How to keep your family memories?
A subject widely discussed by bloggers-generalogists and other genealogy companies because we know how much these memories are small treasures.
We do not have the answers to all the questions around this subject so this article will allow us to share our thoughts with you.
Connaître ses ancêtres, c’est mieux se connaître soi-même ?
We are not going to teach you anything, when we do genealogy, like a detective we go in search of the slightest trace of life left by our ancestors. We search, we examine, we check and what happiness that is that of having found a piece of the story of a forgotten great-grandchild.
We necessarily get attached to these people somewhere. People we have known, who have accompanied us for a few years or ancestors whose name vaguely tells us something or even nothing at all. The little things we know about these people leaves its place in our imagination. With a cabaret distant cousin, a great great-uncle who died in war or a few mysterious inscriptions on a beam dated over 110 years, only one big question arises: Who were they?
A question so vast that it is already a victory to know their dates of birth, marriage, death, their trades, their places of life ... But it goes without saying that this research eager for information would undoubtedly be satisfied if we could know (always) more.
Put a face on a name
This is how after searches in the archives, we find ourselves searching in an attic. Certainly looking for an index left there by chance, something physical, as if to ensure the reality of existence, one day, an ancestor. In search of a treasure, a box that would shine in the dark, full of a new mine of documents and images to search, examine and check.
It’s like giving back to all these people, without being able to ensure their identity, or the context of shooting. But how do you know it elsewhere? Si rien n’est inscrit au dos de la photos, si la photo a perdu la majorité de sa couleur et si malheureusement il n’y a plus de mémoire vivante à interroger. C’est LA question, et (à part un miracle) nous n’en n’avons pas la réponse. Quelques pistes pourraient aiguiller ces recherches sur le contexte et l’identité de ces personnes, comme le tirage et le support de la photo, puis le style vestimentaire, les coiffures, les poses… des symboles marquant d’une époque précise.
Play archivists
Common sense and the spirit "collector" very quickly pushes us to digitize, to frame or store in boxes all these treasures to preserve them from time and keep a trace. With a little experience, you can even get into the touch -up of photos (colors, contrast and sharpness), but be careful not to damage it all the more! And then, What to keep first? These images, documents or objects only belong to us by inheritance. The question behind it is What to transmit, then? Photos, cooking recipes, value jewelry, films, notebooks, letters ... everything that would allow us to better know the tastes and life of an almost unknown ancestor, perhaps?
Et les générations futures ?
Toutes ces questions autour des souvenirs physiques laissés par nos ancêtres nous poussent à nous poser la question de ce que nous allons laisser, consciemment ou non. A l’heure où le digital est omniprésent, nos traces sont bien plus nombreuses et bien plus faciles à remonter et conserver. Et oui, Instagram est le nouvel album photos poussiéreux trop souvent oublié dans la bibliothèque - celui que nous ouvrons 1 ou 2 fois par an, en famille, et dans lequel nous nous plongeons des heures... Quand nos arrières-arrières-petits-enfants n’auront même plus à monter au grenier ni à ouvrir un album mais qu’ils n’auront qu’à taper notre nom dans Google… What will we have left? This question necessarily makes you think!
Archives are the pros of conservation. Some give some advice:
How to keep your archives? - Departmental Archives of the Ardennes
How to keep my archives? - Departmental Archives of Aisne
How to prepare your documents before scanning them? -Departmental Archives of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
You and your archives - City of Reims