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Genealogy isn’t just about discovering long-lost family connections. It’s also a hobby that can promote mental and emotional well-being.
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Genealogy is much more than a fun hobby. In fact, research suggests that people who take up family history may benefit from reduced anxiety, higher self-esteem and increased emotional resilience. They can also gain a more profound sense of meaning and identity, a deeper understanding of their roots, and stronger family bonds.
Given the positive impacts of learning and curiosity on attention, mood, memory and well-being, genealogy might even stimulate improved cognition and brain health. That’s especially relevant to older adults. For them, genealogy can be a powerful way to not only explore their own ancestry but also leave a legacy that will enrich their children, grandchildren and future generations.
If you’ve never researched your family history, it might seem intimidating. Fortunately, there’s a treasure trove of tools and resources that can make it easier and more fruitful. This AARP Smart Guide will help you find and use them.
GENEALOGY BASICS
Family trees are the building blocks of genealogy, while a comprehensive family history is the sturdy house that future generations will revisit time and again.
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1. What is genealogy?
“The commonly held definition of genealogy is research in order to understand the particulars of a family tree: for example, who was married to whom, and their children’s names, with birth and death dates and places for each entry,” explains linguistic anthropologist Elizabeth Keating, professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin and author of The Essential Questions: Interview Your Family to Uncover Stories and Bridge Generations.
To devotees, however, it goes deeper than that. “Genealogy is the process of uncovering and preserving who your ancestors were and how their lives shaped your own story,” says Crista Cowan, corporate genealogist at Ancestry. “Genealogy helps restore some of what has been lost. It gives us an emotional and biological connection to history, and to each other, in a way that very few things can.”
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2. Genealogy vs. family history
If your goal is to draw a family tree, basic genealogy sketches the branches. The next step — filling in those branches with colorful leaves and flowers — is the deeper discipline of family history. The former is about who, what, when and where; the latter is about how and why.
“I have thousands of names in my family tree, but most of them are just that — names. I have no idea who these people were or what they did,” says genealogy enthusiast Walter G. Meyer, his own family’s “unofficial historian” and author of If You Weren’t Here, This Would Not Be Happening: Plogs From My Life. “I like family history better.”
Amateur genealogist Debbie Kirsch agrees. “Family history … is when you dig into your ancestors’ lives. It is best described as discovering the dash between the dates,” she says. “As a family historian, you seek out the documents and the rich stories of their lives that go beyond mere existence.”
3. Set realistic expectations
Often, the spark that ignites a person’s interest in genealogy is daydreaming about the important ancestors they might have descended from. While it rarely aligns with reality, it’s a perfectly good place to start, says Lee Arnold, librarian emeritus at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
“If you never thought you could win the Powerball lottery, you would never buy a ticket,” he says. “But it is that unrealistic hope that you’ll hit the jackpot that makes you do it.”
Similarly, if you’re dead set on unearthing famous relatives, you might want to temper your outlook. Instead, open your mind to the ordinary, yet no less interesting, stories that await.
“Most of us are descended from common people. The idea that I will discover that I am actually in line to be king of England is a fun fantasy, but I think my family would have kept better records if we were royalty,” Meyer says. “Although there may not be a castle with my name on it, I take pride that my ancestors served in their countries’ wars, and as steelworkers and other laborers. They literally helped build this country.”
START WITH YOUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY
The first step in building your family history is to have conversations with your closest family members.
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4. Start with yourself
Because genealogy is about self-discovery, your own life is a logical starting point. “You are the star of your family tree,” says Kirsch. “Reflect on your own life and gather the documentation: birth certificate, school records, marriage records, newspaper clippings and so on.”
Kirsch likes to put the documents in acid-free sheet protectors and store them sequentially in a binder. “Add your baby pictures, graduation photos and those ticket stubs from your first concert,” she says. “Look through old photos or download images of the house where you grew up, along with a photo of your elementary school. You are immediately creating a legacy for your family, and it’s also a great exercise in organizing information.”
5. Build a basic family tree
A family tree is the bedrock of every genealogy project. To begin yours, “start with what you have,” advises professional genealogist, librarian and archivist Scott Andrew Bartley. “Go from the known to the unknown.” Begin from memory. “Start with yourself — enter your name, birthdate and birthplace — and then branch out to your parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles,” Cowan says. “Input all the details you know, step-by-step, as this creates the foundation of your tree.”
When you reach the limits of your own memory, enlist help. “There always seems to be one record keeper or one person in each generation who is really interested in the family tree,” says Bartley. “They’re the person to go to.”
6. Conduct interviews
Interviews with living family members can fill in the branches of your family tree and capture the context that goes with them. “While the extant records in research are hugely important, there’s just no substitute for the way that people express their own experience,” says Dominique Jean-Louis, chief historian of the Center for Brooklyn History at the Brooklyn Public Library in New York City.
“While the historical record can often give us the empirical data like names, dates and locations, the personal stories that give this data meaning is really where you … give them color and a narrative.” Because “they may be approaching the end of their lives or have cognitive issues associated with aging,” start with your oldest living relatives, Keating suggests. “These older relatives have tremendous stores of knowledge and can give advice, too, on what directions to take in research,” she says.
Cowan recommends asking open-ended questions — for example, “What do you remember about your grandparents?” — while Keating suggests an “anthropological” approach. Ask relatives to describe how they lived as a child, for example. That “prompts stories to emerge as a person tells about life as it was when they grew up,” she says.
7. Document everything
For every person on your family tree, try to track down vital records like official birth, death and marriage certificates, says investigative genetic genealogist Sara Hoffman. “These three records get the ball rolling for learning more about the individual,” she says. “Pay special attention to other people’s names on the documents — witnesses are usually close family or close family friends.”
Written records are a vital part of genealogy, stresses Liz Sonnenberg, staff genealogist at memoir and family history publishing company Modern Memoirs, Inc. “Conducting genealogical research … requires a commitment to uncovering the true story, ideally by following the guidelines established by the Board for Certification of Genealogists [an organization based in Washington, D.C., that establishes professional standards for genealogists],” says Sonnenberg, who underscores the importance of having thorough documentation and reliable citations for all the information you gather.
“For all family historians, not just professionals, the Genealogical Proof Standard requires exhaustive research, source citations, analysis and correlation, resolution of conflicting evidence and soundly written conclusions,” she says. “It is a rigorous approach, but it is doable. And the reward is a credible account of our ancestors’ lives.”
8. Compare analog, digital approaches
The quality of your family tree — not to mention its accuracy — depends on the quality of the tools you use to create it. Both analog and digital tools have their advantages.
“I recommend archiving both digital and paper records,” Sonnenberg says. “Digital records provide a safe backup of paper, are easy to share with other people and enable inclusion in a published format. Paper records, on the other hand, have the benefit of inviting a more careful read of the document’s content. You can place printouts in chronological order to more easily formulate a timeline of events and determine gaps in our research.”
However, Cowan notes, paper tools can deteriorate, fade or get lost. “Digital tools … allow you to collaborate with other family members, making discoveries together and preserving them for generations,” she says. For more about digital tools, check out AARP Genealogy Online: Tech to Connect. Published in 2012, the book offers valuable guidance on researching your family’s history using popular online resources.
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