Interview family to research your family history
When looking for information about your family history, a goldmine of information is most often a close relative. You probably never gave any thought to talking to your relatives about their own lives and what they might know about generations of relatives before them. The truth is, most of us have never discussed this topic in depth with other relatives.Sometimes, the opportunity has been there to ask questions, but by the time we’re interested in the answers it may be too late to ask. The time has come to make talking with your relatives about their history a priority. Talking to your relatives should be a priority when doing genealogical research.
Even though your great grandmother may no longer be living, you can still learn about your family history from your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. All of these relatives could be a source for names, dates, locations, photos, diaries, and even a bit of gossip. These family members might have suggestions of other people you could interview about your departed relatives. They may even have originals or copies of documents that would be a great addition to your genealogical file. Imagine how much information you could potentially get by interviewing your relatives.
Whenever possible, you should interview these family members in person. There are some people that might find a questionnaire to be rather impersonal. The information that your relatives give may be highly personal, evocative and closely guarded. You’re likely to discover much more by conducting the interview face-to-face by displaying your interest in whatever your relatives say and taking care to reassure them of your honorable intentions.
Never misuse the information you uncover, and always remain discreet. Remember, the information you are gathering involves living relatives or relatives that lived within recent memory. To encourage your relatives to disclose what they know, reassure them that you won’t broadcast the information to the rest of the family, disclose sensitive etc. Let them know that you consider the information to be important family history data. For your relatives the information is a lifetime of valued memories – to treat it with profound respect.
If you are able to make your relatives feel comfortable about your motives, they may give you more information than you thought possible. Your interest may spark more memories or lead to further revelations. Allow plenty of time for these interviews. You never know how long Uncle Hank will talk once you get him going.
In addition to these interviews, you can also gather information at Mundia.com This resource is absolutely free to use and allows you to collaborate with other family members to create your family tree. I strongly encourage you to check it out if you want to trace your family history.