Capturing family oral history can be an important part of a genealogist’s ‘job’. In this post I will share how we recently captured family history in a recording using a “Memories Game”.

This is Part 1 of a 2 part series.

Starting out with Family Oral History

Over the past year I’ve ventured into recording family stories. My inspiration was a talk presented by Susan Kitchens at SCGS Jamboree 2010. Susan, author of the Family Oral History Using Digital Tools, started recording her family history over a decade ago when she captured the stories of her 99 year old grandfather.

Getting a family story down on paper is one thing. I feel a recording is better. Having a cherished loved one’s voice on ‘tape’ and especially having the story recorded for posterity is the best of both worlds.

I received my first recorder (an inexpensive Sony) this past Christmas and asked family members if they would like to participate in an oral family recording. Reactions were mixed varying from reluctance to
enthusiastic participation.

Reluctance to be recorded….what to do?

The reluctance expressed by some family members had me re-evaluating my approach. I wasn’t going to force anyone to be recorded but really wanted to find a way to make this work. I also wanted it to be a pleasant experience for all involved.

Lisa Alzo, an author and family historian, said something recently which struck a chord with me.  I had heard Lisa speak on the topic of writing one’s family story. (Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Ready! Set Write! Share Your Family’s Story by Lisa Alzo. Recording is available).  Lisa’s sage advice was to ask another family member if the first doesn’t want to talk.

 “If one family member doesn’t want to talk, ask another.”

Recording Family Oral History

Guided by the wisdom of Susan and Lisa I revamped my approach to Family Oral History Recordings.

There were two approaches that worked well at our recent family gathering at the lake. Maybe they will work for you too.

The Memories Game using a Digital Recorder

We were celebrating Mom’s 80th birthday at the lake. I was emcee and one of the games we played was the “Memories Game”.  This game came to me in the one of the middle of the night brain waves.  It was a true experiment because I wanted to use the recorder, something I hadn’t done in a large group setting before.  I primed most of the family members in attendance ahead of time so they could think about their memories and be prepared.

How it worked

We went around the group one by one and I asked everyone to give a memory they had of the birthday girl, perhaps from her childhood or as a Mom,Grandma, aunt or sister. I also asked if people were okay with passing a recorder around while we were doing this. We were to pretend the recorder was a microphone; the individual was to give us their memory then hand the recorder to the next person. Whom ever had the recorder had the floor.

The Memories Game was wildly successful.

Everyone had a slightly different relationship with my mother and the most wonderful and poignant stories came out. My mother is a favourite aunt and a second Mom to several of my cousins. There were tears and there was laughter.  Mom is a special person to many people.  At the end Mom said her thank you’s while speaking into the recorder.

“There were tears and there was laughter. “

 All of these memories got my Aunt going with more stories. She kept saying “I have one more story to share!” and would grab the recorder. It was wonderful! I recalled Lisa’s words as my aunt jumped up to give us another story.

“I have one more story to share!”

All was good

The Memories Game using a recorder turned out to be a wonderful 80th Birthday Party Game. I will make a master copy or the recording for Mom and will use the transcription for a photo book.

PART 2 of Family Oral History is covered here.  Learn how a “smart” pen helped record 2 hours of stories!

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TIP – get everyone to state their name before they start recording their memory.

 

Equipment and Resources

• I used a Sony IC Recorder available from Amazon (ICD-UX200) – mine is an ‘old’ version so I suggest you check the website for the latest model. Pick one in your price range with a USB connection. (www.amazon.com or click on the photo below)

 

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Please see my disclosure statement about my relationship with the vendors mentioned.