Genealogy

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Has anyone ever done a recorded interview with a family member? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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This is something I’ve always wanted to do since I’ve started genealogy research for my family.

When I was way younger I had 2 great grandmothers I didn’t know what a great grandmother was until I was older to me they were just my grannies. I lost one of them years ago and there isn’t a lot about her out there. Someone I knew in my lifetime and I’ve had to dig deep to find records about her.

I’ve still got family left who know a lot about my family history and I’d like to interview them before I don’t have a chance anymore has anyone done this themselves?

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[–] FigMcLargeHuge 7 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Not a formal interview, but one time when I was much younger my Grandma came out to visit. For some reason we were all sitting around the table one evening, and I had a tape recorder. We all started talking and I hit record and just sat there and listened. I flipped the tape when it ran out and continued taping. She passed away probably 5-10 years later and I held onto the tape. Once technology caught up, I digitized it and turned it into a cd. I break it out now and then and listen to her talking about our family history. Since then I have made it a point to record family members, even if it's just to hear their voices again. So get after it...

Edit: I will add this, I am so glad that I didn't try and dominate the conversation and I just let her run with it. Make sure you give the person you are recording the latitude to just talk and reminisce.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

We did this when we were informed that my dad had to be leaving us very soon, and just asked some more questions about the past while recording :). It's such a luxury to be able to hear them even when they're gone. We also have our grandparents and parents reading a book to us on tape -> into mp3.