Donating History to a Family History Genealogy Collection

As you know, if you read my blog, I do family history in a way. I do not do the genealogy portion where I collect data and information on people and put it into the graphs of family tree charts and documents. 

I collect pictures, documents, movies, audio files and histories on video etc. I have transferred over 180 super 8 mm movies to digital and given copies to my 50 cousins on my fathers side with a document that they can type their name in and find all the movies and portions they are in. I haven't given my mothers side the movies yet as I know I have some small 8 mm vhs movies and regular vhs movies that need to be transferred to digital and then I have LOTS of audio files for them. I am still working on copying over the last 150 cassette tapes out of about 1000 reel-to-reel, records, and audio cassettes. I got so overwhelmed by the amount of it that I stopped working on it as I still have many VHS and DVD's etc to sort, copy and organize as well as many bins of scanning and organizing. 

You can find posts on most of this stuff on my blog and I will try to link some here but I have been working on this for nearly 20 years. I can't believe the amount of stuff that I have sorted through and still have to do. 
Link to a project using artifacts and branding iron for a family reunion.

List of life history questions to get you started.

Family history vs genealogist - What I do.

Journaling - Writing history a bit each night.

Transferring cassettes and reel to reel to digital files

Sharing and organizing family photos.

Years ago, my mother fell and was trapped between her bed and dresser for two days before we found her. We moved her into a semi-assisted living after that time and when we cleaned out her house, I found this marriage certificate but am fairly sure it isn't anyone in our family line. 

She would often help the elderly clean out their homes and I am guessing she found this certificate in something she acquired through that. I contacted my sister who is into the genealogy portion of family history and she gave me a number to the LDS Family History Center where they organize and digitize any historical document they can find. I wanted to donated it to the center so if someone did want dates on a wedding, they could have this information. 

I got a different number that is just for donations but I must have called on a busy day and was on hold for over an hour. I thought maybe I would just google the name and see what I could find. I found the woman's name on Ancestry.com and it could be here but there were a few other with the same name and similar Illinois births. I called my sister to see if she could do a few searches of her genealogy sites she uses and see if she could find a contributor to those names and see if they would like the documentation if this is their direct relative. If you get onto the LDS genealogy sites or ancestry, there is a spot where the person that gave the historical information can put their name so that others working on the same history lines can contact them and they can compare documents and dates etc. 

I don't know that we will find them but it is like a big puzzle. There are also Family History Centers all over the world that the Mormon / LDS / Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will help anyone search for their family names. The workers are volunteers and are trained in the best way to find names and people so if you ever want to know more on your family lines, just search for "family history center and your state or town" online and you can find the one nearest you. Most of the stuff is online now and you can just get into the site and start searching. There are some easy to follow and short family history tutorials on youtube that can help with this. 

This is an introduction video on a channel who has a "5 Minute Family Search" channel you can link to here. She gives short video tutorials (five minutes or less) on the program, how to do specific things, how to set up an account and has about 250 videos on everything you need to know. Even if you aren't looking to get into it super deep, it is just fun to search your immediate information and correct things if they are wrong etc. 

If you have a family member that has passed away, I know they would love to have the information that many would just throw away such as birth, death, and marriage certificates and you can upload audio files and video along with pictures attached to family members now so you can share items with others in the same line that may have been lost otherwise. 

So, if you have information on anyone that you aren't going to keep, watch the video and get the information on how to donate the information. Also, you may want to get on and just upload your own information and your family information along with current pictures so that if your kids or grandchildren ever need dates for things, they can just get online and find it. I know my sister gets tired of everyone calling her for dates and information for kids reports etc. This way, everyone can find it at their fingertips. 

Ok, more news. Stupid that in the video I didn't notice it was an Illinois State issued certificate. lol Then, I contacted my sister and she found a name of someone online that posted the information on this wedding online genealogy site and I emailed the person offering them the original certificate as I thought it would be cute framed with a wedding picture of them. 

Have a Family oriented Blessed Day!