The other day I was asked if I had any ideas about writing the biography of a dead family member. This struck a responsive chord in me. For some time I’ve wanted to write about my mother’s father, my grandfather. He was only thirty-two when he died in 1920. A Winnipeg fire fighter, he succumbed to the great flu pandemic that was sweeping the world. My mother was only two when he died and she had few stories about him…Read more.
Posted in Ancestors, How to, Life stories, Personal historian, Tips, Writing
Tagged Ancestors, biography, dead, deceased, Fire Fighters, flu pandemic, How to, life story, relatives, research, Tips, Winnipeg, Writing
If you’re like me, you’ve inherited old photo albums with the pictures held down on so called magnetic pages. The trouble with these albums is that the adhesive used and the plastic liners damage the photos over time. Removing the photos is a priority. I went looking for help and boiled my research down to these seven essential steps…Read more.
Posted in Ancestors, How to, Photos, Preservation, Resources, Restoration, Tips
Tagged Facebook, flickr, How to, old photos, Photograph, Photograph album, Photographic Activity Test, photography, Picasa, preserving, save, storing, Tips
Last year I had the privilege of hearing First Nation elder STOLȻEȽ ( John Elliot) of the WASÁNEĆ (Saanich) territory address the 16th Annual APH Conference in Victoria, B.C. He spoke reverently of the stories that were passed down to him about the land and sea and animals and the values to live by… Read more.
Posted in Ancestors, How to, Photos, Preservation
Tagged Ancestors, How to, old photos, Photos, preserving, Resources, save, storing, Tips
Our people lived as part of everything. We were so much a part of nature, we were just like the birds, the animals, the fish. We were like the mountains. Our people lived that way. We knew there was an intelligence, a strength, a power, far beyond ourselves. We knew that everything here didn’t just happen by accident.
~ David Elliott Sr. (Saltwater People, School District 63 (Saanich, 1990)
Last year I had the privilege of hearing First Nation elder STOLȻEȽ ( John Elliot) of the WASÁNEĆ (Saanich) territory address the 16th Annual APH Conference in Victoria, B.C. He spoke reverently of the stories that were passed down to him about the land and sea and animals and the values to live by.
I was moved by his dedication to his people and by the importance he places on the preserving and recording of their stories. Too often I find myself caught up in the mechanics of my work as a personal historian. There’s marketing to do, blog articles to write, and deadlines to meet. I forget about the sacredness of our work. And by sacred I don’t mean religious. I mean knowing someone deeply, being touched by our common humanity, and venerating the interconnectedness of all life.
What can we do to rekindle the “sacred” in our work? Here are some thoughts.
We need to connect regularly with our own past and show reverence for our elders. This might mean ending or starting each day with some personal expression of remembrance and gratitude for family members who hold a special place in our hearts. It could mean being mindful of the elders in our community and extending a smile or helping hand.
We need to take time out from our busyness for reflection. We need to connect to our sacred moments. Find a space where you can sit quietly and recall a sacred moment in your life. Remember what was happening and how it felt. Let that moment wash over you.
There’s a Bantu expression, Ubuntu, which translates as I am because you are; you are because I am. It speaks to our interconnectedness as human beings. When I’m working with clients, I’m aware that some part of their stories touches my own.
We need to find a statement that gets to the heart of what we do as personal historians. It’s not just words to use in a tag line but a touchstone that can remind us of why this work is sacred. Start by writing, “I am a personal historian because I believe that…”. Play around with phrases until you have an Ah-Ha! moment. For me that moment came when I wrote, “I am a personal historian because I believe that preserving memories is an act of love.” Whenever I lose my way, I try to remember that statement and why I’m doing this work.
We know how much we learn from listening to our clients’ stories. But how many of us have actually told our clients this in writing? Too often I’m guilty of not taking the time to pen a thank you note that acknowledges the wisdom that I’ve gained from my clients.
I have a file where I keep the letters of appreciation I’ve received from clients and their families over the years. It also includes excerpts from personal histories that particularly touch me. When I need a pick-me-up, I go to that file and read through the collection. It reminds me of why I do this work and reconnects me to the sacred.
We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch.
~ e. e. cummings
Photo by Cornelia Kopp
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Posted in Ancestors, How to, Inspiration, Life stories, Personal historian
Tagged elders, First Nations, How to, Inspiration, oral history, Personal historian, rekindle, sacred, stories, storytelling
Posted in Ancestors, Book reviews, Inspiration, Personal historian, Photos, Preservation
Tagged books, family stories, Inspiration, keepsakes, Photos, Preservation
My grandfather
The other day I was asked if I had any ideas about writing the biography of a dead family member. This struck a responsive chord in me. For some time I’ve wanted to write about my mother’s father, my grandfather. He was only thirty-two when he died in 1920. A Winnipeg fire fighter, he succumbed to the great flu pandemic that was sweeping the world. My mother was only two when he died and she had few stories about him.
Maybe you’re also thinking about writing the life story of a distant family member. Before beginning, you’ll need to pull together as much information as you can on your ancestor. Here’s an approach I’m going to use for my grandfather’s story. You might want to try this.
Locate relatives and friends. Where possible,audio record interviews with descendants. Try to find out as much as you can, whether it’s first person accounts, documents, or leads to other people who may have information about your relative.
Research documents. Personal letters, diaries, and wills, as well as census, land, church, probate, and court records, may yield details of your subject’s life. For example, I’ve contacted The Fire Fighters Museum of Winnipeg to ascertain if there are any records of my grandfather.
Search for historical and cultural information. This will give you some clues about your relative’s life. In my case, I want to find out about the working life of Winnipeg fire fighters around 1920. What were the qualifications to get into the fire department? What did the job pay? How many hours a day did they work? Was there a pension plan?
Read local and ethnic histories. These can provide clues as to how your relative may have lived and provide interesting texture to your story. For example, I want to read newspaper accounts of the impact the the flu pandemic was having on Winnipeg.
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Posted in Ancestors, How to, Life stories, Personal historian, Tips, Writing
Tagged Ancestors, biography, Fire Fighters, flu pandemic, How to, life story, Winnipeg, Writing
If you’re like me, you’ve inherited old photo albums with the pictures held down on so called magnetic pages. The trouble with these albums is that the adhesive used and the plastic liners damage the photos over time. Removing the photos is a priority. I went looking for help and boiled my research down to these seven essential steps.
Step 1. Before attempting any photo removal make certain to scan digitally each album page so that should a photo be damaged, you can still recover it from the scanned image.
Step 2. Select a practice photo that has no value to you or is badly out of focus. A word of caution. When removing photos be sure not to curl or peel them back as this could cause permanent damage.
Step 3. Use a piece of dental floss and carefully pull it under one corner of the photo. Using a sawing motion slowly work your way to the opposite corner. With any luck the photo should pop right off.
Step 4. If a photo is glued so tightly that floss won’t work, then try one of the following removal methods:
a. Use un-do, an adhesive remover that won’t harm photos. It comes with an applicator that allows you to slip the remover under the photo.
b. Place the album page in your freezer for a few minutes. The glue will become brittle, making it easier to remove the photo.
c. Use a hair dryer set on low heat. Run it back and forth on the back of the page holding the photo. Be careful not to overheat the photo as this could damage it. Once the glue has softened, quickly and carefully remove the picture.
d. Place the photo album page in a microwave. Make certain there are no metallic pieces. Start the microwave and run it for five seconds. Check the photo and keep using five second blasts until the glue softens and the photo comes free.
Step 5. Take your photos and where possible write on the back the following information: the names of people in the photo, their ages, the year, the location, and the event. Avoid using a ball point pen as this could damage the photo. Use a soft lead pencil or an acid free pen available from a craft store.
Step 6. Digitally scan your photos, store them on your hard drive, and than upload them to a web based site like Flickr or Picasa. That way if your hard drive crashes, you won’t lose your digitized photos.
Step 7. Store your photos in cardboard photo boxes that pass the Photographic Activity Test (PAT). You can obtain such boxes at Archival Methods, Carr McLean, Light Impressions, Gaylord, and University Products. If you have a large collection, layer an acid free sheet of paper between each photo. Photos should be kept in a cool room with low humidity. That generally means keeping them out of attics and basements.
Photo by iStockphoto
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Posted in Ancestors, How to, Photos, Resources, Tips
Tagged Facebook, flickr, How to, old photos, Photograph, Photograph album, Photographic Activity Test, photography, Picasa, preserving, save, storing
In a previous article, How to Make Your Life Story Workshop Memorable, I showed the photo below from my personal collection.
from Dan Curtis photo collection
I suggested that an interesting workshop exercise would be to make copies of this photo, hand them out to the participants, and then have them write what they thought was the story behind the photo. After people shared stories, I’d reveal the actual story. I haven’t yet used this exercise but for those of you who read last week’s post and are curious to know the real story, here it is.
The man second from the right in the group is my father. It was 1941 and he was sailing from England back to Canada on a merchant ship, the Port Freemantle. He was a radio operator and navigator with the Ferry Command. The men surrounding him were fellow airmen who had recently flown bombers to England from Canada as part of the war effort. What I find interesting is how formally the men are dressed with their ties and jackets. You wouldn’t see that today!
All of this is a way of introducing you to the wonderful world of photo identification. This is fascinating and highly skilled work and no one does it better than Maureen Taylor, also known as The Photo Detective. The Wall Street Journal has called her “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective”. If you attended last year’s Association of Personal Historians conference, you would have had the privilege of hearing and meeting Maureen in person. If you’re not familiar with her work, check out her blog and her articles in Family Tree Magazine. If you have an old photo whose history is long lost, you can send your mystery photo to Maureen and for a fee she’ll work on identifying it.
For those of you who want to do it yourself, here are some resources to get you started.
***Be sure not to miss Cyndi’s List: Photographs and Memories. It’s an amazing collection of sites that will keep you busy for a long, long time!***
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Posted in Ancestors, How to, Personal historian, Photos, Resources, Tips
Tagged Ancestors, genealogy, How to, Maureen Taylor, photo identification, Resources, Tips
If you’re looking for a family tree maker, look no further. I’ve assembled twelve of the best. Some are free while others have a modest subscription price. You’ll find some of these programs are relatively simple and others have all the “bells and whistles”. I haven’t used any of these products myself so I can’t offer any personal favorite.
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Tagged family tree maker, genealogy, Personal historian, Resources
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