Where was family originally from? What do they know about that place? Have they ever visited it? What stories did they hear growing up about earlier ancestors whom they never knew? What parents did for a living? As a child, did they contribute to the family income or help parents in their work in any way? What was parents’ religious background?

Researching your family history usually begins with finding names, dates & places. It doesn’t take long before you have a list of births & baptisms, deaths & marriages, occupations & residences. The thrill of the chase keeps us searching and our lists grow longer.

Figuring out how to write a family history book can help you preserve family information for future generations. Researching and preserving your family history helps you better understand yourself. It puts a personal twist on history with personal accounts of your relatives’ experiences during various historical periods.

A family history can help you gain knowledge and appreciation for those who have gone before you, where and how they lived, why they made the choices they made, and how they shaped the family’s future.

The following outline can be used to structure a family oral history interview and contains examples of specific questions. Early Childhood and Family Background; Teenage Years; Adulthood; Overview and Evaluation