Village News

A series on recording your family history

How is everyone doing with this new reality? Some of you are busier because of the pandemic and some of you have more time. While we are closed at the Mennonite Heritage Village, our social media is more active than ever. Find our virtual museum tours on Instagram (mhvillage) or search for Mennonite Heritage Village on Facebook or Youtube. We are also part of the #museumathome movement.

One of the things I think is a great idea is to now use some time to finally write down family histories. Either ask your parents these questions or do it with your kids! It can be written out, or first recorded like a natural interview and then transcribed later. It can even be done on speakerphone or through a social video app like Zoom that has a recording feature.

To make it easy for you I have included 25 excellent questions from Eowyn Langholf’s wonderful blog on wikitree.com – 50 Questions for Interviewing Living Family Members. I’ve made a couple small adjustments. With the first question I already found out my Dad’s actual name is Frantz not Frank! We should all know the answers to these questions!

• What’s your full name? Do you know why your parents gave you that name?
• When and where were you born?
• What was your first home like? What other places have you lived?
• What church did your parents/grandparents attend? What was it like?
• What are the full names of your brothers and sisters?
• What were your favorite toys?
• Where did you attend grade school/high school? What were your schools like?
• What were your favorite/least favorite subjects in school and why?
• What activities/sports did you participate in?
• What was your first job?
• How did you decide on a career?
• If you served in the military, when and where did you serve? What was your rank? Did you have to go to war?
• How old were you when you started dating? Do you remember your first date?
• How did you meet your spouse(s)?
• How long did you know them before you get married? Describe the proposal.
• Describe your wedding ceremony. Who was there? Who were the best man/maid of honor?
• Did you have a honeymoon? Where did you go?
• How long have you been/were you married? How would you describe your spouse?
• What advice would you give to your child/grandchild that is about to get married?
• How many children did you have all together? What are their names, dates and birth places?
• Why did you pick the names that you did?
• What did you find the most difficult aspect of being a parent?
• What would you describe as the best reward of being a parent?
• Where did your spouse’s parents live?
• When and where did your parents die? What do you remember about it? Where are they buried?