Genealogy

12 May 2019 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

Tips for Getting Mom to Share the Stories

Mothers Day is one day in May in the United States, but you can make any day special for your mom or for a mother figure in your life by helping her share memories. Kat Sturtz of RockingYourPath.com invited me on her Fast Action Fridays show to talk about ways to get the memories and stories flowing with moms or with mom figures (think aunts, older cousins, friends-of-mom or grandma).

Kat Sturtz’ Fast Action Fridays show with special guest Margaret Eves

Click the image above to see the show or click here to get to Kat’s blog and the show. In the shownotes, you’ll see links for some goodies from me and VideoGenealogy.

Enjoy!

12 August 2016 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

Search For Meteor Reveals Family History Treasure

It sounds like a sensational headline, but it pretty well describes what happened to me. A “shooting star” (more accurately, a meteor falling into our atmosphere) led me to a family history discovery. It all started when I was out early one morning in August and saw one (just one) meteor flash across the sky during the Perseid Meteor Shower. I made a quick post on my Facebook page and decided to add an image to it that was a little different from the usual shots of meteor showers.

I tossed my “meteor” search term into one of my favorite public domain image resources — Flickr – The Commons. A rather silly cartoon from the 1888 Halcyon yearbook from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania caught my eye.

The book viewer for displaying the yearbook on archive.org is fantastic, allowing easy browsing, searches, and downloads for multiple formats. Remembering I have Quaker ancestors from the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware area (Swarthmore was founded by Quakers), I popped in one ancestor’s name and came up with that name and names of cousins sharing the same page.

Establishing my ancestor at a specific college really opened up a window into her life. When looking at yearbooks you find more than just student names. The Swarthmore yearbook contains advertisements from nearby businesses (including Wannamakers in Philadelphia) touting the popular products of the day for students.

Yearbook contributors added poetry, commentary, essays and illustrations that give us a peek into the daily and cultural life of the students.

Find out about Flickr – The Commons and other sites that have a wealth of family history images in my free booklet: No Pictures? No Problem: 7 Sites For Finding Photos From Your Ancestor’s World. Click here to request your copy. Enjoy! Tell about a family history treasure you find from using the e-booklet in the comments or in the Video Genealogy Facebook group. You can “like” the VideoGenealogy Facebook page, too.

Image credits: Halcyon, 1889. Swarthmore College. Accessed 12 August 2016 at https://archive.org/details/halcyon1889unse.

5 August 2016 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

Genealogy Roadshow Offers Learning Resources

Even if you’re not a teacher you can garner some great ancestor story video ideas from PBS Learning Media. Genealogy is a great way to get kids and teens connected to history because of its personal appeal. PBS Learning Media and Genealogy Roadshow teamed up to offer a learning resource page filled with engaging video clips that support research techniques, family history case studies and provide historical context. Go to http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/genealogy-roadshow/ to see more.

Apply some of the ideas you find in a video you create yourself or with another family member. Learn how here.

25 June 2016 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

The 3 Biggest Myths About Making A Family History Video

If you want to capture your family’s attention and share an ancestor’s story in a video, but are afraid it’s just too hard, too expensive, or too overwhelming, then you need to read this immediately because the myths and the TRUTH about making family history videos are inside this article.

Myth #1: Technology is too difficult

This was once true.

But, it’s time to put this myth to bed.

Believing the technology behind making a video is too difficult hurts you because it holds you back from sharing your precious family history.

The Reality

The actual reality in this situation is the technology involved in creating video stories is simple. In fact it has evolved to the point where, if you can turn on a computer or you use a smart phone, you can make a video.

Myth #2: Video is too expensive

Another myth that was once true.

And another myth that needs to be put to bed.

We are all visual people who grew up watching TV – we are comfortable and familiar with watching stories told with video.

And telling your family story on video is a great way to create interest across all generations. But making a video no longer means you need a fancy camera or editing equipment.

The Reality

The really great news is that video, great quality video, is more affordable ever been before. You can use equipment you already own, such as a tablet, iPad, smart phone, laptop computer to create great family history videos.

Click the image to get FREE tools to help you get started telling your ancestor’s story with video.

Myth #3: I can figure all this out on my own

While it’s true the technology and equipment for creating and telling your family history has gotten so much easier and inexpensive, figuring out how to make a family history video on your own for the first time is still the slow hard way, with lots of side roads to get lost on and dead ends to run into along the way.

The Reality

The reality is you need an experienced guide who has walked this journey with many others just like you.

An experienced guide knows where the potholes are and how to avoid them, and how to make the process of telling an ancestor’s story on video efficient, enjoyable and rewarding! Following the proven steps with a guide makes it more likely you will end up with an engaging video you can share with your family and bring their ancestors alive to them.

Bonus myth: It will take a 12-part mini-series to tell my family history story

You may well have researched and discovered information about many people in your lineage. No doubt, creating a video that covers multiple generations and experiences would be overwhelming.

The Reality

You don’t have to tell your whole family history in one video. One engaging story in a short video will do it. Once you have one video under your belt, you create another one. But you need to get started now!

Now that you know the myths, I’d like to invite you to further discover the truth about creating family history videos. I’d love to share some FREE brain tickling tools to help you quickly identify a story and images for an ancestor story video. Click here to get your free Ancestor Video Tools.

Picture Credits:

Pond5.com

Palmer, Alfred T, photographer. [Part of the cowling for one of the motors for a B-25 bomber is assembled in the engine department of North American Aviation, Inc.’s Inglewood, Calif., plant]. Oct, 1942. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa1992001191/PP. (Accessed June 24, 2016.)

Stockunlimited.com and loc.gov

Family watching television aboard a houseboat at Bahia Mar – Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 1957. Black & white photoprint, 4 x 5 in. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/74640>, accessed 25 June 2016.

20 May 2016 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

3 Items Around You Hiding Ancestor Stories

Take a moment with an item handed down through your family and consider the story or stories behind it. If you think of photographs or other images to illustrate the story, you have the start of a video. Here are three types of artifacts offering ancestor story video ideas:

#1 — Books

Books passed down through the generations may carry dates, inscriptions, and possibly even a true love story between the pages. Our book collection contains two copies of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, one from my mother’s childhood, and the other a gift given to my father as a young man. When my parents married, the two copies became a part of our household’s collective library.

My brothers and I grew up listening to and reading Pooh stories. I passed on that love for Pooh to my kids. It’s fun to show them their grandma’s name written inside the cover of her copy in her childish handwriting. Because he passed away when I was a child, I treasure my father’s handwritten inscription made in 1944 in his copy of Winnie-the-Pooh.

#2 — Tools — Kitchen, workshop, and other household items

At our house we serve up ice cream with a worn, heavy-duty Hamilton Beach ice cream spade, which belonged to my maternal grandpa. During the Great Depression in Ocala, Florida, my grandpa owned an office supply store featuring a soda fountain at the front to entice passersby. He used an ice cream spade for scooping milk shakes and ice cream sundaes for customers. My mother talks about going to the store as a child and ordering a banana split, a special treat in those lean years. Now, every time we dish up ice cream we usually talk about Grandpa’s store!

#3 — Mementos

Dictionary.com defines memento as “an object or item that serves to remind one of a person, past event.”

It only makes sense that a mementos supply us with remembrances of an ancestor or their experience. Click on the photo below to link to a video where I use my great-uncle’s Georgia Tech memento to springboard into stories about his time as a football player for Tech in the 1920s. The stories are especially meaningful because my oldest son now attends Georgia Tech, just like his great-great uncle, “Unk” did.

Take a look around to see what items around you remind you of a beloved ancestor’s story. I invite you to get my *free* checklists to help you discover your hidden family history treasures. Click on the text Ancestor Story Media Checklists or the image to start your scavenger hunt.

Get Started Sharing Your Family History with FREE Ancestor Story Tools