Interviewing Family Members in the Field

How many times have you heard somebody [or even yourself] say, "I wish I had asked [insert name of now-deceased family member here] about this!" That's the family historian's lament. It's also sometimes the motivation to seek out far-flung family members to get their stories.

"Getting their stories" is the essential nature of what needs to be done. On the other hand, accuracy is just as important a value as "getting the story." What's the best way to accomplish both goals?

Uncle Fred is likely to be put off if you bring a court reporter or a bank of microphones connected to a large tape recorder and start by saying, "State your name for the record, please." This approach will guarantee in most cases that you won't get the story!

On the other hand, you may not get the story seated in Uncle Fred's favorite dark bar, tossing back a few, and trying to write facts down on a cocktail napkin.

I think the "right" approach varies with the family member, although there are some basics that I like to use in every case.

First, I like to conduct the "interview" in a place comfortable for the family member, but where photos or documents may be easily accessible. That rules out the dark tavern! The family member's home at a quiet and convenient time often works best.
Craig interviews his cousin Sylvia Jones (not pictured) in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 29, 2007. At left is Craig's aunt, Delorise Gines, in whose kitchen they are seated. [Photo copyright Sherise Diamond. Used with permission].

Let your relative know in advance what questions you're interested in, so they might think about the subjects and perhaps find documents and photographs that are related.

Ask your questions in a friendly, conversational manner. How do you record the answers, especially if some answers are long narratives? A lot of people are uncomfortable in the presence of a recording device and others get distracted by a listener who's writing.

Assess in advance how your relative feels about recording devices. Sometimes this can be done simply by asking the relative; other times you may have to ask someone else or come to a conclusion based on what you know about the person.

I often take my laptop with me and before I get down to the actual "interview", I show my relative some of the work that I've previously done. Sometimes I'll show them a color chart of their ancestry as far as I know it, or sometimes I'll show them a photograph of an ancestor. These techniques are friendly ways to get folks talking. Since they've seen me with the laptop, they're not surprised when I type notes occasionally while they're talking.

Many of the best "interviews" take place in very informal circumstances. In Kansas City, for example, I went to a family birthday party at a well-known seafood restaurant. I sat next to a family member with whom I had not spent much time on this trip. He was full of stories that I had not heard. Most of these were a little short on specific dates, but there was enough "meat" to follow up on the specifics later on.

Even an interview that commences informally can transition to a more formal interview at the right time. For example, while looking at a photograph that the family member has produced, the interviewer will want to record certain basic information--now may be the time to get out the digital voice recorder.

I also take my camera and portable scanner with me.

The key issue is to make the family member feel comfortable, respected, and trusting of the interviewer. This means that the family member must perceive that the interviewer is seriously interested and will not belittle or denigrate the family member.

What techniques do you use to "get the story" from family members?

Research Trip: The Don't Overs

Sometimes when kids play games, they have rules that either allow or prohibit "do-overs," that is, the opportunity to make the play again. In this post, we present the "don't-overs" for genealogical research trips.

1. DON'T OVER-pack (Photo Grrl!): Remember, you're not going to Mars. If you forget something, you can probably get it wherever you are. You don't need a hundred changes of underwear or any other clothes. You can wash clothes just about wherever you are. Leave some room for things you might want to carry back. The airlines will charge an additional fee for overweight luggage. Amtrak won't charge an additional fee, but will make you unpack and re-pack overweight luggage.

2. DON'T OVER-work yourself: Set reasonable goals with a reasonable schedule. Don't schedule yourself with constant tasks from morning to night. Leave time for rest and relaxation and fun, and socializing with friends and family.

3. DON'T OVER-socialize: If you spend too much time socializing with friends and family, you'll see your research time disappear rapidly

3. DON'T OVER-look your normal routine: Go to bed and get up at the usual times as much as possible. Have meals at your usual times.

4. DON'T OVER-analyze your evidence while still in the field. Analysis will possibly lead you to other resources in the field. But over-analyzing will take up time that could be better spent on information gathering.

5. DON'T OVER-collect information. Make sure that you are collecting valuable, relevant information and that you're not just taking pictures, for example, for the sake of taking pictures.

6. DON'T OVER-plan: Be flexible and you'll learn more and have more fun.

7. DON'T OVER-spend on tourist-y, faux historical items. Get the real things or don't get them.

8. DON'T OVER-extend your travel: Know your limitations. If three days makes sense, just stay three days.

9. DON'T OVER-accept information just because it comes from "locals".

10. DON'T OVER-impose your own culture and values where you've gone in a way that disrespects local traditions and customs.


We inadvertently violated several of these. We (Photo Grrl!) overpacked. We took far too many clothes and things we didn't need. It was a hassle dragging around all the extra bags and at one point, we had to hold our breaths as one bag just barely made the Amtrak 50-lb. limit.

We weren't clear with our friends and relatives about the fact that we needed some time when weren't socializing to get some important research done. We kept saying "yes" to all the invitations that came our way. As a result, we lost track of our usual routines and meals came late and once in a while, we forgot to take medicine.

We probably tried to do too much. Fortunately, it worked out well in the end.

[On reflection, I'd add another one: DON'T OVER-do what seemed like a clever idea at first; you know, the "don't-over" as opposite of the "do-over." Oh, well!]

Is A Research Trip Worthwhile?

I'm back tonight at GeneaBlogie headquarters in Carmichael, California, after a trip of nearly three weeks to Missouri. A good deal of the time was taken by travel itself, since we opted to take Amtrak. We spent time in St Louis and Kansas City.

As I've mentioned in some of the posts while on the trip, I'll have in the coming days some "Lessons Learned" and some tips about how to make the best use of a research trip.

This was the third research trip I've made in the last three years. In 2005, I went to Georgia and in Upson County, met the competent and delightful Penny Cliff. Last year, it was off to Salt Lake City and the Family History Library. And this year, to the Midwest.

Despite the generally pleasant time I've had on these trips, an important question to ask is, "Are research trips worthwhile?" Clearly, travel is expensive, time-consuming, and stressful. More resources are being made available on the Internet and from local Family History Centers. E-mail contact between researchers, archives, and agencies is simple and convenient. So why spend time, money, and maybe part of one's sanity to travel for genealogical research?

There are some resources that are only available where they are. For example, on this trip, I visited the Kansas City Public Library and read the manuscript that contains the journal of my ancestor Dan Carpenter. That manuscript just is not available any place else except in the KCMO library's special collections--and they don't lend it out. In St Louis, I went through the entire archives of the St Louis Post-Dispatch and the St Louis Globe-Democrat. I've found only limited archived material from these two newspapers on the Internet.

Then, in Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, I was able to talk to the local priest who had a wealth of information that I otherwise would not have come across. And, we had the serendipitous meeting with Margaret Kimball Brown, Ph.D., one of the leading experts on French colonization in North America.

In Kansas City and St Louis, I walked several cemeteries and came across surprises in both cities. In both cities, I had access to photographs and documents in the possession of individuals who sometimes didn't realize what they had, or if they did, they weren't about to part with it. (Thanks to suggestions made by Becky at kinexxions, and Sally Jacobs, The Practical Archivist, I had my CanoScan LiDE 70 portable scanner with me!).

I was able to speak with people with first hand knowledge of events and individuals. (Yes, this might be done by telephone, letter, or e-mail, but in an upcoming post on research tips, I'll talk about the advantages [and pitfalls] of in-person interviews).

I could take photographs from the vantages that I wanted and explore buildings and houses as thoroughly as I wanted.

I made new acquaintances and renewed old relationships.

And I had fun!

So, is a research trip worthwhile? In the end, that's a question that each must answer for him- or herself. For me, a well-planned trip indeed can be well worth the investment. In several upcoming posts, I'll write about how to make your trip worthwhile.

I'll Be Workin' on The Railroad

[Posted from Kansas City, Missouri]

Tomorrow evening, we board the west-bound Southwest Chief to head back to GeneaBlogie Headquarters.

Despite the shaky start, it's been a good trip and we return with a treasure trove of information that we'll be analyzing and writing about in the coming weeks. One of the difficulties of a trip like this is that you spend so much time working that you lose the chance to do a lot of writing. (Or a lot of reading for that matter. I can't wait to get caught up on my favorite genea-blogs. I've missed you all!).

Photo Grrl has a lot more photos she took, and I spent considerable time with my own one-person Scanfest. A lot of these photos need some editing and retouching, and we'll be getting to that in the coming weeks as well.

I've also spent some time testing and re-testing the technology that I would use to stay connected so we could post from aboard the train. At this writing, it works; however, it is so slow that it may not be worthwhile. We'll keep trying, but this may be the last post for several days.

We'll be in Los Angeles by August 1.

A Couple of Uploads from Photo Grrl

Right: Our author takes a stroll off the train during a lenghty stop at Albuquerque.



















Left: Craig at St Louis Public Library, 7/23/07










Left: Kansas City Union Station, 7/19/07

Some Lessons Learned

On the first part of our on-going midsummer research trip, the following lessons became clear to me:

1. Everything takes longer and costs more than estimates.
2. Hauling octogenarians around on cemetery research in July heat is not necessarily a good idea, no matter how much they want to go.
3. Socializing too much with old friends and acquaintances can be hazardous to your research plan and your waistline.
4. Not socializing enough with old friends and acquaintances can cost you friends and acquaintances and valuable research clues.
5. Don't try to be overly ambitious in your goals.

More lessons as we go along!

[Posted from Kansas City, MO]

This Trip Has Got to Get Better Because . . .

. . . well, just because!

[Posted from the St Louis Public Library, St Louis, Missouri]--So just after I completed the last post from Kansas City Union Station, Amtrak announced it was time to board the train for St Louis. Except that this day, it wouldn't be a train, it would be a bus! Why? An Amtrak spokesman explained, "There's just too much freight on the line today. A passenger train would run four or five hours late. So we put on a bus."

For those who don't know, America's railroad infrastructure is owned by companies who move freight, not passengers. Amtrak uses the lines by the grace of those companies and freight has priority. An Amtrak train can be ordered to stop and allow freight trains to pass. That's the main reason that Amtrak runs late. An Amtrak employee told me that on one occasion going into Los Angeles aboard the Sunset Limited, the train sat near Palm Springs, California for eleven hours because "those freights just wouldn't let us in."

In any event, Amtrak thought is was doing us a favor by using a bus instead of a train between Kansas City and St Louis. After all, as they pointed out, the bus would actually arrive an hour and half earlier than the scheduled arrival time for the train.

So 65 St Louis-bound passengers boarded a bus hired by Amtrak.

I must say that this bus was a unique form of torture. Forget Guantanamo, let's have Congress investigate Amtrak's bus contractors! The seats were smaller than economy-class airline seats and the over head storage bins were as roomy as a residential mailbox. I sat holding some of my luggage on my lap for four and a half hours. And there was no room to get up and stretch your legs during the trip.

About thirty miles outside Kansas City, a monsoon struck. It rained so hard and the visibility was so bad that cars were sliding off I-70. Others simply pulled to the side and stopped. The bus kept on going.

The bus detoured off of I-70 to stop first at Kirkwood, Missouri. This added about thirty minutes time to our confinement. Then in St Louis, the bus driver bypassed St Louis Union Station. Why? Because the train station isn't in Union Station.

The St Louis Amtrak station is located a permanent shack of sorts several blocks from Union Station. Twenty years ago when I first visited St Louis by train, this location was described to me as "temporary." Oh, well. There is a freeway overpass just in front of the station. Since the rain was still falling in build-an-ark proportions, the bus driver and Amtrak personnel aboard the bus decided it would be best not to have people disembark in the unsheltered area near the station door, but under the relatively protected overpass. What they didn't count on was the fact that the area under the overpass had flooded and passengers stepped off the bus into ankle-high rushing water.

I had spied a lone cab sitting under the overpass. The GeneaBlogie staff photographer (more about this person later) lept off the bus, jumped ahead of a family with young children and commandeered the cab. [She felt bad about this, but as she pointed out, there were too many of them to fit in just one cab].

Once in the cab, we set off for our destination. [The cab driver opined that the Amtrak station was not a railroad station as much as simply a railroad track]. As we came off the freeway, the cab hit an area of deep standing water and the engine began to sputter. Miraculously, it kept going. But every time we came to a stoplight, we were uncertain as to whether the journey was going to end right then and there.

Well, we made it and after a good night's rest, I'm here in the St Louis Public Library, which has free wireless Internet service and a huge History/Genealogy section which I'm about to dig into. Tomorrow we're headed to Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, which figured prominently in the series on the French Negroes of Illinois.

So it's got to get better!