Blog
Stories, tips, and guides about preserving your family history.
Preserving Your Grandparents' Voices: A Recording Guide
Audio captures tone, accent, and pauses — texture that text can't. Here's how to record a meaningful oral history in a single Sunday afternoon.
April 19, 2026
Build the Timeline Before the Fog Sets In
Memory works on a steep decay curve. Here's a lightweight scaffold for capturing the dates that matter — before "some time in the 70s" becomes everyone's best guess.
April 16, 2026
The Complete Guide to Digitizing Old Family Photos
That shoebox of old photos in the closet won't last forever. Here's how to preserve them digitally before it's too late.
April 15, 2026
Why Family Stories Matter More Than Dates
Names and dates build a skeleton. Stories give it a soul. Here's why capturing your family's stories is the most important thing you can do.
April 13, 2026
The Three-Location Photo Backup Plan (No IT Degree Required)
Your wedding album shouldn't live in only one place. A paint-by-numbers backup setup that takes two evenings to set up and ten minutes a month to maintain.
April 13, 2026
Getting Started: How to Build Your First Family Tree
A practical guide to starting your family tree from scratch — even if you don't know where to begin.
April 10, 2026
Kinship Terms Around the World (and Why Your Cousins Aren't Only Cousins)
English is unusual in how it flattens family relationships. A tour through Arabic, Chinese, and Hawaiian kinship systems that map more precisely onto lived experience.
April 10, 2026
Finding Your Family's Immigration Records in the US
Ellis Island is the famous story but it's only one of dozens of ports and decades. A practical guide to the free databases and what to ask for when you show up at a branch of the National Archives.
April 7, 2026
What We Inherit Beyond DNA
Genes get the research budget. Turns of phrase, Sunday rituals, and habits of hand get passed down with just as much fidelity. A short essay on the non-genetic inheritance that makes a family a family.
April 4, 2026
A Family Tree With Your Kids: A Weekend Project
Turn the tree into a craft project. A 90-minute afternoon, no prior research needed — what works for ages 6 to 12.
April 1, 2026
Reading Old Handwriting: Palaeography for Beginners
"Miss" vs "Mrs" vs "Mss" — the curls changed over centuries. A primer on reading 18th and 19th century family documents without losing a Saturday to frustration.
March 29, 2026
Shared-Tree Etiquette: Working With Collaborators Without Stepping on Toes
Your cousin has research that contradicts yours. Both of you are probably partly right. A short guide to collaborative genealogy that doesn't end in a family feud.
March 26, 2026
Memorial Pages, Done Right
A tribute page isn't a gravestone. It's a place to put the memories that the gravestone couldn't hold. What to include, what to leave out, and how to let grief breathe.
March 23, 2026