Tag: Family History

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

At this special time of year, our thoughts and hearts are drawn to family and friends. We can find joy in meeting and sharing time with our dear ones, and we can take strength from the memories and lives of ancestors in our family tree who really made a difference for us. On behalf of The Family History Guide Association,...

Discovering History in Geography

A crucial part of genealogical research is knowing the history of the location where your ancestors grew up. As a student majoring in family history at Brigham Young University, one of the many requirements that I have to accomplish in order to graduate is to take several history courses. The first few courses cover a brief overview of U.S. and...

“Remember Me…”

On August 1st, as part of our anniversary, my wife and I went and visited the This is the Place monument in Salt Lake City. Although the walkout to the monument was closed, we went to the adjacent Heritage Village and saw the various replicas of houses and stores that were, at one point, built by many of the early...

How to Include the Family in Family History

When it comes to spending time with family, engaging in family history ideally should be inclusive and involving everyone, right? The question, though, is how to do just that. After all, it can be quite difficult to get the whole family to gather around a laptop and have them help you index or search for records. Besides, someone might say...

How to Help Children Enjoy (and Benefit from) Family History Activities

In his book, The Secrets of a Happy Family (quoted here), Bruce Feiler records a conversation he had with Marshall Duke, a professor at Emory University who researched American families. According to Professor Duke, “The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger the sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem, and the more successfully they believed their families functioned.” Isn’t...

The Family History Guide – Bringing Families Together

“We all carry inside us, people who came before us.”  Liam Callahan Doing family history can bring us closer to our ancestors who have passed on. A desire for these connections seems to be innate in people everywhere. In this new video produced for The Family History Guide, Joseph Ssempalla describes this desire beautifully as he talks about his family heritage...

Jonathan’s Story

Creating an engaging video that is both informative and inspiring is no small task, but Chris Jones is a master of his craft and accomplishes this quest with ease. Skillfully sharing a personal story with emotion and sensitivity is not easily done, but comes naturally to Jonathan Johnson. As members of The Family History Guide Association, we are having difficulty finding words...

Capture and Share the Moment with the Fun, Free, Family History-focused “Marco Polo” App

Avery Hartmans, a tech reporter for The Business Insider, writes, “If you’ve ever wanted to recapture the magic of playing with walkie-talkies as a kid, there’s an app designed to do just that — 2017-style.” She is describing  the app Marco Polo, created by Joya Communications whose website states that its mission is “to help people feel close no matter the distance, enabling people to...

Fun With Family History Games and Apps

 Along with a myriad of activity ideas and resources, The Family History Guide Kids Corner includes links to family history apps and games to give children an alternative to some that are less productive and educational. They are so much fun and a great way to help kids get interested in family history. A few of our grandchildren were playing a game...