In researching and recording the history of one’s ancestors and kin, one soon learns what Faulkner wrote, namely, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” And, to paraphrase Alice Walker, “To know ourselves as we are, we must know our mothers’ and fathers’ names.” Family history is thus also an avenue for self discovery.

This course teaches how to begin, whether it’s just a few names and dates or a jumbled profusion of unmarked photos, clippings, and papers. Learn what is irreplaceable, e.g., photos, stories, and letters. Learn what decays, e.g., memories, newspapers and samplers, and how to preserve them. Learn to find help from libraries, historical societies but especially from fellow hobbyists, such as reaching out to old or newly discovered first through eighth cousins, who just might have key photos, old family bibles or other records. If details are spare or there seem to be family secrets, learn to clothe bare names and dates or release any skeletons in your closet(s) with stories that bring your family history to life. Seemingly out of the woodwork, help and gratitude emerge as you recover and disseminate your family history through free or inexpensive resources.

Sessions include seed talks, handouts, demonstrations (collecting and organizing materials, oral history-taking, documenting, online archival research (Ancestry.com, newspapers, etc.) and Q&A.