Genealogical Documents.
* Genealogical Documents.
Genealogical Documents:
Genealogical documents can change your photo-story from a legend into history. You will want to know where the person(s) in your photo fit in your family, and who their parents and/or children were. Many documents were required to be filled out in the past for different things. Many of these were recorded and saved. In the past backups were just not made. Fires, floods, or other natural disasters have wiped out decades of recorded documents, but many have survived. Genealogy is like the internet, a web with never ending routes. There were enough different kinds of documents so if you can not locate a birth certificate then you may find a marriage license giving you documented proof of a date of birth and parents' names. The most common genealogical documents are the vital records of birth, marriage, and death. Others are church records, records of land owned or acquired, census, court records, wills and adoption records, passenger lists and port of entry records such as from one country to another, and citizenship records for naturalization. These are only some of the more common records. A genealogical document is any recorded document that shows the who, where, when, or how of a person.
Just like a photograph, you do not want to be working with an original. Make a copy and get the original back into a safe place. Attach your copy or copies of records of proof (genealogical documents) to the "Treasures" worksheet from the Photo-Story Kit page.
With the event of my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, their wedding certificate took on a deeper meaning. Click on the title below to open the photo-story. When you close the window you will still be here.
Finding the proof is not easy and you must be ready to be a great detective. In some cases what you find in recorded documents will not add up. People made many mistakes, so if things are not fitting it could be just human error or that you are looking up the wrong tree. There are many things that can put you into a spin. I was surprised to find I have two birth certificates with different last names in my mother's papers. I knew I was adopted at the age of two by my dad and that my mother is my birth mother, but I had not put much thought into the fact that when I was born I had a different last name. When the adoption was complete the records of my birth on file were replaced by a new birth certificate with my new last name on it. My mother felt it was important to save a copy of my original birth certificate which no longer can be found on file so I would have a clear view about my beginnings. Without a story written to go with it, can you imagine how confusing this might be to someone researching my genealogy 100 years from now, when they find my two birth certificates with different last names? Things like this happen now and they happened in the past so be ready to look at everything while assuming all possibilities.
The internet has many places to learn about and research genealogy. We have sorted out some great getting started resources for you.
My History is America's History:
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This is an excellent site. Here you can tell your favorite family story, read America's stories, create a family tree, or find your family online. They have a section just for the classroom with teaching ideas for all ages.PBS Online:
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PBS has a wide range of great educational web sites. Once on the main page click on "History" to get to their large index of PBS history sites. We have listed only two of many.Ancestors:
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This PBS site is packed full of information to get you digging up past family history. They offer a teacher section with ideas and plans to bring genealogy into the classroom. They offer downloadable FREE charts and forms.America 1900:
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This PBS site is a look at what life was like in the United States at the turn of the century. It has a timeline, maps, people & events, and a teacher's guide. The "Special Feature" section here offers FREE software for Mac and Windows. This software offers a fun way to record your family back to 1900.Genealogy.com:
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They refer to themselves as the leading resource for family history. From the main page index select Learn about Genealogy.RootsWeb.com:
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This is a big site covering everything about genealogy including a full section on getting started.National Genealogical Society:
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Under their section "Education Youth Resources" - Youth Resources- they have many great books and classroom resources listed.If you have looked through some of the links above you now have an idea of what genealogy is. The first place to look for genealogical documents is at home or in your local area. The local court house, cemetery, church, or funeral home could be of help. If you don't find what you need there go to the internet. Are you ready to access some internet genealogy research sites to see what you can find?
Family Tree Magazine:
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They offer the online SuperSearch to search over 1 billion entries from genealogy sites online. The toolkit section has downloadable research forms, plus much more. Noted author, genealogist, and photo historian Maureen Taylor provides an article on this site every other week. She is the author of these recommended books."Through the Eyes of Your Ancestors: A Step By Step Guide To Uncovering Your Families History."
"Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs: How to identify, interpret and preserve your family's visual heritage."
History/Social Studies Web Site for K-12 Teachers :
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This is a huge list of history web pages. Click on the link to Genealogy to find their list of over 250 genealogy web sites for teachers and students.LDS:
The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints.
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This will take you to the home page. From there go to "Family History". This is a powerful resource, from the How Do I Begin? and Family History Centers to the huge free searchable database under FamilySearch.org.Cyndi's List :
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This is the Wow site on where to look on the web for genealogy. Her list is huge with over 74,800 links. She has them in categories which is helpful.
50th Wedding Anniversary.
