It may be carved on my tombstone – If I’d only known then what I know now. I wouldn’t have made all the mistakes I have made; and that goes double for my genealogy.
While recently reading Denise May Levenick’s book “How to Archive Family Keepsakes” I remember thinking “NO WAY!” when she suggested just dumping Aunt Hattie’s desk drawer’s into a box. I was aghast, how disrespectful! The contents need to be carefully sorted and preserved!
Well, yes, and no. As the author states, we all have real lives to run in the midst of our genealogy, and I hadn’t given any thought to CONTEXT.
Thirty years ago I had three little ones and a tiny car and no time or much interest in my roots. What I did have were a few dirty boxes of my grandfather’s things which had been stored in a barn for the previous 15 years. So I dutifully tore old stamps off old letters, saved addresses with the letters and stuck them in a box. The nearly ruined photos I threw in the trash, saved the negatives, and discarded all but a few news clippings in which I recognized names.
In hindsight, having since read her book; and in the midst of a negative scanning binge — I realize she was right. I should have just made sure the archivally dangerous stuff was removed and saved the rest of the job for when I had the time and the knowledge I have now.
Now, I would recognize more names, and I would know that information from the discarded envelopes would have saved me much frustration later. There were things I tossed that I know I should have saved, but I took them out of the context in which my grandfather had packed them, and so didn’t recognize their value. If I had saved those letters in the original packets, I would have known which ones were friends, and which were relatives unknown to me. I could use up many pages detailing the mistakes I made which I recognize now.
I highly recommend Levenick’s book. As she says: “In every family someone always ends up with the stuff”. If you have inherited “the stuff” or you are, like me, trying to organize your own collection of stuff, this book is just what you need. It is never too late to learn how to logically organize and properly handle your papers, photos, negatives, slides, music boxes, quilts, antique vases… (Or how to leave it for the next generation.) You can purchase the book on her website www.thefamilycurator.com.
Last year I attended the LDS Family History Fair in Bangor (there will be another in April) and learned about her there when I attended her workshop “How to Scan an Elephant”. She is funny and she breaks the job into manageable pieces. Her explanations make it easier to decide how to handle unusual items. I have been inspired by her humor and logic to begin working my way through “the stuff’ of my own family history – finally!
Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft is a longtime genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader emails are welcome at ninabrawn@gmail.com. Her semimonthly column is sponsored by the Aroostook County Genealogical Society which meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center at 6:30 p.m. Guests are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501.
