| Introduction to Genealogy | |
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Questions help your family member remember and asking the right questions will give you the greatest chance of success in a family history interview. When deciding which questions to ask, think about your objectives: what do you already know, what do you want to learn and about which people and events is your family member likely to be the most knowledgeable
As you prepare your questions keep the following important points in mind:
- Do your
research. Have your family charts and notes in front of you to help you
formulate questions to fill in some of the holes in your research.
- Use open-ended
questions that encourage personal commentary, rather than close-ended
questions that only require "yes" or "no" answers.
- Try to elicit facts as well as feelings and descriptions. While you should always try to elicit such details as names and dates, remember that facts also include finding out how, why, where and with what results.
Sample Interview Questions
- What is your full name? Do you know why your parents chose that name for
you? Were you named after an ancestor? Someone famous? Do you have a
nickname?
- Where were you born and when? Do you remember any stories that your
parents shared with you about your birth? Do you have your birth and/or
baptismal certificates?
- When and where were your brothers and sisters born? Did they marry? Have
families? (Follow up by obtaining details) What were they like? Do you have
any favorite memories of them?
- When and where did you meet your wife/husband? How did your meeting come
about? Was she/he your first love? Can you describe the proposal, the
wedding ceremony, the honeymoon...?
- Where and when were your parents born? What are their full names? What
do/did they look like? What were their occupations? How did they come to
meet and marry?
- Where and when were your grandparents born (both sets)? What do/did they
look like? What were their occupations? How did they come to meet and
marry?
- Who was the oldest
person you can remember in your family as a child? What do you remember
about them? Do
you remember visiting other relatives or family friends as a child?
- Did you serve in any wars? If so, which war? Which branch of the service
were you in?
- Are there any items, traditions or customs in the family which have been
handed down from generation to generation (these could include everything
from naming traditions to jewelry to recipes)?
- What was life like as your were growing up? Tell me about the home you
were raised in - what day to day life was like. How was your home heated and
lighted, what sort of household chores were you responsible for, did you
have indoor plumbing, how did you do laundry and take baths, how were
Sundays and holidays celebrated...?
- How is the world
now different from what it was like when you were a child?
- What do you know about your family surname? Its origin? Its meaning? Has the spelling been changed at some time in the past?
These are only examples of the types of questions you can ask. The
possibilities are endless, depending upon what you hope to achieve from your
interviews. For more suggestions:
Oral
History - Interviewing Relatives
Everything you need to know to conduct oral histories including how to prepare
for an oral history interview, memory sparks and teasers, effective questions,
scripts, and more.
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