5 Ways to Involve Others in Your Family History Research

The Permanent TeamHolidays 1 Comment

When researching your family’s history, it is important to think about your legacy and how you envision your work continuing after you’re gone. At Permanent, we’ve developed legacy planning features to give you peace of mind that your archives and research won’t get lost to time, and that your wishes will be honored and carried out by a person of your choosing. However, many people have told us that although they have a great passion for their family history research, they have trouble identifying someone that they can trust to pass on their research to.  This holiday season, use some of our tips with your friends and family to recruit the next generation of family …

Family History Project Ideas

Amanda Meeks

These very special brainstorming sessions will allow anyone with a story to tell to bring their tale to this open lab to sort through the best way to tell it as a family history project. Today’s digital storytelling tools are so wide and deep that they can be intimidating. As a community, we’ll brainstorm and share ideas for tips, techniques, and tools that might make your storytelling effort easier. The idea for this program is to keep it to just an hour so that we can be efficient with time and generous with ideas. Your host, Barbara Tien, is one of the co-founders at Ponga.com and the “ring leader” here in our post-Ponga community. We use these programs …

Playing for Ancestors

Amanda Meeks

We know that it’s stories that stick. If you want children engaged in the stories of their ancestors, work the stories into their games. Children are also naturally curious, so adding story cues into playthings can make the stories all the more interesting. Ahead of this year’s holiday season, we’ve been looking at projects that might be gifts — with the hook of family history. On Nov-30, we’ll feature Simon Davies, Projectkin member and founder of WeAre…[xyz] to talk about a project he’s created for his own family. The project customizes standard playing cards with the stories and photographs of each of 52 ancestors (#52Ancestors). The secret to this project is the combination of ordinary playing cards with an …

Family History Project Ideas

Amanda Meeks

These very special brainstorming sessions will allow anyone with a story to tell to bring their tale to this open lab to sort through the best way to tell it as a family history project. Today’s digital storytelling tools are so wide and deep that they can be intimidating. As a community, we’ll brainstorm and share ideas for tips, techniques, and tools that might make your storytelling effort easier. The idea for this program is to keep it to just an hour so that we can be efficient with time and generous with ideas. Your host, Barbara Tien, is one of the co-founders at Ponga.com and the “ring leader” here in our post-Ponga community. We use these programs …

A Scavenger Hunt for Ancestors (with Anna Scheutz)

Amanda Meeks

It can be hard for children to relate to the stories of their ancestors. In a creative approach by long-time community member, Anna Scheutz, children get a chance to engage with the stories of their ancestors in a team-based scavenger hunt. Anna applied her considerable experience as a youth leader to developing something that would be equally fun for young children, teens, and grown adults. Her strategy involves a combination of challenges that bring all ages of the family together with physical activity and questions delivered on mobile web pages. In this Project Recipe event, Anna will share how she went about putting the program together and key pointers about why it works. Our program includes her …

Researching Female Ancestors

Amanda Meeks

Researching your female ancestors can be a difficult, yet rewarding, process. Women’s rights and positions in society varied by time and place, often making their records harder to trace (and how do we find those elusive maiden names?!). In this class, we will learn strategies and records to help you research the women of your family. There’s no cost to participate and registration is required. All registrants will receive an email with the Zoom link a few days before the class.

The Great Thanksgiving Listen

Amanda Meeks

This year, as we celebrate 20 years of the stories that matter, we have a number of opportunities to engage listeners in our work. Like us, you understand the act of listening has never been more important. That’s why, we will be calling individuals to participate in the annual Great Thanksgiving Listen — an initiative that invites people nationwide to honor someone in their lives by recording their story for future generations. Participants can record an interview with someone in the same room using the free StoryCorps App or record with someone in a different location using our remote recording platform, StoryCorps Connect. Additionally, we’ll be encouraging individuals to set aside time to listen to …

Memoir Writing Club

Amanda Meeks

The Memoir Writing Club offers members a comfortable forum for sharing stories of important events, friendships, and family history. Do you have memories that you would like to share? Come join the Plainfield Public Library’s Memoir Writing Club. Before a session, participants write down their memories – creating a Memoir. During meetings, members share what they’ve written on a topic.  At the end of each meeting the group chooses an optional topic for the next session, but individual members are free to write about whatever inspires them. Past meeting discussions have involved educational or school experiences, favorite places, growing up in Plainfield, holidays, games, reunions, travel, and more! This is a HYBRID in-person/ZOOM program PRE-REGISTRATION …

Tips on Dating a Photograph

Amanda Meeks

In this San Francisco Genealogy Group session, special guest Gawain Weaver will discuss how to date old photos. With the goal of providing a framework for dating, Gawain will discuss the history and visual characteristics of the four most common photographic processes: albumen prints, tintypes, gelatin silver prints, and c-prints. He will provide an array of tips and tricks for each photographic print type based on the physical nature of the print. For instance, how does a UV light help to date a print? What about the scalloped edges of that B&W print? Or the chocolate colored background of that tintype? As a photograph conservator, Gawain specializes in the physical attributes of prints, and he will …