Her Story - Uncovering Women's Lives

More of this Article • Introduction • Letters & Diaries • Family Heirlooms & Mementos • Oral History • Timelines • Postcards • Period Books - Fashion, Advice, & Cookbooks • Newspapers • Social History • Fashion & Couture

Related Resources • Women's History Month • Notable Women

From Other Guides • How to Trace Your Family Tree • Genealogy: Tracing Women Ancestors • Women of Ancient History

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Family Heirlooms and Mementos

If journals, diaries and letters aren't available, sometimes other mementos can fill in fascinating details about daily life. My grandmother, a daughter of Sven Larson by his second wife, passed along to me her McGuffey's Reader, a childhood schoolbook, published in America - but entirely in Norwegian. So one small detail of my grandmother's life is clear: despite being born almost 20 years after her father's arrival in America, the primary language of her home was still Norwegian. I also have a Swedish childhood schoolbook of an ancestor in another branch of the family tree, so I can see what children of that time were learning in school about their own country and the world. It helps me imagine what their lives were like, and what they knew and didn't know. And of course there's that high school short story that, fortunately, my aunt wrote, her high school published, and my mother saved and passed along to me. Sometimes, a lot of luck is needed for a few small details!

• For more information on family heirlooms and genealogy: Uncovering & Preserving Family Heirlooms

Oral History

Oral history is an important part of family history. Interviewing relatives should be an ongoing process throughout your research as you learn new information. Focus your questions on the how, what and why. What was it like to grow up in France during WWII? Why did your family emigrate from Sweden? How did it feel to be living virtually alone in a new country with no knowledge of the language? Branch out from names and dates and ask questions about the routine activities of daily life, community affairs, thoughts, feelings and romance. Names and dates can be found in many public records, but the rest may exist only in the memories of your relative and should be written down before they become lost forever.

• For more information on conducting a successful oral history interview: Oral History- Tips and Techniques for Interviewing Relatives

Next Page > Placing Your Female Ancestors in Historical Context