52 Ancestors 2019. Week Two: Challenge

I would say my biggest challenge at this point in my genealogical journey is archiving and sharing.  Let me explain.

In 2009, my parents tragically passed away.  Both of my parents were genealogists and well respected historians.  I was fortunate to inherit all of their research documents, photos, charts and books and articles they wrote.  In 2013, my grandfather passed away at the age of 97.  From him I inherited photos and letters dating back to the nineteen teens.  Fantastic! Right?  Yes, to an extent.  However, unless you live in a home that can serve as an active archival library, keeping and maintaining these treasures can be a challenge.

First, I tackled my parents' photos.  I scanned everything and began to place the images on Ancestry and FamilySearch where other relatives could enjoy them.  What good are they sitting in an album in a box in storage?  It was fun going down memory lane.  I saw photos of them with friends from back in the 1970s and thanks to Google and Facebook, was able to track some of those friends down and share the memories.  In return, I received countless stories about my folks that either were new to me or I had forgotten.  Hearing those stories was a blessing to me as I missed my parents intensely.

While at RootsTech2016, a gentleman who had heard I was at the conference tracked me down.  He was a follower of my father's work from when dad was Mayflower Historian General.  He heard my dad had passed away and inquired about the research my father had been doing on the Cooke family.  I had just seen some papers dad had on further research he was doing on the Cooke project and asked the gentleman if he would like them.  He was keen to receive them and I was happy to pass them along so that this man could continue the research where my father left off.

And then there were the photos and letters my granddad left.  The photos were easy enough.  Like I had done with my parents' pictures, I scanned and shared.  With all the photos I've inherited, I created Chatbooks and gave them as gifts to family members.  Now, what to do with the originals? I'm still working that out.  Some I have sent on to relatives and others I have placed in albums.  Some I have tossed.  I mean, who wants to hold onto albums of trips to Russia that has only pictures of places?  It wasn't my trip and they aren't my memories.  I asked around and no one wanted them.  You can't keep on to things just because your Granddad took the photo.  Still, it's hard to let go.

Now to the letters.  Treasures! I tell you that even the most mundane letters, when put together chronologically, tell a fascinating story.  My plan is to get all of the letters (and there are BOXES and BOXES of them!) put into an album, scan them into a publishing program and then transcribe them and have the book published with the transcriptions next to the letters.  Great!  Then what?  Where do we store these letters?  Offers to relatives come up empty.  My thought is to share them with the local historical society in the town where Granddaddy grew up.  I'm not ready to part with them today, but I won't always be around and I would hate for them to be tossed in some arbitrary clean up done after I'm deceased.

The saying is true: When a person dies, a library dies with them.  Sadly, the reality is we can't keep everything. We have to be discerning on what we hang on to. While the originals may never find a permanent home, the images will at least be there for posterity on Ancestry and FamilySearch.

Feel free to comment and share your ideas on how you have preserved and archived the items you have inherited.

My FamilySearch Service Mission - Month One: The Call

I grew up in a genealogical home.  Back in the 1980s, my dad was Historian General of the Mayflower Society, and as a teen, I had the privilege of living in the Mayflower Society House.  It was a fun time to be a kid.  I helped in the genealogy library.  I walked in the Pilgrim's Progress.  I worked summers as a guide in the Spooner House and the Howland House. Heck, I lived across the street from Plymouth Rock.  You can't get more Plymouth than that!  It was a life filled with history.

Visiting my old home -- The Winslow House -- in 2010.

So, I'm sure it came as no surprise to my family and friends when I put in my papers for a Service Mission with FamilySearch through the LDS church. 

When I attended RootsTech 2014, I had inquired about serving with FamilySearch. Since around 2005 I have been a Family History Consultant with the church and thought this might be a good next step to take.  For whatever reason, it didn't happen until RootsTech2016, when I met with some amazing missionaries at the FamilySearch Booth in the Innovation Hall.

FamilySearch wasted no time in getting my paperwork processed and my computer system set up in my home.  They were whirlwind fast, albeit I told them that I had a few genealogical conferences that I need to attend and they might want to wait until early Summer.  Ever optimistic, they set me on my journey and wished me well.

Now, most people have heard of Mormon missionaries.  They are the young men and women who, at 18 and 20 respectively, enter the MTC for training.  That training could be a couple of weeks to a couple of months depending on the call of the missionary.  The longer training is to accommodate learning a new language.

Service Missionaries receive training as well, however, they are not sent to a Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah or anywhere else for that matter.  Instead, training is done in the home, in front of a computer, by yourself.  Okay, so it isn't all that bad.   In fact, while we don't have a companion (unless a spouse has chosen to serve along side you), we do have a Mission Training Team that consists of a handful of missionaries, a Mission Team Leader, and each day a new teacher who guides us through our certification process. 

Certification.  Where do I begin?!  It is the entire focus of our existence right now.  Each day there is a new module to learn, and every other day we must certify.  Trust me when I say, you want us to certify!  We, Service Missionaries, are the people who greet you online or on the phone when you have concerns with the FamilySearch process.  This training has definitely given me a new appreciation for anyone working in a service center, no matter what the program is! 

The best part is, I am learning more than ever about a program that I thought I knew everything about.  So much goes on behind the scenes of FamilySearch, and new updates are made daily.  I look forward to completing my training in these next few weeks and begin assisting all my fellow family history enthusiasts out there!  My mission call is for one year.  I hope you will enjoy my posts as I share my journey along the way.