STARTING FROM SCRATCH: You

It is a New Year and I have promised my Genealogy class some beginner’s lessons. This one is an adaptation of one I did many years ago. It is a lesson in context and social history and it is about searching things you think you know but maybe don’t. Once you do this exercise for yourself you can use it for others of your ancestors. It’s not hard and it is a bit like a scavenger hunt. Do not underestimate the power of CONTEXT!

ASSIGNMENT

• Grab a piece of paper
• At the top pf the page write your birth name and date of birth
• If you know the exact time—write that too. If you don’t can you find your birth certificate? If not the time, do you know the time of day?
• What day of the week were you born?
• Where were you born? At home? A hospital? Which one?
• Was anyone present besides you and your Mom?
• What was the weather? What time of year?
• What was happening locally or in the world?
• Did anything special happen on this day the year you were born or previous years?
• Do you have any family stories, told about your birth?
• Do you have any photos?

Use the resources below to find whatever is of interest to you on the day you were born.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: Resources

NEWSPAPER RESOURCES: Free

Chronicling America https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Purdue Library Digital US Newspapers https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/digitalUSnewspapers

California Newspapers https://www.library.ca.gov/california-history/newspapers/

Carnegie Mellon Newspaper Guides https://guides.library.cmu.edu/newspapers/newspaperguides

Or search by state or country: __________ Free Newspapers

List of online Newspaper archives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_online_newspaper_archives (both free and $$$)

NEWSPAPER RESOURCES: $$$$

Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/

Genealogy Bank https://www.genealogybank.com/static/lp/explore-newspapers/

Newspaper Archive https://newspaperarchive.com/

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Now once you have spent a couple of hours (yes I said a couple) researching what “Happened on the day you were born” you can clean it up into a proper list and/or you can take what you found and put it into a narrative or story of some sort. Or maybe you want to make it into a ballad or a limerick. You might add photos if they exist or any news articles you found interesting. This might involve some background on your parents. Your birth order etc. Who was in the household you arrived into? Were you the last of 14 children? Or the first of one. This is about you so you are in the driver’s seat. Once you are gone who will be able to tell this story? Why not tell it yourself.

NEXT STEPS

You might enjoy a side track into the book “Family Constellation: Its Effects on Personality and Social Behavior” by Walter Tolman. It has interesting insight into birth order and family dynamics. Or another of my favorites, Bringing Your Family to Life: through Social History by Katherine Scott Sturdevant.

Or you might think of doing this assignment for a child, grandchild or other loved one, as a gift to make for their birthday or next Christmas. If you enjoyed doing this it might be the first chapter in your autobiography. It can be used to give a snapshot of how you fit into other events that happened during your life. Your autobiography can be just a series of snippets. It does not have to be a 5 pound tome. What you do with it is up to your own sense of creativity. The important part is to have fun!

Kelly Wheaton ©2024 – All Rights Reserved