2

Getting Started

YOUR FAMILY HISTORY

Did you ever hear someone say, “I know you like a book?” Well, imagine that your family history is a book. It’s the story of how you got where you are, filled with photographs and stories of long-ago family members growing up, and maps of where they lived. It begins way back when, with your earliest ancestor, and continues all the way down to you! Having a family scrapbook is a great way to know and understand your family. And knowing your family history is to really know yourself.

This book is going to show you how to learn about your own family history—which will actually help you to know more about yourself. Maybe you got your love of reading from your great-great-grandmother. Or maybe you might want to learn to cook once you find out a great-uncle was a celebrated chef. You can use this book on your own, with friends, or even suggest it to your teacher as a resource for a really fun class project. But whatever you choose, imagine how much fun it would be to bring your findings to your very own family reunion! See chapter 15 for more information about how to set that reunion up.

Your family history scrapbook will come, in time. It could be something you design digitally—you can find lots of programs to help you make a book that you can keep online. Then you can send it to family members via email, share on social media, or even print it out. If you’d rather have a physical book you can page through, keep an eye out for a big scrapbook you could use. You’ll want to set aside a page (or two or three) for each family member, starting with the oldest, say, your great-great-grandfather, and moving down to the youngest, which might be you. To fill up this “family story” book, you’ll need to collect information on each person, including photographs and special keepsakes, which you can later paste into your family scrapbook. Imagine! Under a picture of your grandmother, for example, you might have information on when and where she was born, what school she went to, whom she married, her likes and dislikes, and her famous apple pie recipe. Try to include other family “treasures,” too, things that will remind you of her, such as a copy of her favorite joke, a report card, or a square cut from a dress she had when she was your age. All of these things, pasted into your scrapbook, will someday create a wonderful memory book to keep and display!

But before you can work on putting together your family scrapbook, you have to start gathering information—and have a place to put it!

STARTING OFF RIGHT

To start your genealogy research, you will need the right tools. You may want to set up all the files you need on your computer, or you may want to use a notebook. You’ll definitely need a computer for your research, because it’s a treasure trove of old photos and information.

You’ll need a few supplies right away:

 A computer, tablet, or phone (if you have one).

 Some small notebooks—you should carry one with you at all times to make notes whenever you run across some great information.

 Sharpened pencils—be sure to keep a couple handy.

 A loose-leaf binder and paper, if you’re doing things by hand.

When you get information on someone, put his or her name at the top of a page. Add the information to the page, and keep the page on your computer or in the binder. Each time you get new information, add it to the right person’s page. Soon this document or binder will be your best friend: a genealogy workbook that will help you keep track of your family tree.

THOSE FAMILY PHOTOS

Once you show an interest in genealogy, you can be sure that someone is going to drag out an old dusty album of photographs. Actually, putting names and then facts and stories to the faces you see is a good part of the fun. Soon, you’ll feel you really know them: the girl on the old merry-go-round, the serious young man in the sailor hat, the father proudly showing off the family car (with running boards).

Then there are those baby pictures, confirmation or bar mitzvah photos, and school and graduation pictures, too. You’re sure to find yourself in there somewhere. The pictures in the album may not mean much to you now, but they will.

The important thing, right at the start, is to take good care of any photographs you want to look at or borrow to copy for your genealogy projects. Try not to touch the picture part itself, only the edges. Depending on the age and kind of paper the pictures are printed on, even oil from your fingers could damage them. Most of the older photographs that you will find in family albums will be the only copy anyone has. If they are damaged or lost, they can’t be replaced, so you’ll need to make copies if you want to cut, pin up, or glue any pictures. And if you borrow any, be sure to return them in the same condition that you got them in. You can easily scan photos into your computer, but make sure you handle them with the tender loving care they deserve. You don’t want any tears or rips, and you certainly don’t want fingerprints on such valuable items. You don’t want to have a family feud on your hands!

A tintype from the 1890s

A common stereoscope

FUN FACTS

 Tintypes, the first “instant” photographs, were inexpensive and unbreakable. They were made out of metal!

 Stereoscopic pictures were two photos of the same thing placed side by side. With a stereoscopic viewer, you saw the picture in 3-D!