Fannie Lou Hamer gives a powerful Congressional testimony at the Democratic National Convention, August 22, 1964.
Full testimony…
Recording Your Family is So Important
Recording your family is so important. I lost (Hurricane Katrina) valuable recordings of my daughter saying her prayers at age three. She gave thanks to everyone in the family by name. What I wouldn’t give to be able to hear those recordings again. Our memories are our most valuable assets!
Check out this video of Muhammad Ali daughters sharing their story about their dad.
What Is Multimedia Storytelling
What Is Multimedia Storytelling?
The definition of multimedia: using more than one media to deliver your message. There could be combinations of text, audio, video and graphics. The specific mix will depend on the type of story you want to tell and the approach that will deliver the most impressive outcome.
When getting started with multimedia storytelling, you will need to collect audio files, photographs and video clips. You may even need to create your own videos that will accompany the texts in your hybrid scrapbook.
Multimedia storytelling is a great way to preserve your heritage and to organize the memories and family documents you have. Getting started can be a little bit difficult but it will certainly turn out to be an exciting project.
Tips for Creating a Genealogy Digital Scrapbook
Each family has unique and incredible stories to share with the world. Some of these have emotional value, some could have historical significance. Eager to share these stories with the world? Modern technologies provide chances to take traditional scrapbooking to the next level.
Begin with the Basics
Multimedia storytelling can be very challenging in the beginning – where do you start?
Sit down and list the facts about each family member. Do not analyze – just write down key moments and the years during which these occurred. As you list the facts, you will begin seeing the story unfolding right in front of you.
Use evidence you gathered during the interviews you performed, from family trees, photographs and other facts that give the story some substance. The details can be used to fill the gaps. You can use different types of media to paint a complete picture – this is the big charm of multimedia storytelling.
Use the Right Technology
Creating a digital scrapbook is all about choosing the software that will create the effects and outcome you were looking for.
There are many possibilities you can try. Find digital libraries where you can upload your documents and create photo galleries. While organizing all of that information and evidence, you will come up with even better storytelling ideas.
You can dedicate a blog to your stories or create digital documents available for download. The technical aspects will be relatively easy to master, if you are willing to dedicate a little bit of time and effort to the process.
Whether you are interested in photo restoration, creating digital tributes or tracing your family’s history, digital storytelling is a great possibility to give the old documents and the family stories a new life. Perfect organization is the main secret. Once you get all of your files in order, you will find it easy to put the perfect digital scrapbook together.
Pass On The Oral History
Aaron Holt, archives technician at the National Archives Fort Worth, said it is not unusual for genealogists today to have conflicting stories about an ancestor if oral history was not passed down in a deliberate way through the generations.
“I tell people all the time that it only takes three generations to lose a piece of oral family history,” Holt said. “It must be purposely and accurately repeated over and over again through the generations to be preserved for a genealogist today.”
If that piece of oral history is about an ancestor’s death, Holt said the chance of the truth being lost is even greater.
To read more of this article click here.
Focus on one family line (either your maternal side or your paternal side) until you can fill in everything you can going back at least 3 generations or until you reach a real dead-end. Start interviewing the oldest living relatives on the family line you are working on. Your next step would be to then switch line and research the other side as far back as you can go.
It can also be somewhat discouraging. You may find that two stories are so different you don’t know which to believe. But what you will have is a lot of clues to help you on your way.
When interviewing, remember to ask politely for dates of when and where relatives were born, when and where they passed away, when and where they were married. Ask specific details associated with these life events and about other family members that may have been present. Ask about holiday celebrations, birthday parties, schooling, graduations, etc. Try to ascertain where people were working, whether they were involved in any local groups, churches or clubs, and what they liked to do in their spare time.
When you are comfortable with a good set of questions and some way to record the answers, do a test first to be sure your recording equipment is working properly. Remember don’t hurry when interviewing older relatives. The more time they have, the more they will remember.
Remember don’t forget to pass on the oral history!
More Interview Tips And Tricks
A few interview tips and tricks can be used to record everything that you and your immediate family remembers. Now it is time to interview the oldest living relative in your family. Elders are a treasure trove of information. They may even supply the bits and pieces that you are missing from your timeline. You will also learn all kinds of things that you never knew when you interview younger family members.
How to Prepare For Interview
Be sure to be very prepared when you go to the interview, and leave plenty of extra time. Schedule a time convenient to everyone involved. Bring some form of a recording device, no matter how simple. Many people opt to record their interviews using a digital recorder or other recording device, but it is perfectly acceptable to use a pen and paper, if that’s what you’ve got.
As long as you have some way of recording the details that you are told, you will be okay. The last thing you want to do is rely on your memory alone, as that is how family histories get lost.
Interview Questions Tips
When conducting the interview, let them know why you want to interview them. Go prepared with a list of open-ended questions. questions. If you have specific questions, such as the middle names of your ancestors, nicknames, birth dates and locations, be sure to write that down so you do not forget to ask about them. You should also encourage your family members to tell stories when you interview them. Allow them the time to ramble a little bit; you never know what kind of information they are holding until you stop and listen.
Sample of Open-ended Interview Questions
- What is your full name? Do you have a nickname?
- What is your family surname (last name)?
- What was the full name of your Parents? Siblings?
- Do you know the names of your Grandparents?
- How old are you and where were you born?
- How long has your family lived here?
- Were there other family members in the area? Who?
- What is your earliest childhood memory?
- What did you do for fun as a child?
- Did you attend school? Where?
- What was your religious background? Where did you attend church?
- Describe your family life at home growing up.
- What “life lessons” would you like to pass on to the next generation?
I hope this articles on interview tips and tricks help you with recording your relatives and elders.
by Leonard Smith