If the person you are interviewing starts to become defensive or upset, do not press them – change the subject to more comfortable territory.Need ideas? Download a list of sample history questions below. Ask open-ended questions that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no.Be aware that video cameras make some feel people self-conscious, so they may not open up as quickly. Take notes and record the conversation if possible. For in-person interviews, make sure your relative is comfortable.Have pencils (to easily correct) and plenty of paper handy to take notes.Even when people are healthy, memories fade. If you have a very elderly relative, don’t wait to talk until next year.Remember that your family is larger than you think – your parents’ first cousins will also have information about earlier generations. Interview your parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. The best source of family history is always family.Seek out old photographs for clues to direct your search.Don’t worry right now about “how far back you can get”- start with what you already know, write it down, and gradually work back to earlier generations.And if you want to use a computer program to keep track of your data, you can download a FREE program called “Personal Ancestral File” from. Note the dates of interviews with family members, and keep complete citations (author, title, etc.) for any books and articles you consult. Remember to keep a record of your work – a simple notebook is fine. The more you look, the more you will discover. So try different avenues of research: talk to an elderly aunt, post a query to an electronic bulletin board, join a local historical society, visit your state archives, place flowers on an ancestor’s grave. You’ll get the best understanding of the lives of your ancestors by combining oral history with public records research and local history about the place your ancestors lived. If you can't visit in person, here are some tools to get you started. Visiting this center is a great place to get started with family research. Ask your relatives for any family stories or folklore.Names, maiden names, birth dates and death dates of your grandparents and great-grandparents.While you don't necessarily need to prepare for your visit in advance, bringing some preliminary information with you will enhance your experience: They will also suggest future searches you can conduct on your own. Volunteers will help you organize your information and will show you how to search census records, the Social Security Death index, and other record groups. Instead, we honor our ancestors by learning to live in a way that reflects well on them. Aspiring to find a collection of impressive ancestors is not always the best end goal. Other will be difficult to learn about, and odds are good that a few made some bad life decisions or have a tragic story-try to respect them all. What will you discover? You have four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, sixteen great-great grandparents-there are a lot of potential stories! Some could have been prominent citizen in their communities.
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