5
Getting Organized
In the digital age, you can easily make and keep track of many, many folders on your computer and have them all at your fingertips. Start with one folder named MY FAMILY TREE. Within that folder, you can make up other folders, one for each family member. Be sure to label each folder with the person’s name. Inside those folders, you can store photos, records, copies of important documents, and even favorite recipes or hobbies of your ancestors.
Many free genealogy programs are available online to help you create your family tree and make it bloom. Take a look at trees.ancestory.com or familyecho.com, smilebox.com or freedigitalscrapbooking.com. You can choose from many layout styles and customize every page just the way you want, with illustrations or photos. And best of all, when you’re done, you can email your digital scrapbook, print it out, or even put it on Facebook.
If you prefer, you can also organize things the old school way—the way your ancestors might have done! Remember the loose-leaf binder we suggested you might want to get? You’ll definitely want to have one specific place to keep it and all that family information you’ve been gathering. A big binder that you keep at home (you won’t want to be carrying it around with you) is something you’ll always be able to find. It will be your genealogical workbook and hold tons of detailed information. Your family tree diagram just maps out your family relationships, but the information stored in your loose-leaf binder can be used to put together a family scrapbook, along with pictures, quotations from letters, and other interesting things you’ve discovered about family members.
YOUR GENEALOGICAL WORKBOOK
You can organize your genealogical workbook in different ways on your computer. The easiest way is to give your family members their own digital folders or pages. Put the name of each family member at the top of a separate page. You probably know more about yourself than about any of your family members. So, start with your name and set up the page in the binder so that when you open it, your page is on top. Next, put in a page for each of your siblings (sisters and brothers), if any, then your parents and their siblings—your aunts and uncles. (You will probably need to interview each of them to get information to fill in the pages.) After the pages for your aunts and uncles will be your grandparents’ pages, with their names at the top, and so on. This way, you can go back in time, from generation to generation, as far as your genealogical research takes you.
You’ll soon see, as you gather information and talk to and find out more about your relatives, that the information in your folder will grow and grow.
Your computer or your loose-leaf binder is your best friend. It’s here where you’ll rewrite neatly your scribbled interview notes or copy down your taped interviews. Be sure to write down the date of the interview and the name of the person interviewed. You may have more questions to ask or need to update your notes.
A blackboard with chalk, white-board with erasable marker or, better yet, a cork bulletin board, index cards, and pushpins come in handy, too. You can post things to be done—such as family members to follow up with, as you do your research. Most computers also have “sticky note” features and reminders to help you stay right on track.
The key here is to be sure to label everything!
Special occasion photos, like fiftieth wedding anniversaries, can help to fix the date of the picture.
Good ways to keep “keepsakes”
As you grow your family tree, you’re going to run across items you’ll want to keep. They won’t fit in your binder and may even be too bulky for your scrapbook. Photo boxes or plain old shoeboxes make great catchalls. They’re perfect for envelopes of photos (remember to identify who’s in the pictures), folded or rolled copies of birth certificates and other documents and vital records, expired passports, and drivers’ licenses. Letters from a homesick soldier, a child away at camp for the first time, or a stack of old love letters are wonderful family keepsakes. You’ll want to hold onto military awards and medals, of course, but old school report cards are also fun to have. Note: If you need two or more boxes to hold everything, separate the contents and label or code the containers to make finding things easier.
If you want to, you can also scan the documents and take digital photographs of the items you have and then upload them onto your computer. Whatever method works best for you is the right way to do it.
Keep things together
If paperwork and other keepsakes are piling up, designate a section of your room as your genealogical research center. You might even want to put up a sign that says so. Keep any notebooks you’ve been using here. Store your oversize or treasured photographs in sturdy flat boxes that will keep them safe, and keep odd-size items neatly in photo albums or shoeboxes. Your loose-leaf binder (or binders if you are using more than one), should be where they are easy to reach and work with. And don’t forget—every time you gather a new piece of information, be sure to bring it right to this special area. A bulletin board is a good idea, so that small scribbled notes can be posted and won’t get lost. It’s a reminder, too, to follow-up or transfer the information into your binder later on or scan into your computer. Don’t put it off too long, because that’s how valuable information can get lost—and how a neat and tidy area can quickly morph into a messy one.
“MY FAMILY” BOX
Why not consider a file box with separators and manila folders, to keep things in place? (You’ll want to decorate it, of course.)
WHAT YOU NEED
box about 12″ × 12″ × 9″ deep
cardboard
markers
stick-on labels
glue
copies of photos, clippings, to decorate box
scissors
shellac
small brush
manila folders (with tabs)
1. Cut cardboard to fit box (12″ × 9 1/2″), and use as separators.
2. Print labels, or use markers to write them: Maternal Side, Paternal Side, Maternal Grandparents, Paternal Grandparents, etc.
3. Attach labels to the sides of the separators. Change the positions of each label so each heading will be visible!
4. Cut around the copies of family photos (remember, these are copies, not priceless originals, but double-check anyway before cutting, gluing, or shellacking anything!). Be sure to include pictures from both sides of your family. Dot-glue the back of the photographs and paste them all over the box.
5. Dip your brush into the shellac and carefully paint over your photos and the box. This will give it a protective covering and a nice shine.
6. On manila folders, use a marker that makes the words really stand out. Write the person’s name, and put papers relating to that person in the folder. If you have too many, put the person’s name on the folder, and then add “birth certificate,” “diary pages,” or “army records” to additional manila folders.
Label, label, label
You might want to invest in some labels to stick on the back of photographs. Regular labels are made to stay on, which is fine if the photographs are your own. If photographs are borrowed, use removable labels to identify them, so you can return them in the same condition you received them. On the label, clearly identify the date, place, and person or persons in the photo (reading from left to right). Tip: Do this while looking at the photo, and place the label on after you write it all out. You are less likely to make a mistake in writing down the information, and there is less danger of damaging the photo from pressing too hard or having ink bleed through to the photograph. Be sure the ink is dry before “stacking” photos. When you scan these valuable photos, don’t forget to scan the back, too, so you have all the information on the label, as well as whatever name you’re giving the photo when you save it on your computer.
While we are talking about labels, don’t forget to save the interviews you do on your phone with recognizable file names, so you’ll be able to find them when you upload them onto your computer.
Caring for photographs
There are photographs and there are photographs. If you’ve just handed out a dozen copies of your latest class picture to relatives, it’s no big deal if one or two become misplaced or lost or accidentally damaged. But if your great aunt lets you borrow the only picture of her mother taken when she was a schoolgirl, so that you can make a copy, it’s a different story. Lose it, and it’s gone! Sticky fingerprints, ink from markers, spills, or creases from handling a photo carelessly can destroy a cherished keepsake.
Turning sixteen has always been a reason to have a portrait taken.
Hold all photos by the edges. Try not to touch the picture itself.
Put photographs in clean envelopes or inside a folded sheet of acid-free paper to protect them.
When mailing or carrying photographs, add a stiff piece of cardboard backing to keep the photograph flat (older photographs can be especially fragile and easily creased).
Be careful writing on the backs of photographs. Marker ink can soak into older paper, and writing with pen or pencil can make impressions that show through on the picture side (write on regular or removable labels and attach them instead).
Don’t use tape on the front (picture side) of the photographs (if necessary, for example, to stop a tear from causing more damage, attach tape to the back).
Definitely don’t cut up any one-of-a-kind photographs or use them in any projects. Make copies! The best idea is to scan them and upload to your computer so you will always have them safe at hand. Then, you won’t have to worry about damage.
Finding your place
Papers and notepads and books—oh, my! At some point a bookmark—or several—might come in handy. Of course, you can use just about anything for a bookmark, but why not make special bookmarks, starring family members, for a cool way to mark your place in your genealogy research.
Where should you start? How about with you? Are you the baby of the family? The big sister? The pesky little brother? We all have roles to play, based on birth order and our position in the family (and many of us play those roles to the hilt). Show your place in the family. Search out a good photo of yourself and clip out of magazines some small pictures that say, “This is me!” If you’re nuts about sports, decorate your bookmark with pictures of sports equipment, for example, pictures of soccer, baseball, football, or tennis balls, or of players in action. You’re the “princess” of the family? Cut out a crown, or draw one, for your head. Some pasted-on “jewels” will also show your regal side. Small squares cut from blue jeans (if you’re the rough-and-tumble sort) or bits of lace (for the more ladylike), it’s up to you.
Birthdays are happy occasions for keepsake photos.
A tintype photo keeps family very near throughout the years.
This easy, creative activity is designed to help you get to know your family members better and keep you organized, too. And, of course, family bookmarks make great “thank you” gifts to send to those special people in your family who helped with your research.
WHAT YOU NEED:
poster board
scissors
photos, clippings, scraps, or small mementos
glue
markers
WHAT TO DO:
1. Cut the poster board to a good bookmark size, say 2″ wide × 8″ long.
2. Arrange the photo (or photos) with whatever else you choose on the bookmark. Adjust the positions until you are happy with the appearance.
3. Glue each piece to the bookmark. Once the front side is dry, you can use the markers to decorate the back if you wish—or glue or tape a long piece of colorful ribbon or yarn to it.
Now make some bookmarks showing other family members. The more the merrier!