Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Program Review - "Creating Your Life's Story"

The January 30th program meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society featured L.A. "Butch" Hibben on the subject of "Creating Your Life's Story."

Butch enthusiastically described his "Living Legacy Project" using examples from the www.LegacyStories.org website.  The project goals are to:

*  Get as many family stories online as possible
*  Voice record family stories for posterity
*  Store photos of ancestors and families
*  Store photos and descriptions of family heirlooms
*  Connect families when they gather and help them record their family history.

This can be done by one person, a family historian, or a number of family members.  Butch noted that thousands of world War II veterans are dying each week, and many of their stories are not being recorded.  Now is the time to record your family stories.  Help grow your family history and leave a legacy.

Butch noted that their are problems with oral histories, since some stories are wrong, and should be considered subjective at best.  Interviewing persons who lived their own family history provides valuable clues for further searching, provides a sense of the humanity of the interviewee, and connects the interviewer to the interviewee.

He discussed the difference between genealogists and family historians, selecting who to interview, what to do before the interview, the technology to use during the interview, questions to ask the interviewee, and what to do after the interview.

If this interests you, go to the www.LegacyStories.org website and register for free, then add photos, stories, audio and video to your page on the site.  You can make your information public or private, and can invite family members to see your photos and hear your memories, and also share their photos and memories with you and other family members.

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