Involving Family and Local History
1. Organize a Family History or Genealogy Club in your school. The Family History Center can provide you with information to help you get started.
2. Clean and fix up a neglected cemetery and transcribe inscriptions on the stones.
3. Talk to your stake record extraction coordinator about the possibility of performing a short-term record extraction assignment.
4. Contact your county genealogical or historical society about the possibility of helping in any record extraction or indexing projects they have available.
5. Volunteer at least 10 hours of your time at your local Family History Center.
6. Help an older relative write his or her personal history.
7. If your family’s genealogical data is not already entered into a computer database take on the project to do so. Find a software program, install it onto your computer and learn to use the program. A good software program to use, Personal Ancestral File (PAF) is available for free download at www.familysearch.org.
8. Design and compile a family newsletter. Include information about your immediate family, your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins to include in the newsletter. You can also include information on your family history. Prepare several issues of your newsletter and send them to your relatives via email or regular mail.
9. Organize a family reunion.
10. Design, create and post an Internet web page on which to share your family’s genealogical data.
11. Organize a workshop for writing life histories, either at church or in the community.
12. Organize and direct your young women group in visiting a senior citizen center. Interview the residents and with the information you gather, compile a life history for each resident interviewed.
Or
With each resident’s permission, compile the histories into one volume and present it to your local public library, genealogical society or historical society.
Or
Interview the residents, asking them questions specific to their memories of your community. Compile their memories into one volume and present it to your local public library, community historic preservation director, genealogical society or historical society.
13. Organize and direct a special fundraiser to benefit your local genealogical or historical society.
14. Set a goal to go to the temple and do temple work for X number of ancestors. Do the research necessary, learn to use the TempleReady program to prepare the names for the temple, then go to the temple and provide the baptisms for those ancestors.
15. Organize a family history fair for your ward, stake or community. See 16 below.
16. Organize a family history experience for the youth in your ward such as those described in “Planting Temple Seeds” (New Era, February 2001) or “Turning Their Hearts” (New Era, March 1992).
17. Many cemeteries still keep their records on file cards in file cabinets. Contact a local cemetery with a sexton’s office. Inquire about the status of the cemetery’s records. If they are not yet stored on a computer database, offer to take on the job. Work with the sexton to design and create the database.
18. Organize your family photographs. Sort them by date, events, or people. Using a soft lead pencil or archival pen, write the names of people, places and dates on the back of the photographs. Mount the photographs using archival quality, acid free materials.
19. Volunteer your time to clean microfilm and microfiche readers at your local Family History Center or library.
20. Contact your community’s historic preservation director. Volunteer your time or your group’s time to clean or fix up a community historic site.
21. Create a personal scrapbook of your life. Use archival quality materials.
22. Plan and help carry out a Primary activity or activities focused on a family history theme. Remember to plan for several age groups.
23. Years of genealogical research are often donated to Family History Centers because relatives do not know what else to do with it after the researcher has died. Contact your Family History Center to see if they have any collections of donated research that you can organize and prepare for microfilming.
24. Compile a history of your ward. Interview current and former members of the ward. Include details on auxiliary leaders, temple trips, activities, and ward traditions. Collect photographs and include them also.
25. Learn about the types of records used in Family History Research. Decide upon a particular type of record that you might like to become expert in, such as census or probate records. Learn all you can about that type of record: where to find it, how to use it, what type of information you can gain from it, etc. Find records of that type that contain information on your ancestors.
26. On the Internet, explore www.usgenweb.com or www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/ The sites list opportunities to participate in record transcription and cemetery transcription projects. Find a project you might be interested in and contact the project coordinator.
27. Contact a local museum or historic site and volunteer your time as a youth docent or guide.
28. Compile a list of enjoyable youth targeted books involving a family history theme. Examples are “They Were Strong and Good” by Robert Lawson and “Family Tree” by Katherine Ayres. Provide a brief synopsis of each book and donate the list to your local public library, genealogical society and Family History Center.
29. Write the life history of an ancestor. Research the life styles of the time and important local, state, national, and world events that may have affected your ancestor. Combine what you have learned with the facts you know about that ancestor.
30. Using calligraphy, needlework, woodcarving, woodburning or some other technique, create a family tree suitable for framing.
31. Help make it easier for yourself and others to locate vital records by participating in the FamilySearch Indexing project. Encourage your entire YW class to sign up as indexing volunteers.
Copyright 2002 Linda Mahood Morgan
Permission is granted for individuals to use this list of family history activities for home, church and classroom use, as well as home schooling, and school projects. This list of ideas may not be used for resale or commercial purposes. All printed copies of the information presented on this web site must contain the above copyright notice and/or a citation containing the URL of this page.
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