Research family tree through workshop

Whether you are researching your family tree for connection to history, finding lost relatives, medical history or to leave a legacy for your children, Amy French, History Instructor at Delta College, has tips for making it successful.

Choosing the first family member and when the interview takes place are the keys to get the entire project off on a good start.

“The first thing I always suggest is to pick the most talkative family member you have. That’s the one to start with,” French said. “Then create a short list of family members you may want to contact first. Keep in mind those who are most elderly and you may not have around as long or those who you know are going to move or might be home for a while. Also, note the time because if you are interviewing the person after work they might have a different response than if you interviewed them on a Saturday perhaps.”

Starting out with easy questions you know the person you are interviewing knows the answer to such as where they were born, what their birthday is and what their current address is makes them feel at ease right away. Then getting a residential history is important.

“People who don’t remember where they lived this are the important part of getting the history,” French said. “This is something that you can do when you sit with them, but it’s nice if they can get you started by remembering a few houses. Even partial address such as a name of a street is a starting point.”

French said it is important not to ask the question without navigating the answer.

“You want to guide the interview, but you don’t want to guide the outcome of the interview,” she said. “No story is unimportant because one story could tell you about another story.”

While some people may be nervous with having notes taken, French advises using a phone for recording and not go to a public place.

“Some people just clam up when they see notes being taken,” she said. “If that happens just put the notes away and use a phone to record. It’s a judgment call. Also, don’t interview them at a restaurant where a waiter could overhear.”

French said ancestory.com and genealogy.com are both good websites to get started.

The workshop was important to Barb Handley-Miller, Communications Professor at Delta College because she has an 89-year-old mother-in-law she wants to do an oral history project with.

“She is having some memory issues and I think it is really important for us to have those conversations a little bit at a time and not overwhelm her,” Handley-Miller said. “Use the senses to invoke memories; I think that’s a great way to do it. I got some great ideas on how to approach this with my mom-in-law because I really want to do more of an interview with her and make it comfortable for her.”12