Reading historical fiction can provides ideas on how to add historical context to our work. Researching the world of our ancestors allows us to write with more authenticity when telling their stories. Kristen Hannah’s recent novel, The Four Winds, takes us on a journey to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s in Texas and the hardships “Okies” encountered when fleeing the unforgiving land for California. My ancestors followed this same migration in the 1930s, so I read the book with interest. We’re reading The Four Winds for our fall selection for the Family Locket Book Club on Goodreads. If you enjoy...
Telling our ancestor’s stories requires knowledge of their time. What better way to discover life on the frontier during the Revolutionary War than to read a historical narrative? Author Matthew Pearl tells the tale of a specific era in Daniel Boone’s life that was pivotal for history. The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and the Kidnap that Shaped America backs up the retelling of this famous story with 231 endnotes, many of them referring to manuscripts from the Draper Collection. Reading good historical narratives can help us write our own stories, so let’s see what we...
As family historians, we often confront the challenge of discovering the truth behind family stories. In Murder in Matera – A True Story of Passion, Family, and Forgiveness in Southern Italy, we follow Helene Stapinski’s journey to unravel stories heard as a child about her great-great-grandmother, Vita. The book takes us along as Helene travels multiple times to her family’s hometown in Southern Italy. Through a series of fortunate events, she locates documents that tell the true story of her ancestors. We’re reading Murder in Matera for our Family Locket Book Club’s winter selection. Join us on Goodreads to see past...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Nicole’s ProGen study group assignment to write a family narrative about one generation in a family. We discuss Nicole and Diana’s ancestor, Thomas Bradley, his life in Lincolnshire, England, and his four illegitimate children. Join us as we discuss the process of acquiring records about his life, organizing the information into a narrative, and selecting details about his life to include in the narrative. Links Illegitimate in Lincolnshire, England: The Children of Thomas Bradley – first draft of Nicole’s family narrative ProGen assignment Time Travel to Lincoln Castle Prison – blog...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about writing compelling stories from our family history. Author Annette Gendler shares her experience with writing family stories that were meaningful in her own life. She is a teacher at the StoryStudio Chicago where she has helped countless eager writers over the past several years. Tune in for many tips about writing your own short stories from family history. Links www.annettegendler.com The Tractor – the story of Annette’s American grandfather and his tractor; example of a short memoir. The Flying Dutchman is an excerpt from Jumping Over Shadows, relating the story of...
Do you have a family story to tell? One that depicts a transformative era in an ancestor’s life or maybe a simple story of connection? You may be at a loss, not knowing where to begin. In Annette Gendler’s book, How to Write Compelling Stories from Family History, you will learn techniques to start you on the path of writing your own family stories. We are reading How to Write Compelling Stories from Family History as our spring Family Locket Book Club selection on Goodreads. After reading various family history books, maybe it’s time to write something of our own! The...
Do you have a goal to write a family history of an ancestor? Does the project seem overwhelming? If so, you can draw hope from today’s guest blog post. Lorna Gorringe Coombs shares the challenges and the triumphs she experienced in collecting and writing family stories of her grandmother. She overcame technology issues and a lack of starting material to produce a book complete with narrative, citations, and pictures. Lorna joined our Research Like a Pro Course to learn the process that would ultimately help her reach her goal. Enjoy her story! Diana By Lorna Gorringe Coombs Lorna Gorringe Coombs...
Are you staring at the facts about your family – gathered from a variety of sources – and wondered how to write this in a fashion someone would actually read? If so, you are not alone. As family historians, we want to leave a legacy, yet turning dry facts into a compelling story is no easy task. Author Carol Baxter provides an example we can learn from in her biography, The Fabulous Flying Mrs. Miller: An Australian’s true story of adventure, danger, romance, and murder. Set in the 1920s and 1930s, the book relates the true story of Jessie “Chubbie” Miller,...
Do you have Eastern European Jewish ancestry? Have you wondered about the historical events that might have affected your ancestors and how to discover their stories? Daniella Weiss Ashkenazy’s new book, Playing Detective with Family Lore: How plugging the holes in a family history unintentionally came to tell the saga of Jews in a microcosm showcases how a journalist set out to discover her family origins. The author provides the reader with informative footnotes on each page, that we as family historians will appreciate. Written in a conversational style, Playing Detective takes the reader on the research journey, and along...
Do you love a good story? Ever wondered what it was like for your ancestors as they homesteaded in the western United States? Reading the original letters of Elinore Pruitt Stewart, you get both – the stories from the viewpoint of a homesteader. The Atlantic Monthly first published Elinore’s letters in 1914, then Houghton Mifflin published them as the book titled Letters of a Woman Homesteader. The complete book has been digitized and is available on Internet Archive. Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 30 January 2020), memorial page for Elinore Pruitt Stewart (3 Jun 1876–8 Oct 1933), Find...
