Preserving Your Family History

I recently attended the Eastside Genealogical Society in Bellevue, WA to talk about self-publishing, a passion of mine. This in-person meeting had six people who were willing to display how they were sharing their family history. Some had collected artifacts; some had large pedigree charts or forms in a binder; and one had published her work and distributed it to relatives. One gentleman had some interesting photos. Each was very proud of their work, as they should be.

I had to admonish them.

First, to those who think they will publish when they are “done” with their genealogy, at some point you will recognize you will never be done.

Second, for those who staple some family group sheets together and say they are done–aren’t. These will be thrown away in two or three generations and your hard work will be lost.

Third, for those who put them into binders and share with nephews and nieces…those will probably be thrown away as well.

Fourth, those of you who self-publish and get a nice looking book to share with the nephews and nieces—those will likely also be thrown away in 3 or 4 generations when the connection is lost.

Self-publishing is not the end game.

The important thing is to get that published document into a public institution for long-term preservation. Distribute it not to just family. Here are some options–the more the better:

• Local library in the geographic location of the action of the book
• State and local historical societies
• State and local genealogical societies if they have a brick and mortar location
• Regional libraries that are have strong genealogical collections, e.g. American Ancestors/Brim-DeForest Library, Boston
• Museum or academic library collections
• FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah
• Allen County Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana
• Library of Congress (yes, really, but only if you have an ISBN)
• publish it in the local or state or regional publication, where it will be scanned by PERSI (Allen Cty. Library)
• scan and put on the web

Really. I am not kidding. They want your work.

Happy Hunting!

Jill

What I have done since the last post: I am getting ready for the New England Genealogical Regional Consortium’s (NEGRC) conference in a few days. I will conduct a two hour workshop on “Write As You Research” and two one-hour presentations on self-publishing and using Images and Full Text Search on FamilySearch. I also continue to work on the first volume of my family history, getting it ready for publication in 1st quarter of 2026. It is a compilation of articles I have written plus a few new ones. Right now the vol. 1 is 350 pages long, but vol. 2 and 3 will be shorter. It may take longer to get them published because I have to write more first drafts. Vol. 3 will be narratives written by other members of the family and me.