bubba did get to hold him, make a wish (Do all families make wishes on new babies?) and call him the ugliest baby in the family (the newest was always the ugliest).
I like knowing that Bubba lived to hold all of my babies and I love looking at pictures of him, but do you know what I really wish? I wish I had taken movies (or videos as they are known today). I wish I could hear his voice and his chuckle. He told my sister and me so many stories. I tell my kids the ones I can remember, but how much cooler would it be if they could hear his stories and his chuckle as if he was sitting in the room. Some people might find that creepy and it might have been hard to watch the videos soon after he died, but now twelve years later I would love to hear and see him tell one of his stories again.
Turn the Camera on Your Parents and Grandparents
When you get together with your parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents over the holidays, do me a favor and turn the camera on your parents and grandparents. Borrow a video camera or whip out your smart phone and ask one of them (or the eldest) to sit down with you. Tell them you want to learn more about them and their lives and that you would like to create a video of your conversation.
Create a Video for Family History
- Make a list of questions before the interview or look at websites for questions:
http://genealogy.about.com/cs/oralhistory/a/interview.htm
http://articles.scrapbooking.com/family_history.htm
- Be sure your video camera is fully charged and that you have extra batteries or a charger.
- Ask as many or as few questions as you would like. There are no rules! This is your interview.
- Prop the camera up so that your hands are free and so that your subject does not get distracted by it.
- Let your subject talk without interrupting him or her. If you think of something to ask while they are talking, write it down and then ask it when they finish.
- Thank them for their time and for sharing their stories with you!
- Upload the video to your computer and share it with your family members. Burn copies to DVD or flash drives.
I hope you get a chance to make a video soon.
Happy Holidays!
Scrappy Gen
Let’s Remember!
Photo credits: Jennifer Shoer’s personal collection. Used with permission.
Want to know more about Jennifer? You can find her at the Scrappy Genealogist blog or on Twitter @ScrappyGen. Thank you Jennifer!!
This continues a series of guest posts from my friends around the blogosphere who can offer specialized tips for kids.
Jennifer Shoer talks about Recording it for Posterity – Video for Family History – Part 1
Have you ever thought about creating videos of your family? If you are over the age of ten, you probably already have made at least one video of yourself or your friends. Many of you even have phones that video. Let me tell you about my grandfather and his videos.
My Grandfather, known to his grandchildren as Bubba, recorded thousands of feet of video tape during his life. He recorded his children, his siblings, his nieces and nephews and of course his grandchildren. It is possible for me to view in video most big events in my growing up years right through and including my wedding. Bubba taped that too.
If you listen to the later movies after Bubba bought a video camera with sound, you can hear his chuckle, or his quiet prompts for you to do something for the camera. I loved his chuckle. If we ever complained about being taped (I remember not loving it when I was a teenager.), he would remind us that we were “recording it for posterity.” At the time I didn’t know exactly what posterity was, but Bubba said it, which meant it was important.
Posterity means all future generations. How cool that Bubba recorded our lives as they unfolded for our children and our children’s children and their children. He was our family historian, creating an amazing record of the lives of his family members.
Bubba recorded his movies on film. Digital didn’t exist yet. His first sound camera was immense. Now, video cameras fit in your pocket. At the holidays this year, whip out your video camera and try recording your family members. Ask them questions about what they are doing. If they have a special skill, ask them to perform it. Ask them how they celebrated the holidays when they were younger. If they complain, tell them you are recording it for posterity. Your children’s children’s children will thank you.
Scrappy Gen
Let’s Remember!
Photo credits: Jennifer Shoer’s personal collection. Used with permission.
Want to know more about Jennifer? You can find her at the Scrappy Genealogist blog or on Twitter @ScrappyGen. Thank you Jennifer!!
This is the first in a series of guest posts from my friends around the blogosphere who can offer specialized tips for kids.
Michael Katchen on using 1000memories.com
Have you ever wondered what your parents looked like when they were your age? Wouldn’t it be cool to see photos from your grandparents wedding? That’s what 1000memories is all about. Helping you save those amazing old photos forever and share them with your family.
While all of your photos are probably already on Facebook, it’s only been around for 7 years! The first photograph was produced in 1826 – that means there are tons of photos that haven’t made their way online… yet.
Why is that a problem? Well, paper photos are fragile. They decay over time, they can be destroyed in floods and fires, or lost in moves. Most importantly, there is usually only 1 copy that gets split between family members.
ShoeBox, 1000memories free iPhone app, is changing that. ShoeBox turns your iPhone into a social photo scanner that let’s you quickly digitize old photos, tag the people in them, and share them with your entire family. You can use ShoeBox to help your parents and grandparents save and share their old photos and all the amazing stories behind them forever.
Want to know more about 1000memories.com? Read their About page. You can also follow them on twitter @1000memories and Facebook.
Thank you Michael for your post!
Related articles
- Treasure Chest Thursday – 1000memories.com (kidsgenealogy.generationsofstories.net)
- Creative Writing at 1000memories.com (examiner.com)
- Holiday Time at the Museum of Science and Industry (examiner.com)
My friend Terri at Finding Our Ancestors blog asked me why someone would get a marriage license in Chicago and go to Kewanee, Illinois to get married. That is a good question and one I have wondered as my grandparents appeared to have done the same thing!
I have two documents for my grandparents, Joseph Holik and Libbie Brouk. One is a Marriage License issued 19 April 1930 in Chicago. States they married on the same day. The second document was given to me recently by my father and is a fancy Certificate of Marriage for Joseph Holik and Libbie Brouk. Glancing over the document I can see it was signed by a Judge of the Circuit Court of Kewanee, IL named H. Sterling Pomeroy.
So they married in Kewanee? Why on earth in 1930 would they drive from Chicago to Kewanee to get married?
They didn’t. Let’s break this down and look at the clues.
As Terri and I found, looking more closely at our documents, they were indeed married in the County Building in the city of Chicago. The address given is 226 County Building, Chicago, IL.
They were married by a Judge from Kewanee, IL, who spent time serving in the Cook County Courts. Both documents say Chicago, IL as the marriage place. On the license, his name is stamped as the name of the officiant. On the Certificate of Marriage he signed his name and stamped “Judge of the City Court of Kewanee, IL.”
The Certificate of Marriage was even signed by the witnesses, my Great uncle Ladislav Brouk and Great uncle John J. Holik, Jr. Signatures are nice to have to compare documents.
When you break down a document for the first, second, or even third time, pull out all the clues and make sure you are reading things in the context in which they were intended. Why would you break down a document more than once? Sometimes you think you pulled all the details out but when you go back to it later, after more research is done, you may see something you “missed” before. Something that didn’t mean anything to you at the time. I find reviewing documents for an individual after more research is done sometimes sparks a new research idea or shows me a clue that now has greater meaning.
Upon first glance at both of these documents you think my grandparents drove to Kewanee to get married. Breaking down the details you find out that was not the case.
If you follow me on Twitter @jencoffeelover, you may have seen my rant recently about those Ancestry.com leaves and people merging stuff into their trees. Let me explain.
My Holik ancestors came to Chicago from Senetin, Bohemia. They all came to Chicago and appear based on all the records I have found, to not have lived anywhere in between once they got off the ship. Their ship logs all indicated another member of the family as the person in the U.S. they were meeting. For pretty much all the kids that immigrated, Frantisek Holik, their father in Senetin or Anna Holik, their mother in Senetin, was listed as the closest relative in the old country.
I found a tree on Ancestry.com where a woman had merged all my Holik stuff into her tree for a Marie Holek. Names and birth years were close so it must be right? Right? Wrong! This researcher took my Marie Holik, sister to my great grandfather John, as hers. She merged in records for that Marie and my great great grandmother Marie Rataj Holik into her Marie.
I was reading some comments on being a professional genealogist and new genealogical researchers that my friend Caroline posted and was inspired to write a breaking it down series for kids. I want to not only teach you about documents and research but break things down so you learn techniques to look for clues and make better decisions about what to add to your family tree.
Subscribe to the blog so you get updates on breaking it down. I’m going to walk you through step by step all the reasons and documents showing why my Marie is not this other researcher’s Marie. Through the process you may discover something I did not.
Related articles
- May I Introduce You at Geneabloggers (chicagofamilyhistory.wordpress.com)
- Analyzing a Neighborhood (chicagofamilyhistory.wordpress.com)
At the FGS 2011 conference in Springfield, Illinois, I purchased several books. One was Teaching Genealogy to Young People by Bee Bartron Koons.
This book is amazing. The front section is a teacher’s manual divided into sections by age/grade level so you know exactly where to start with young people. The lessons are short and to the point and increase in complexity as the child grows. The back section is a large appendix full of charts and forms to use with the lessons.
My local genealogical society is look at ways to encourage the younger generation to be involved in family history research. This book has so many wonderful ideas I think it will be very helpful for this project.
Related articles
- FGS2011 – Will Your Genealogy Sink Or Swim? (generationsbiz.com)
I just returned from the FGS2011 Conference in Springfield, IL. What is FGS? The Federation of Genealogical Societies. I was an Official Blogger at the conference.
You can read my blog posts from FGS and beyond on my Generations website. There I talk about the books I purchased, one of which was a Kids Genealogy book. As soon as I read through it I’ll post a review here. It looks fantastic so I need to find time this week to dive in!
You can also follow me on Twitter as @jencoffeelover. I posted many updates and you can find those by searching Twitter for the #FGS2011 tag.
Stay tuned for more Genealogy for Kids!
Related articles
- Wisdom Wednesday – Follow FGS Bloggers (familyhistorytips.wordpress.com)
- Tuesday’s Tip – Attend a Kids Genealogy Camp (kidsgenealogy.generationsofstories.net)
Hey Kids! Want something fun to do on Saturday, September 10, 2011? You can attend the Free Family History Camp for Kids at FGS 2011 Conference!
The Federation of Genealogical Societies is holding its annual conference in Springfield between September 7th and 10th. There will be four full days of education for the adults and now a day for you! I am one of the FGS2011 Official Bloggers so you can watch my Generations site for updates throughout the conference.
Here are the day’s details:
Date: Saturday, September 10, 2011
Time: 9 a.m. to noon
Cost: Free admission; registration is required
Place: Hilton Hotel in downtown Springfield, Illinois
Ages: 10 to 14 years old
Want to know more? Check it out here or at the link above.
Related articles
- Follow Friday – Official Bloggers for FGS2011 (familyhistorytips.wordpress.com)
- Thankful Thursday – Connections (dupagecountygenealogicalsociety.wordpress.com)
- Tuesday’s Tip – Research Question Checklist (kidsgenealogy.generationsofstories.net)
