![](\"http:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/collect-family-memories-holiday-gathering-1024x853.jpg.webp\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/collect-family-memories-holiday-gathering-1024x853.jpg\")
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/p>\n<\/picture><\/noscript><\/p>\n
Last Updated October 28, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n<\/header>\n Ancestry 50% Off Gift Memberships for Black Friday (Gift to Anyone, Even Yourself!)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re taking the time to gather with family over the holidays, you\u2019ll no doubt be hoping for the opportunity to collect some family history information at the same time. But while we all know how important it is to talk with relatives\u00a0about our family\u2019s past, may of us feel hesitant to ask others to break out the memories, photos and records when the time comes.<\/p>\n How can we broach the topic of sharing family history\u00a0gently, and make it an enjoyable experience for everyone?<\/em><\/p>\n How do we ask someone for their memories without making them feel unconformable?<\/em><\/p>\n One of the best ways to approach the collection of family history at a holiday event, or any gathering, is to keep things simple and fun. If you\u2019re not prepared to sit down and conduct organized interviews or request the right to scan every old photo in the house, try some of these more casual ideas instead. You may not walk away with every detail available, but you\u2019ll go home with some wonderful new tidbits to add to your\u00a0tree.<\/p>\n Make Instant Discoveries in Your Family Tree Now Imagine adding your family tree to a simple website and getting hundreds of new family history discoveries instantly.<\/b><\/p>\n MyHeritage is offering 2 free weeks of access to their extensive collection of 20 billion historical records, as well as their matching technology that instantly connects you with new information about your ancestors<\/b>. Sign up using the link below to find out what you can uncover about your family. Discover New Genealogy Records Instantly<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Bring a notebook or handheld digital recorder and pass it around at the gathering. Ask every person in the room to share one memory of their childhood and\/or one family story they\u2019ve been told. Then, if time allows, gather everyone together to listen to these stories to further open up the conversation.<\/p>\n Create a simple interview sheet with no more than 5 questions on it and give one to every person in the room. Ask them to please take a few minutes to fill them out (bring pens) and give them back to you. Choose your questions wisely!<\/p>\n Bring along a few (not 50!)\u00a0photos from your own collection and pass them around \u2013 or causally share one of the most interesting stories you\u2019ve discovered in your research. The simple act of sharing these photos and stories will likely be enough to get everyone talking about the people in them and the past.<\/p>\n Give away memory\u00a0books as a gift to older family members. This is a wonderful way to let someone know that you want to know more about their lives without burdening them with an on the spot interview. They can take the time they need to fill the book out after the event and return it to you.<\/p>\n Bring along some index cards and record any family recipes that are being prepared. These recipes provide invaluable clues to your family\u2019s cultural past and recording them honors those who came before. Look for other unusual family history information that may be hiding in plain sight \u2013 like the stories behind old knickknacks or furniture.<\/p>\n Download an app like Google\u2019s PhotoScan (or bring along a handheld scanner or digital recorder) so that you are prepared to record family photos or memories that may be shared during the event. Family gatherings often involve swapping of memories\u00a0in some way and having easily accessible tools can make sure you don\u2019t miss a spontaneous opportunity.<\/p>\n 20 Billion Genealogy Records Are Free for 2 Weeks Get two full weeks of free access to more than 20 billion genealogy records right now. You\u2019ll also gain access to the MyHeritage discoveries tool that locates information about your ancestors automatically<\/b> when you upload or create a tree. What will you discover about your family\u2019s past?<\/p>\n Claim My Free Record Access Now<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Make a list of 5 facts from your tree that you think relatives at the gathering may know something about. Ask them to help you verify the information based on their own memories.\u00a0This is a nice way to show your respect for someone\u2019s stories and experiences, while giving them an opportunity to open up and offer new information.<\/p>\n Even if you don\u2019t plan to collect information AT a family gathering, you can use the opportunity to invite family members to share later. Make sure everyone knows you\u2019re interested and encourage relatives to send you information at a future date. Keep the conversation light, without a lot of pressure, and be willing to reciprocate by sharing your research with them.<\/p>\n A family gathering is also a great place to let others know where they can find your research. This may be a family tree you have available online, or a family history blog that you can point people to. Find a guide for starting a family history blog here.<\/strong><\/p>\n By Melanie Mayo, Family History Daily Editor<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 8 Ways to Gather Family History Without Hijacking a Holiday Event Last Updated October 28, 2018 Ancestry 50% Off Gift Memberships for Black Friday (Gift to Anyone, Even Yourself!) If you\u2019re taking the time to gather with family over the holidays, you\u2019ll no doubt be hoping for the opportunity to collect some family history information […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genealogy-guides","tag-db"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":575,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions\/575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. Ask for a Little, Get a Lot<\/h3>\n
2. Make\u00a0Sharing Super Simple<\/h3>\n
3. Create a Casual Conversation<\/h3>\n
4. Give the Gift of Sharing<\/h3>\n
5. Look Beyond the Obvious<\/h3>\n
6. Be Prepared for Anything<\/h3>\n
7. \u00a0Ask for Verification<\/h3>\n
8. Lay the Groundwork for Future Sharing<\/h3>\n