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Family History Essay | How to Write? and 400 Words Essay on Family History

February 14, 2024 by Prasanna

Family History Essay: A family involves individuals living respectively that structure a gathering of people inside a local area. Individuals making this gathering are dependent upon connections either by birth or blood, and it involves at any rate two grown-ups as guardians and grandparents, along with little youngsters. The relatives have a common association between them. Thus, an exposition about family ancestry is a rundown of a person’s social personality and the equal relationship(s) he/she imparts to individuals living respectively.

Adapting family ancestry is indispensable to comprehend our economic well-being, mankind, and variety. History saves our recollections for ages to comprehend what their identity is and their geographic beginning. Having decent information on family foundation allows you to see the value in the things or penances made before by grandparents to encounter better things throughout everyday life. A person’s underlying foundations and beginning bring a self-appreciation revelation. Likewise, expounding on your family ancestry is one method of protecting its legacy for people in the future.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

How to Write a Family History Essay?

When composing a, there is a consistent construction you should continue in giving out your contentions. An appropriate diagram will deliver an energizing show of each segment, and it will interest the peruser. The standard design of an article has a presentation, body, and end. Here is a magnificent illustration of a layout for a family ancestry article:

• Topic: My Family History
• Introduction (Outline): Write a short brief about your family background and why your family is important
• Body: Write about your family members, how you live together and who your neighbors
• Conclusion: Rehashing your conflict, Sum up your key thoughts, and Give a last remark or reflection about the paper

Essay on Family History 400 Words in English

Would you need to know how everything began until here? My grandpa disclosed to me that he met my grandmother at a show where probably the best craftsman was performing during one of the late spring occasions in London. As he was moving alone, my grandpa moved toward a wonderful woman (who might turn into his perfect partner) to request that she dance together. They later consented to meet for a supper date. Our family lives in London. Without a doubt, this is the best family, and it’s an honor to be essential for it.

Each individual includes different sides inside his/her family; my fatherly side begins from Canada, while the maternal side is from America. Despite the fact that my extraordinary granddad comes from Spain, my grandpa and grandmother live in London. My granddad is Indo-British who functioned as a barkeep, no big surprise he adored shows! My dad fills in as a traditionalist for amphibian fauna while my mom works in the bread kitchen. My mom and father met in a store when they were both shopping.

Despite the fact that we live in a similar city, my grandparents have their loft, a separation from our own. We live as a group of five; father, mum, and three youngsters. As we as a whole live in a similar city, we (me and my two sisters) incidentally visit our grandparents during the end of the week to invest some energy with them; grandpa and I were doing some planting while my sisters and grandmother do cook and other house tasks. The connection between our extraordinary guardians and our own is extremely phenomenal.

At Christmas, every one of my youngsters, mum, and father travel to our grandparents for an entire week. During the new year, we get together at our home, my parent’s home, to invite the year as a whole family. Now and again during the end of the week, we normally invest the majority of our energy on the seashore swimming, besides on chapel days. As a family, our number one food is rotisserie fish, rice, and vegetables. In any case, my grandpa likes chicken hash.

All in all, the social conjunction between us is fantastic, which has made a powerful common bond for the family. From visiting one another, investing energy in the seashore, getting together suppers to usher in the new year, and observing Christmas as a family, the bond continues to develop. I’m favored to be essential for a particularly incredible family.

FAQ’s on Family History Essay

Question 1. Why is it important to know family history?

Answer: Knowing your family ancestry is vital. It empowers one to self-find himself inside the general public and like the heredity. At the point when you find out about your family’s past, you will comprehend the things you see and experience today. Composing an article on family ancestry requires a ton of comprehension and consideration regarding the viewpoints you need to depict. The basic factor being the family foundation, at that point seeing how you need to design and scribble down your thoughts.

Question 2. What are the points that can be mentioned in a family history essay?

Answer: You can write about family members, relations, values and traditions of your family. Write down the places from where your ancestors belong or the origin of your family. Also, mention the family reunion or gatherings or the occasions when you all get together.

Question 3. What family really means?

Answer: Family implies having somebody to adore you unequivocally disregarding you and your weaknesses. Family is cherishing and supporting each other in any event when it is difficult to do as such. It’s being the best individual you could be with the goal that you may motivate your adoration ones.

Question 4. Why do we need family?

Answer: Family is the absolute most significant impact on a youngster’s life. From their first snapshots of life, kids rely upon guardians and family to ensure them and accommodate their necessities. Kids flourish when guardians can effectively advance their positive development and improvement.

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How to Write Your Family History

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Choose a Format

Define the scope, set realistic deadlines.

• Choose a Plot and Themes

Do Your Background Research

• Don't Be Afraid to Use Records and Documents

Include an Index and Source Citations

• Certificate in Genealogical Research, Boston University
• B.A., Carnegie Mellon University

Writing a family history may seem like a daunting task, but when the relatives start nagging, you can follow these five easy steps to make your family history project a reality.

What do you envision for your family history project? A simple photocopied booklet shared only with family members or a full-scale, hard-bound book to serve as a reference for other genealogists? Perhaps you'd rather produce a family newsletter, cookbook, or website. Now is the time to be honest with yourself about the type of family history that meetings your needs and your schedule. Otherwise, you'll have a half-finished product nagging you for years to come.

Considering your interests, potential audience, and the types of materials you have to work with, here are some forms your family history can take:

• Memoir/Narrative: A combination of story and personal experience, memoirs, and narratives do not need to be all-inclusive or objective. Memoirs usually focus on a specific episode or time period in the life of a single ancestor, while a narrative generally encompasses a group of ancestors.
• Cookbook: Share your family's favorite recipes while writing about the people who created them. A fun project to assemble, cookbooks help carry on the family tradition of cooking and eating together.
• Scrapbook or Album: If you're fortunate enough to have a large collection of family photos and memorabilia, a scrapbook or photo album can be a fun way to tell your family's story. Include your photos in chronological order and include stories, descriptions, and family trees to complement the pictures.

Most family histories are generally narrative in nature, with a combination of personal stories, photos, and family trees.

Do you intend to write mostly about just one particular relative, or everyone in your family tree ? As the author, you need to choose a focus for your family history book. Some possibilities include:

• Single Line of Descent:  Begin with the earliest known ancestor for a particular surname and follows him/her through a single line of descent (to yourself, for example). Each chapter of your book would cover one ancestor or generation.
• All Descendants Of...:  Begin with an individual or couple and cover all of their descendants, with chapters organized by generation. If you're focusing your family history on an immigrant ancestor, this is a good way to go.
• Grandparents:  Include a section on each of your four grandparents, or eight great-grandparents, or sixteen great-great-grandparents if you are feeling ambitious. Each individual section should focus on one grandparent and work backward through their ancestry or forward from his/her earliest known ancestor.

Again, these suggestions can easily be adapted to fit your interests, time constraints, and creativity.

Even though you'll likely find yourself scrambling to meet them, deadlines force you to complete each stage of your project. The goal here is to get each piece done within a specified time frame. Revising and polishing can always be done later. The best way to meet these deadlines is to schedule writing time, just as you would a visit to the doctor or the hairdresser.

Choose a Plot and Themes

Thinking of your ancestors as characters in your family story, ask yourself: what problems and obstacles did they face? A plot gives your family history interest and focus. Popular family history plots and themes include:

• Immigration/Migration
• Rags to Riches
• Pioneer or Farm Life
• War Survival

If you want your family history to read more like a suspense novel than a dull, dry textbook, it is important to make the reader feel like an eyewitness to your family's life. Even when your ancestors didn't leave accounts of their daily lives, social histories can help you learn about the experiences of people in a given time and place. Read town and city histories to learn what life was life during certain periods of interest.  Research timelines  of wars, natural disasters, and epidemics to see if any might have influenced your ancestors. Read up on the fashions, art, transportation, and common foods of the time. If you haven't already, be sure to interview all of your living relatives. Family stories told in a relative's own words will add a personal touch to your book.

Don't Be Afraid to Use Records and Documents

Photos, pedigree charts, maps, and other illustrations can also add interest to family history and help break up the writing into manageable chunks for the reader. Be sure to include detailed captions for any photos or illustrations that you incorporate.

Source citations are an essential part of any family book, to both provide credibility to your research, and to leave a trail that others can follow to verify your findings.

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How to Go From Boring to Brilliant Family History Writing

So, you’ve done so much family history research that you’re drowning in facts and you’ve decided – that’s it – I’ve got to start writing some of this up!

Only now you are stuck. Don’t worry, you are not alone.

Unless you’re a bit of a Marvin (from Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy) you are probably perfectly fine at telling stories. I mean, we tell snippets of stories all the time, whether it’s moaning to the postman about our encounter with a grumpy lady in Tesco’s. Or explaining our Great-Grandfather to our 3rd cousin twice removed. We tell stories daily.

It’s often only when we come to write these stories down that we struggle. We can’t find the “right” words. We lose our voice. We get bogged down in details. We forget about our core story. The thing that made us want to tell it in the first place. We either stare at a blank white page, unable to even start writing OR we write tons of words – read them back and decide we’d like to delete the lot.

In this article, I’ll share some tips that’ll transform your family history writing. I’m not saying you are going to become a world-renowned author. We’re not all JK Rowling. But, when you give your cousin Sue the story about your great-gran, you can be sure she’ll read it, enjoy it and therefore remember it.

Table of Contents

Before you start writing your family history, decide your audience.

Sometimes our audience is clear, such as I’m writing this for my children. But, we don’t always have a particular person in mind. You may be writing up your family history for fun, to check for gaps in your research, as ‘cousin bait’, as a blog for fellow genealogists or professional reasons.

That’s fine, but you need to try to imagine who might be reading. Let’s use my blog post on my Woodrow witch ancestor as an example. It could attract unknown cousins, fellow genealogists or person’s interested in family history. It might attract those that like reading true stories.

These readers all have some things in common. They are unlikely to be children. They are likely to enjoy history. Yet, some readers may have lots of family history knowledge, others none at all. I need to ensure I don’t alienate anyone. For example, I use language appropriate to their reading age but without jargon.

Envisioning your audience, their likes and dislikes will help inform your writing.

Decide On The Message For Each Piece of Family History Writing

Your writing doesn’t have to have a deep and meaningful message. But, it does have to have some sort of point. For example, my blog post ‘ Blue Blood ‘ explores my illegitimate ancestor. I wanted to make my research journey clear and to inform readers of the parentage of my ancestor. That was my message. Whereas, my blog post ‘A Hidden Victim of Ripper Mania ‘ had a statement at its heart. I wanted to use my ancestor’s story to explore the effect of constricted gender roles. I wanted to show her story of suicide as a possible consequence of Victorian rigidity.

Regardless of whether your message is divisive, exploratory or informative, decide it before you start. Don’t let it get lost or diluted. Keep checking on your message. Are you getting to the point? Is it clear?

Set A Plan & Avoid Tangents

Before writing your family history make a plan. Exactly which ancestors are you going to cover? Over what time? Who will you start with? How will you break up their story? How does this plan work with your decided audience? Where will you show your message?

Setting a plan will give your writing structure. It’ll ensure you cover all the points you want to explore. It’ll ensure your message comes through. It’ll help you weed out or avoid random tangents.

Odd pieces of off-topic text can be very distracting. It’s easy to fall into a trap of including things because they are ‘interesting’. This is an error. Adding random pieces of content dilutes your story. It starts to feel rambling and the message becomes lost.

Writing Your Family History

If you can't write it, say it.

One of my favourite writing styles, especially for short stories, is ‘conversational’. I like to feel like the writer is sat next to me, sharing their tale over a cuppa. That’s not always easy to emulate. So cheat! Record yourself whilst you explain the story.

You don’t need anything fancy to do this. Download the free app Otter ( Google Play or Apple Store ) onto your phone. This nifty programme will listen to you talk and convert your words into text. It’s not perfect but its accuracy is impressive.

Next, take that speech-to-text and edit it. Use it as a starting point and build upon it.

Pay special attention to the words you use or turns of phase. This is your real voice. Use those phases in your family history writing to make it feel more authentic.

Use Endnotes or Footnotes to separate your family history writing from sources

You don’t have to put all your details within the body of the text. I have read a lot of family histories that start like this:

“My ancestor, John Brown was born on 5th June 1857. He was christened on 10 June 1857 in St Michael’s Church, Basingstoke. His older brother, Thomas was christened on the same day. Thomas was born on 20th March 1855.”

For an instant win, try putting some of those details in footnotes or endnotes, alongside any source information. Doing so transforms our sentence, to something like this:

“John and his older brother Thomas were both christened in the summer of 1857 at St Michael’s Church, Basingstoke.”

Bring Your Family History Writing To Life

Reading a list of facts is boring. We need details to help spark our imagination. Writing family history is challenging because we need both accuracy and imagination.

Let’s look at our 1857 christening example. It took place in the summer and it’d be easy to presume that the weather was hot. We need to check though! That June may have been infamous for its terrible weather.

Our example took place in a church. We may look at a photo of that stone building and presume it looked the same way in 1857. Again we need to check. What if the church flooded that year? What if the building we see today is a replica?

Once we’ve got our confirmed details though, we can use them to create texts rich in detail:

“Summer 1857 was hot and the parishioners of St Michael’s Church must have felt relieved to sit within the cool of the church’s thick stone walls. On 10th June the Brown family filled the congregation. A generation of bottoms squashed into the tiny pews. I imagine the new Brown babies (Thomas and John) cried as the icy holy water splashed onto their foreheads. Three years before them, a daughter had been baptised using that same deep stone font. Her little bottom was missing from the row of Browns that watched the ceremony. Perhaps her mother, Elizabeth was thinking of her as she hushed her son’s bawl…”

Find The Right Words

Successful authors tend to have a fantastic vocabulary. Reading widely can help you to expand your own. But, you can also use a thesaurus to aid you – especially if you find you are using the same words repetitively. There are loads of free thesaurus’ online.

It is also worth bearing in mind that old adage, “show not tell”. If you find your text is full of adjectives (describing words) then start pruning them! Replacing those adjectives with strong nouns can actually enhance your writing.

I recommend reading “ Kill Your Adjectives “. It really explains this concept in much more detail and gives some great examples.

Use Tech To Help With Grammar

Even the very best of writers make mistakes. That’s why they have proof readers and editors. Now, whilst using a real-life person is always best, that’s not always possible. So, use apps to try to fill the gap. Hemingway is a free editor. Type in your text and using various colours, it’ll highlight sections that use a passive voice or are hard to read. It’ll point out your use of adverbs too. Fixing these errors will lead to better writing. 

Other apps that can help include, Grammarly (a free app or chrome extension). It will point out all your spelling and grammatical errors. Underlined. In red. I hate it. I love it. It’s one of those kinds of relationships.

Editing and Proof-Reading

Apps aside, nothing beats a human eye on your work. In an ideal world, once completed, put your writing away. Leave it for at least a couple of weeks before you pick it up and start editing. Then finally hand it to someone else to read. Proof-reading is a talent. It’s why people get paid to do it! So, do what you can. Pass it to who you can. Don’t beat yourself up if 3 months later you look at it again and there’s an apostrophe in the wrong place.

Enhance Your Family History Writing

An image is worth 1000 words.

Those of us writing up our family history today have a huge advantage over our ancestors. We have the mighty power of the internet. Within seconds we can have access to quality photographs to add to our work.

Use images to “back up” the detail you’ve written or to separate large pieces of writing. These don’t have to be images of your ancestors. Use photos of buildings, maps, artwork, newspapers. Mix it up!

On a practical note, ensure you are not breaking any copyright laws. On Google Images select Settings-Advanced Search and filter by ‘Usage Rights’ to find images marked as shareable. Read the different levels of copyright and attribute your images as appropriate. If in doubt, check with whoever owns the image before you use it. If you can’t find someone to ask and are still unsure, then don’t use it. And yes, I know exactly how frustrating that can be!

Geograph is great for free images of places and buildings within the UK. You can also utilise sites like Unsplash , Pixabay  and Pexels to find free pictures. Use Canva to curate your own images and text graphics.

Add Charts To Your Family History Writing

Make use of another advantage available to modern genealogists. Create and add family tree diagrams to your text. These not only break up long passages but make the text itself easier to follow. Use charts to explain genetic relationships. Create these either within your family tree package or using Microsoft PowerPoint or Excel, or your Mac or Google equivalent.

Break Up Your Family History Writing

Depending on the length of your family history writing, consider using tools to make it easier to navigate. Very long works benefit from contents pages and indexes. All easily created in Word.

Shorter pieces may benefit from section breaks and sub-headings.

Give It A Title

People make snap decisions about what to read. Give your text the very best chance by giving it a great title. Use the Headline Analyser to see which of your ideas is worth pursuing. Or browse these 100+ blog title ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Do You Enjoy Writing Your Family History Stories?

Writing up your family history should be enjoyable. Be honest with yourself. If writing your family history feels like a form of torture then don’t do it! It’ll come through in your writing anyway. Writing up your ancestors’ lives is not the only method of recording their histories. You could simply do some oral recordings. You could try making a presentation.

Or you could join my Curious Descendants Club! With regular workshops and challenges, this Club is designed to help you write your family history. You can find all the details here, including testimonials from existing members .

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The Non-Writers Writing Guide to Write Your Family History

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• ancestral stories , family history , family stories , preserving discoveries , story crafting , storytelling

I’ve heard from many of you that you don’t write your family history because you either don’t feel confident with your writing skills or aren’t sure how to start.

You aren’t alone. Many other family historians have felt the same way, including me. 

Genealogy documentaries have set a bar high for storytelling. They explore rich, exciting histories and tell them in the perfect setting. How can you compete with that?

And that old saying about “everyone has a book inside them”? Pffft. You aren’t sure you have enough to fill a Christmas card. 

A few years ago, I decided to put together a “This is your life” heritage book for my mother. Knowing that writing wasn’t my strong suit, I had multiple contributors lined up to share their stories. This book was going to practically write itself.

Four weeks before B-Day, most of the people who agreed to write something pulled out. I had no stories, and I’d never written anything longer than a multiple page letter. I wasn’t up for the task. However, I promised my siblings we’d have a book for Mum’s birthday, so we were going to have a book.

The next few weeks weren’t pretty, but we handed Mum a 188-page hardcover book in a custom slipcase on her birthday.

The hardest part is starting. I probably never would have if I hadn’t made a promise to deliver a book to Mum.

You can do it too. Even if you:

• think you’re not creative
• haven’t written more than a Christmas card in years
• don’t consider yourself a writer.

Techniques to use to write your family history

As a non-writer full of self-doubt, I tried every shortcut I read about it, even those AI writing sites. None worked. Why? Because the story comes from you. 

It’s the knowledge you’ve gained from years of research, the theories you’ve developed and the insight you have after hours of analysis that creates the story. U nfortunately, there is no AI writing app or “fill-in-the-blanks” template that can do that for you.

However, there are different techniques you can use to share what you’ve discovered and create a book, a blog or a binder of stories for your descendants to enjoy.

The first step is to reframe what you tell yourself to take the pressure off. Don’t aim to be a writer, instead consider yourself a storyteller. As a storyteller, you don’t need to be a writer; you’re just documenting what you’ve discovered to share with others.

The next step is to experiment with these three options to write your family stories.

Commit to trying at least one but preferably all of them. You don’t have to show your work to anyone until you are ready. The best way to gain confidence in a skill is to practice.

1. Say it out loud

Skip the writing step and tell yourself the story while using a voice-to-text app to record it.

You want to feel comfortable while talking and for the story to come out naturally. So, if it feels a bit weird talking to yourself, then tell the account to a relative, pet or even your favourite plant. The critical part is that you use your computer or phone to record and convert each word to text as you say it.

Voice-to-text software isn’t perfect, so expect to see some errors in the draft that is created. Mistakes usually happen when the AI misinterprets what you’ve said, mainly when talking too fast, using slang or local colloquialisms. So rather than fixing the issues on the go, finish the draft and correct any errors in editing.

Be sure to speak slowly and clearly so that the microphone picks up your voice, and the AI can interpret and convert each word as you say it.

You don’t need any fancy apps or software to get started. Instead, try any note-taking app on your phone, hit the microphone icon near the space bar, and start talking.

Speak the punctuation that you want to include, such as:

• question mark
• exclamation point.

To include quotation marks, you’ll say:

• close quote.

For single quotes, you’ll say:

• open single quote
• close single quote.

To move to the following line, say either:

• new paragraph.

Depending on the app you use, saying “new line” or the alternatives may exit you from the voice-to-text functionality. If that happens, press the microphone icon again to keep “typing”.

Note-taking apps for writing from your smartphone

Look for an app that saves the document in the cloud (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive etc.) so that you can easily access it from any device or computer. Such as:

• Microsoft Word

2. Summarize each discovery as you make it

Don’t overthink the process and build your ancestor’s story by crafting a summary of each discovery you make.

Everything you uncover represents an event that happened in your ancestors’ life, from being born, getting married, moving house or enrolling in the military. So capturing your interpretation of that event builds their story one discovery at a time.

Your ancestor’s story isn’t only repeating the facts you discovered, such as date of birth, place of marriage or their final resting place. It’s also your interpretation of the discovery and how that event connects to the other things that you know about them. That includes your thoughts, theories and questions that come up as you’re reviewing each discovery.

If you already have an analysis process for your genealogy research, re-purpose the summary you’re already writing for each discovery. 

Not summarising your discoveries? Start now. Review what you know about each ancestor and write a few paragraphs on it, using the questions below to prompt you.

• When did this event happen?
• Where did it take place?
• What happened?
• Which other ancestors were involved in the event?
• How does this discovery answer any of the questions you have about this ancestor?
• How does it connect to what you already know about them?
• What was your key learning?
• What new questions do you have after reading this discovery?
• Does this confirm any existing theories or inspire new ones?
• What new clues do you have to research?

Don’t overthink it; write your thoughts for each question. When you’re done, that’s a block of text towards the draft of your ancestor’s story. 

Find out more about discovery analysis and crafting summaries. 

3. convert your ancestral timeline into story format.

Your ancestral timelines are the story outline of your ancestor’s lives.

If you’re not already using timelines, this is a great time to start. Of course, your genealogy software will already be creating one as you log each discovery. But it’s also easy to create your own.

Create a timeline in Microsoft Word, Google Docs or your favourite app. Any note-taking app will work as long as you can create a hierarchy using headings, body text and bullet points.

Don’t overthink the process because that overwhelms you and stops you from writing your ancestor’s story. Keep it simple and try something like this process:

• Add each year of your ancestor’s life
• Underneath each year, including the date
• After the event date, add the event’s name (for example, death of father, left school etc.)  
• Use bullet points to summarise what happened

Don’t have any events? Include general historical events such as war, major financial or weather events instead. You can also include this type of information even if it’s a year where you have events in your ancestor’s life.

Once you’ve finished with the outline, go back through each event, and convert the facts into paragraphs. Be sure to include any theories or questions this event raised for you so that your reader can go on the journey with you.

When you’re done converting each event into a few paragraphs, you’ll have a draft of your ancestor’s story.

You can write your family history even if you’re not a writer

You don’t need to be Stephen King, Nora Roberts or Agatha Christie to write your family stories. Your family history is your story to tell and should be done in your voice.

Keep the process simple, and don’t overthink it, as that’s when the doubts creep in. All you need to do is tell your reader

• what you’ve discovered
• your theories
• questions you have
• how it connects to other things.

“Inside each of us is a natural-born storyteller just waiting to be released.” Robin Moore, Awakening the Hidden Storyteller

Experiment with different ways of creating the first draft.

• Use voice-to-text functionality to convert the story to text as you talk.
• Analyse and summarise each discovery to build the draft one block at a time.
• Convert your ancestral timelines into paragraphs to capture your ancestor’s story.

The best advice I have is to start. You don’t have to ever show those first few paragraphs to anyone. You may surprise yourself, though. Once you see the sections adding up and the story coming together, then you’ll be keen to share it with your loved one.

After all, stories are written one sentence, one word at a time.

Ready for your next step?

Ready to dive deep into my non-writers writing formula and convert your research into engaging stories? Learn more about the Ancestral Stories course . 

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How to Write a Family History

Writing a family history is an enlightening process that will help you form an appreciation of your heritage and the characters who helped forge it. On one hand, you’re playing detective: immersing yourself in research and stumbling upon discoveries. On the other, you’re a storyteller: gold mining for the ingredients of a rich narrative through the lives of your ancestors.

It is a highly rewarding exercise both for you and for your next of kin, who will benefit from your findings. That said, the act of writing your family history isn’t all glamor. Not all genealogists have a natural knack for storytelling. In unpacking how to write a family history, we wish to present a simple structure to serve as a guideline for what we promise will be a worthwhile process.

Do Your Research

Before you can start the process of writing your family history, you must immerse yourself in family research. Depending on the amount of ancestral data that you have access to, you may want to grab from a number of sources and throw yourself into a variety of records, archives, and articles in order to piece together the puzzle of your heritage. Genealogy records that you might want to search when tracing your family history include:

• U.S. Census records
• Newspaper archives
• Family stories and diaries
• Court records
• Congressional records for private claims
• Military records
• Passport applications

Newspaper archives are an invaluable resource for finding facts and stories about your ancestors that have been lost over time. From marriage and birth announcements to long-lost family photos to articles about local events, you’ll learn more from old newspapers than just names and dates. In newspaper archives you can also find obituaries to learn more details about your ancestors’ lives, and many obituaries include photos and mentions of related family members.

Another powerful genealogy resource for compiling data for your family story are U.S. Census Records . The Federal Census can help track down valuable information and serve as a direct tool connecting you to deceased relatives.

Additional Records for Writing a Family History

Government records are another centerpiece to tracing your family history. Understanding your family timeline through clues deducted from land deeds or cemetery maps is a key research tool. Also, finding widows’ claims or war pension records can help to decipher accurate dates and length of life.

Choose a Writing Style

When documenting family histories, writers tend to adopt one of two major writing styles: descendancy or ahnentafel. Descendancy (otherwise known as register style) is the most common. This is a linear chronological story starting at the point of immigration to the United States, documenting through generations until reaching your contemporaries.

Alternatively, some family historians prefer ahnentafel style as their methodology: a reverse documentation starting with the most recent generation and tracing the lineage of couples back in time. This follows a numeric system that increases per generation. For example, where you might be “1,” your parents would be “2,” grandparents “3,” and so forth.

Consistent Use of Abbreviations

Ease tedious repetition by adopting commonplace genealogy abbreviations. This will greatly increase the flow of your writing and allow you to quickly work through laborious details and organize your thoughts. Use our guide explaining family tree relationships to help make sense of who is related to whom.

• Div. – Divorced
• Bap. – Baptized
• D.Y. – Died Young
• unm – Unmarried

Write Your Family Story

When writing your family history, be sure to document the facts, details, and stories that captured your attention. Chances are, they will interest your wider family too. Quirky details or anecdotes of relatives are always a pleasure to discover. Stories breathe life into the endless cycle of dates and statistics; the great responsibility of genealogy enthusiasts is to be accurate, and to make sure we treasure and value these stories for generations to come.

• Resources for Genealogists, The National Archive – retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/census/online-resources

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Family History Writing Prompts (Over 40!)

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Use your research in new and creative ways! The editors of Family Tree Magazine have compiled this list of family history writing prompts to help you get inspired. The answers you provide can be shared on a family history website, put into a book or kept with other genealogy records.

Family History Writing Prompts

Imagine you are one of your descendants, far in the future, writing about your present self. Write about an event from your own history from that perspective

Imagine you are a newspaper reporter and write an article about an event in your family history based on your research. Remember to include the who, what, when, where and why if you can!

Imagine your family represented as a literal “tree.” What kind of tree best represents your family’s story? What does it look like and why?

Did you grow up with any family traditions? What is the history behind the tradition? Do you practice any family traditions now?

Choose an event from your family’s history and write an alternative ending to it. Perhaps someone made a different choice or didn’t survive something; how would the course of your family’s history have changed?

Pick two ancestors from your family’s history who didn’t know each other, then imagine a scene where the two meet. What would they talk about, and what would their first impressions be of each other?

Imagine a holiday celebration your ancestor participated in. Narrate it as accurately as possible.

Write a thank-you-note to an ancestor. Who are you thanking? What did they contribute that you are thankful for?

What types of meals did your ancestor eat? Describe a mealtime scene from your family’s history.

Choose a favorite couple from your family’s history (or imagine one) and write a love note or poem they might have shared. Take the historical period into consideration!

Write one or more “six word stories” about your family’s history. Channel your inner-Hemingway .

Write about surname origins. Do your findings lineup or conflict with what you know or believe about your ancestors’ homeland? If not, highlight the puzzle and try to piece together a plausible answer to it.

What’s the whackiest or most interesting story you’ve heard passed down in your family or discovered in your research?

What types of clothes did your ancestors wear? Pick and ancestor and describe them in detail; what are they wearing and why?

Are there any naming traditions in your family? Write the story of how that tradition started or the stories of ancestors with that name.

Imagine your ancestor encountering something for the first time (new place, new food, new invention, etc.). Describe their first impression in detail.

Write a letter as if you are one of your ancestors. Who is the letter for and what does it say?

Imagine your ancestor making a big decision and narrate how they arrived at their conclusion.

Ask a child, grandchild or sibling what one thing they would like to know or learn about their family history. Ask them why they want to know that piece of information.

Looking at your family history, write down five life lessons you feel you’ve learned from your ancestors. Write an essay for the benefit of sharing with your children, grandchildren, and future descendants.

If you were to write a book about your family history or an ancestor’s history, what genre would it be and why?

Do you have a favorite quote or family saying from your history? Write the story of how that quote or saying came to be.

Imagine your ancestor had social media during their lifetime. Write a Facebook post or series of tweets describing something they’re witnessing in real-time.

Select a family heirloom (watch, quilt, Bible, etc.) and write a narrative from its perspective . Where has it been? How did your ancestor acquire it, and what would it have encountered throughout the years? What important family milestones might it have witnessed?

Imagine a typical day for a female ancestor. What time did she wake up, and what did she do throughout the day?

Select two ancestors who lived in different time periods, and describe a scene of the two interacting with each other over dinner. What do they talk about? What do they have in common?

Imagine and describe an event in your family’s history from an outsider/observer’s perspective. What was it like to be there? How did the event make them feel?

If your family history/ancestor’s story was a novel, what would the theme be?

Imagine a route your ancestor took frequently in his or her daily life. Describe that route in detail. What did they see? What noises could they hear? Where were they going?

Think of your ancestor as a character in a story; describe them as an author would. Go into as much detail as possible: what do they look like, how does their voice sound, what are their strongest personality traits?

Record a memory of one of your ancestors that you want to pass down to future generations —a parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, etc. Set the scene: How old were each of you at the time? What happened? Why is this a memory you treasure?

Write a brief biography of yourself —everything an ancestor might want to know about you. After all, someday your ancestors will want to know as much about you as you do about yours!

Come up with a pitch for your ancestor’s biography. Is it a sultry tell-all, or a just-the-facts? What major theme(s) does it cover? Be sure to give the bio a title and sub-title, and write the book’s summary as it would appear on the back cover.

Select an ancestor who served in the military, and write a letter to him or her from the perspective of a loved one on the home front. Ask about his or her health, or the conditions in the war. Read real-life wartime letters for inspiration.

Write a paragraph describing three items your ancestor would never leave home without. Why are these objects so important to your ancestor? Where did they come from?

Identify a major event that happened during your ancestor’s lifetime, and (as your ancestor) write a first-person journal entry describing it. What would your ancestor have thought about it? Would he have found it exciting? Frightening? Frustrating?

Write a paragraph or two about your ancestor and their best friend. Imagine an adventure they had (real or imagined) based on what you know of their childhood and the time period and place they lived.

Imagine one or more of your ancestors as the characters in a fairy tale or fable. What role would they play, and what is the setting? What would be their fate?

Pick an ancestor from the 1800s, drop him into today, and (as your ancestor) write a letter to family members still in the 1800s. How would he describe today? What surprises him? What questions would he have?

Write a diary or journal entry that details your immigrant ancestor’s journey. What are their impressions of their fellow passengers? Research passenger lists and ship descriptions to make your description more accurate.

Describe your ancestors’ wedding. Study marriage certificates, wedding banns and photos, and contemporary clothing and rituals to fill in details.

Describe the first meeting between two of your ancestors who would later get married. What are their first impressions of each other? Include any details you know about your ancestor’s appearance, occupation, age at that time, etc.

Pick an ancestor’s hometown and do some research on how it was during your ancestor’s time. Use historical pictures/postcards and city directories to learn about the town, then write a brief tourism ad for the locale highlighting the town’s attractions.

Imagine the first time your ancestor got to vote. Write a letter from them to a relative detailing their impressions. Where was their polling place? What was the process like? What about the other people in line?

Select two ancestors who lived in different centuries, and describe a scene of the two interacting with each other. What do they talk about? How are they different from one another?

Select your favorite family photo, and write about the moments just before and/or after the photo was taken. Why was it taken? Was your ancestor happy to be in it?

Write a letter to an ancestor you’ve never met. Include questions you’ve always wanted to ask him or her, plus some that reflect what you’ve already learned about your ancestor (for example, “Do you enjoy your new job?” or “How are you coping with your father’s death?”).

Share these ideas with your students, writing group or genealogy group!

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How to Write Your Family History

How much do we really know about the lives of our parents and grandparents, gareth st john thomas outlines how you can get started with writing your family history, if difficulties in your family are at the root of emotional difficulties, find a therapist to talk to  here  .

Jung wrote: “Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent. The greatest tragedy of the family is the unlived lives of the parents .” But what if those lives had been lived in ways unknown to their children and future generations? Whatever way you look at this, parents' own stories are going to be hugely influential well beyond their lifetimes. That may be why trying to write the history of an elderly family member is a common task people assign themselves, but for many reasons most don’t complete it.

How to get the story started

Very often people don’t know where to start, how to organise it all and when to stop. I've been working with British, Australian and New Zealand psychologists and psychotherapists and family historians to produce a very straightforward manual, Finding True Connections . The manual provides 100 key questions that traverse all stages of the interviewee’s life. 

As the questions come from an outside source, they have a certain objectivity and they allow the interviewer and the interviewed to get to work on the story without too much clutter from their own relationship getting in the way. Each question has background notes and follow up questions if time and interest allow. A duplicate set of cards with the questions the interviewer is reading from the book can be used to control the pace of the interview- so that when the interviewer believes they have all they need they simply put the next card down.

The politics of history

It's important to keep the interviewer out of the story. Yes, their memories and understandings can be very different, but they don’t own the story; that must belong to the interviewed person and history will judge the rest. I know of one lady who refused to mention one of her sons in her interviews as she didn’t want him remembered at all. That could have had a devastating effect on future generations, so while respecting her wishes the interviewer did manage to secure one nice comment about him. It's also important to be mindful of who else might be present when the interviews are taking place. An overly intrusive partner could well restrain the story and too many voices at one time is not helpful.

If the interviewee doesn’t want to answer a specific question you are advised to smoothly move onto the next one. Most of the key issues are addressed from more than one angle so it’s likely that you will capture the information in a way the subject will be happy with later in the 100-question process.

When to write your family history

This is a project that can be done at any time, but it does require a significant time commitment. Preparing for the interviews by straightening out dates and timelines and names and spellings of the key people beforehand takes time in itself. As does researching the period through which the subject lived. Where were they and what was happening in the world on their 5 th , 16 th , 21 st , 40 th and 65 th birthdays for example. 

Once you are organised the 100 questions can be covered in two or, for the more infirm, three interview sessions. As well as taking notes you are advised to record these, and most mobile phones have or can download an effective easy recording system. So too can online communication systems such as Zoom and Skype.

A project for lockdown? 

Given that many people are in lockdown they will have the time to get started. Ideally, they would get a set of questions to the person being interviewed so that this can be done online or by phone. Once the interviews are completed, go to work straight away and start creating a narrative. Try to use as many of their turns of phrase and exact quotes wherever possible. However, remember the story needs to be told, not regurgitated.

Interestingly, one of the benefits of the process is that the interviewed person normally enjoys a big positive bounce as a result of it. Often people think that they haven’t ‘done much’ but everyone has seen and absorbed enormous change. Being interviewed validates the person, gives them a voice and also the process can sort out the fog of chronology with everything being put in correct order. Accordingly, the interviewed person can look back at their life as a whole.

Windows in history

Capturing someone’s history gives a view into our own world. Many jobs have vanished, and attitudes and beliefs have changed and entire practices abandoned. By getting into the history you will see how the world of your family member was and how they felt about it all. I've often amazed by how little children often know about their parents' lives.

Normally the process can take up to 12 weeks if someone has a job but if working from home this could all be completed within less than six weeks. It's important not to try for perfection but make steady progress if you aim for around 12-15,000 words you will have a story that will be read by many people over many years of great value to the family including those not yet born.

Gareth St John Thomas is the author of Finding True Connections: How to Learn and Write Your Family's History

Further reading

Family constellations: the invisible ties that bind us, understanding and managing family dynamics, the hidden pain of family estrangement, what does our position in the family mean, how i overcame my family history with therapy, find welldoing therapists near you, related articles, recent posts.

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Essay about Family: What It Is and How to Nail It

Humans naturally seek belonging within families, finding comfort in knowing someone always cares. Yet, families can also stir up insecurities and mental health struggles.

Family dynamics continue to intrigue researchers across different fields. Every year, new studies explore how these relationships shape our minds and emotions.

In this article, our dissertation service will guide you through writing a family essay. You can also dive into our list of topics for inspiration and explore some standout examples to spark your creativity.

What is Family Essay

A family essay takes a close look at the bonds and experiences within families. It's a common academic assignment, especially in subjects like sociology, psychology, and literature.

So, what's involved exactly? Simply put, it's an exploration of what family signifies to you. You might reflect on cherished family memories or contemplate the portrayal of families in various media.

What sets a family essay apart is its personal touch. It allows you to express your own thoughts and experiences. Moreover, it's versatile – you can analyze family dynamics, reminisce about family customs, or explore other facets of familial life.

If you're feeling uncertain about how to write an essay about family, don't worry; you can explore different perspectives and select topics that resonate with various aspects of family life.

Tips For Writing An Essay On Family Topics

A family essay typically follows a free-form style, unless specified otherwise, and adheres to the classic 5-paragraph structure. As you jot down your thoughts, aim to infuse your essay with inspiration and the essence of creative writing, unless your family essay topics lean towards complexity or science.

Here are some easy-to-follow tips from our essay service experts:

• Focus on a Specific Aspect: Instead of a broad overview, delve into a specific angle that piques your interest, such as exploring how birth order influences sibling dynamics or examining the evolving role of grandparents in modern families.
• Share Personal Anecdotes: Start your family essay introduction with a personal touch by sharing stories from your own experiences. Whether it's about a favorite tradition, a special trip, or a tough time, these stories make your writing more interesting.
• Use Real-life Examples: Illustrate your points with concrete examples or anecdotes. Draw from sources like movies, books, historical events, or personal interviews to bring your ideas to life.
• Explore Cultural Diversity: Consider the diverse array of family structures across different cultures. Compare traditional values, extended family systems, or the unique hurdles faced by multicultural families.
• Take a Stance: Engage with contentious topics such as homeschooling, reproductive technologies, or governmental policies impacting families. Ensure your arguments are supported by solid evidence.
• Delve into Psychology: Explore the psychological underpinnings of family dynamics, touching on concepts like attachment theory, childhood trauma, or patterns of dysfunction within families.
• Emphasize Positivity: Share uplifting stories of families overcoming adversity or discuss strategies for nurturing strong, supportive family bonds.
• Offer Practical Solutions: Wrap up your essay by proposing actionable solutions to common family challenges, such as fostering better communication, achieving work-life balance, or advocating for family-friendly policies.

Family Essay Topics

When it comes to writing, essay topics about family are often considered easier because we're intimately familiar with our own families. The more you understand about your family dynamics, traditions, and experiences, the clearer your ideas become.

If you're feeling uninspired or unsure of where to start, don't worry! Below, we have compiled a list of good family essay topics to help get your creative juices flowing. Whether you're assigned this type of essay or simply want to explore the topic, these suggestions from our history essay writer are tailored to spark your imagination and prompt meaningful reflection on different aspects of family life.

So, take a moment to peruse the list. Choose the essay topics about family that resonate most with you. Then, dive in and start exploring your family's stories, traditions, and connections through your writing.

• Supporting Family Through Tough Times
• Staying Connected with Relatives
• Empathy and Compassion in Family Life
• Strengthening Bonds Through Family Gatherings
• Quality Time with Family: How Vital Is It?
• Navigating Family Relationships Across Generations
• Learning Kindness and Generosity in a Large Family
• Communication in Healthy Family Dynamics
• Forgiveness in Family Conflict Resolution
• Building Trust Among Extended Family
• Defining Family in Today's World
• Understanding Nuclear Family: Various Views and Cultural Differences
• Understanding Family Dynamics: Relationships Within the Family Unit
• What Defines a Family Member?
• Modernizing the Nuclear Family Concept
• Exploring Shared Beliefs Among Family Members
• Evolution of the Concept of Family Love Over Time
• Examining Family Expectations
• Modern Standards and the Idea of an Ideal Family
• Life Experiences and Perceptions of Family Life
• Genetics and Extended Family Connections
• Utilizing Family Trees for Ancestral Links
• The Role of Younger Siblings in Family Dynamics
• Tracing Family History Through Oral Tradition and Genealogy
• Tracing Family Values Through Your Family Tree
• Exploring Your Elder Sister's Legacy in the Family Tree
• Connecting Daily Habits to Family History
• Documenting and Preserving Your Family's Legacy
• Navigating Online Records and DNA Testing for Family History
• Tradition as a Tool for Family Resilience
• Involving Family in Daily Life to Maintain Traditions
• Creating New Traditions for a Small Family
• The Role of Traditions in Family Happiness
• Family Recipes and Bonding at House Parties
• Quality Time: The Secret Tradition for Family Happiness
• The Joy of Cousins Visiting for Christmas
• Including Family in Birthday Celebrations
• Balancing Traditions and Unconditional Love
• Building Family Bonds Through Traditions

Looking for Speedy Assistance With Your College Essays?

Reach out to our skilled writers, and they'll provide you with a top-notch paper that's sure to earn an A+ grade in record time!

Family Essay Example

For a better grasp of the essay on family, our team of skilled writers has crafted a great example. It looks into the subject matter, allowing you to explore and understand the intricacies involved in creating compelling family essays. So, check out our meticulously crafted sample to discover how to craft essays that are not only well-written but also thought-provoking and impactful.

Final Outlook

In wrapping up, let's remember: a family essay gives students a chance to showcase their academic skills and creativity by sharing personal stories. However, it's important to stick to academic standards when writing about these topics. We hope our list of topics sparked your creativity and got you on your way to a reflective journey. And if you hit a rough patch, you can just ask us to ' do my essay for me ' for top-notch results!

Having Trouble with Your Essay on the Family?

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FAQs on Writing an Essay about Family

Family essays seem like something school children could be assigned at elementary schools, but family is no less important than climate change for our society today, and therefore it is one of the most central research themes.

Below you will find a list of frequently asked questions on family-related topics. Before you conduct research, scroll through them and find out how to write an essay about your family.

How to Write an Essay About Your Family History?

How to write an essay about a family member, how to write an essay about family and roots, how to write an essay about the importance of family.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

20 Reasons Why You Should Write Your Family History

Hungarian Family at Ellis Island, all of whom were deported. 1905. Image ID: 417071

If you have done any family history research, such as looking for records on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org or conducting interviews with older family members, you may have pondered writing about your genealogy research. Here are 20 reasons why you should cease pondering and start writing:

You’ll feel wiser.

In 2014, ⅓ online adults used the Internet to learn more about their family history. 67% said that knowing their family history has made them feel wiser as a person. 72% said it helped them be closer to older relatives. 52% said they discovered ancestors they had not known about. Ancestry.com, Global Study of Users , 2014

First person narratives and family histories are important historical documents.

“You are doing a service by leaving a legacy, no matter how small or large.” “The interesting stories in your life have become familiar to you… The novelty of these stories is most apparent to someone hearing them for the first time.” The Story of You: A Guide for Writing Your Personal Stories and Family History , John Bond, 2014

You are an important person. You have things to pass on, to your children, to your local history society, to unknown future generations.

“The entire story of mankind has come to us from individual voices from the past.” Family Focused: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Your Autobiography and Family History , Janice T. Dixon, 1997

You and your family are important to somebody, probably many somebodies.

“Just watch... ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ to see how many ways one life touches so many others. The few families on the Mayflower probably produced more than 20 million descendants.” The Story of You: A Guide for Writing Your Personal Stories and Family History , John Bond, 2014

Family trees are abstract. Stories add depth.

“It makes names into real, live people. Family stories help you and your family become more than a birth and a death date.” The Story of You: A Guide for Writing Your Personal Stories and Family History , John Bond, 2014

The Jeter Family in 1901. Image ID: 1235217

Memories over time become fragmented and distorted. People may not remember the things you told them but did not write down.

“I am not famous or rich, but I still want to be remembered.” Family Focused: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Your Autobiography and Family History , Janice T. Dixon, 1997

Writing your family history gives you the chance to depict your ancestors how you see fit.

“You cannot write our story. You have no right.” In 2004, Native Americans react to depictions of their ancestors in documents about Lewis & Clark. History New s , Summer 2014

There is a need for diverse family histories about those who have not been represented well in history texts.

“For members of marginalized groups, speaking personally and truthfully about our lives plays a small part in erasing years of invisibility and interpretation by others.” Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art , Judith Barrington, 1997

There is a need for more family histories documenting female lines.

“The traditional descendants-of genealogy usually begins with the immigrant and follows descendants for some number of generations. Often they have a paternalistic bent and follow only male descendants who bore the surname….In the future we hope to see less short-changing of maternal lines and collateral lines in published material.” Producing a Quality Family History , Patricia Law Hatcher, 1996

There is a need for more family histories about families who are not affluent.

“Genealogical publishing [in the past] was accessible primarily to the affluent…. Modern genealogists are researching ancestors who are relatively recent immigrants, landless, illiterate, living on the frontier or migrating. There seems to be a trend away from idealizing our ancestors.” Producing a Quality Family History , Patricia Law Hatcher, 1996

Paiute Family in Yosemite, circa 1900. Image ID: 1690994

Family histories humanize the people you know or knew and remember for those who did not know them.

“The generations slipped away as I shared her grief for a moment. In reading her words I felt closer to my grandmother than I ever have.” Family Focused: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Your Autobiography and Family History , Janice T. Dixon, 1997

Information raises questions. Genealogy research has brought new facts into your life.

“They research and write down when and where mom and dad were married. I don’t want to say accurate facts aren’t important, but I do question priorities here. The facts, or at least the important facts, of mom and dad’s marriage were not where and when it took place but what they made of it.” For All Time: A Complete Guide to Writing Your Family History , Charley Kempthorne, 1996

It may help you understand your current family dynamics.

“I spent a year writing my story which is also my mother’s story and the story of our family. It was a most enlightening time for me, one I treasure, because it forced me to look at my life, re-shape it in many ways, and to laugh at things that I had taken so seriously before. I matured in many ways and became more tolerant and caring. It also freed me from some of my doubts and fears.” Family Focused: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Your Autobiography and Family History , Janice T. Dixon, 1997

It will help you build or solidify a sense of family.

“I suggest that family history is more important than any other history simply because family is the fundamental, rock-bottom unit of society.” For All Time: A Complete Guide to Writing Your Family History , Charley Kempthorne, 1996

Writing is reflective. Writing is investing in yourself.

“In writing your personal history, you put perspective and purpose in your life. You begin to understand yourself better than you ever have.” Family Focused: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Your Autobiography and Family History , Janice T. Dixon, 1997

Cowboy writing in a notebook, 1909. Image ID: 5027900

It can be therapeutic.

“Studies show that writing about oneself and personal experiences can improve mood disorders, help reduce symptoms among cancer patients, improve a person’s health after a heart attack, reduce doctor visits and even boost memory…. Writing -- and then rewriting -- your personal story can lead to behavioral changes and improve happiness.” New York Times , " Writing Your Way To Happiness ," Tara Parker-Pope, January 19, 2015

Don’t take for granted that the lives of your ancestors are lost. Evidence of the people they have been exists somewhere and is discoverable.

“Virtually all my finds have been made from old manuscripts in public repositories and have been of the family moving, not in the company of celebrities…, but among people as little known to fame as themselves.” How to Write a Family History: The Lives and Times of Our Ancestors, Terrick FitzHugh, 1988

“It will have a wider impact than you might imagine.”

After publishing some of her family histories and donating to libraries and archives, author Penny Stratton heard from other researchers that they had found leads and data in her writings. American Ancestors , Spring 2014

Family members and even distant cousins may become more forward in contributing documents, photos, and stories for your genealogical research.

“It’s cousin-bait.” Genea-Musings , “Why Do You Write About Your Personal Research?” Randy Seaver, January 2015

You will be encouraged to archive and preserve the documents on which your family history research is based: certificates, letters, diaries, etc.

“These documents function within the family in the same way that important documents of our common history function within the nation.” For All Time: A Complete Guide to Writing Your Family History , Charley Kempthorne, 1996

Writing Your Family History is a class offered by the Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy . Please check our website for upcoming dates. If you have a family history that you would like to donate to libraries, consider the New York Public Library ( details on our FAQ ) and the Library of Congress .

Thesis Statements

What is a thesis statement.

Your thesis statement is one of the most important parts of your paper.  It expresses your main argument succinctly and explains why your argument is historically significant.  Think of your thesis as a promise you make to your reader about what your paper will argue.  Then, spend the rest of your paper–each body paragraph–fulfilling that promise.

Your thesis should be between one and three sentences long and is placed at the end of your introduction.  Just because the thesis comes towards the beginning of your paper does not mean you can write it first and then forget about it.  View your thesis as a work in progress while you write your paper.  Once you are satisfied with the overall argument your paper makes, go back to your thesis and see if it captures what you have argued.  If it does not, then revise it.  Crafting a good thesis is one of the most challenging parts of the writing process, so do not expect to perfect it on the first few tries.  Successful writers revise their thesis statements again and again.

A successful thesis statement:

• makes an historical argument
• takes a position that requires defending
• is historically specific
• is focused and precise
• answers the question, “so what?”

How to write a thesis statement:

Suppose you are taking an early American history class and your professor has distributed the following essay prompt:

“Historians have debated the American Revolution’s effect on women.  Some argue that the Revolution had a positive effect because it increased women’s authority in the family.  Others argue that it had a negative effect because it excluded women from politics.  Still others argue that the Revolution changed very little for women, as they remained ensconced in the home.  Write a paper in which you pose your own answer to the question of whether the American Revolution had a positive, negative, or limited effect on women.”

Using this prompt, we will look at both weak and strong thesis statements to see how successful thesis statements work.

While this thesis does take a position, it is problematic because it simply restates the prompt.  It needs to be more specific about how  the Revolution had a limited effect on women and  why it mattered that women remained in the home.

Revised Thesis:  The Revolution wrought little political change in the lives of women because they did not gain the right to vote or run for office.  Instead, women remained firmly in the home, just as they had before the war, making their day-to-day lives look much the same.

This revision is an improvement over the first attempt because it states what standards the writer is using to measure change (the right to vote and run for office) and it shows why women remaining in the home serves as evidence of limited change (because their day-to-day lives looked the same before and after the war).  However, it still relies too heavily on the information given in the prompt, simply saying that women remained in the home.  It needs to make an argument about some element of the war’s limited effect on women.  This thesis requires further revision.

Strong Thesis: While the Revolution presented women unprecedented opportunities to participate in protest movements and manage their family’s farms and businesses, it ultimately did not offer lasting political change, excluding women from the right to vote and serve in office.

Few would argue with the idea that war brings upheaval.  Your thesis needs to be debatable:  it needs to make a claim against which someone could argue.  Your job throughout the paper is to provide evidence in support of your own case.  Here is a revised version:

Strong Thesis: The Revolution caused particular upheaval in the lives of women.  With men away at war, women took on full responsibility for running households, farms, and businesses.  As a result of their increased involvement during the war, many women were reluctant to give up their new-found responsibilities after the fighting ended.

Sexism is a vague word that can mean different things in different times and places.  In order to answer the question and make a compelling argument, this thesis needs to explain exactly what  attitudes toward women were in early America, and  how those attitudes negatively affected women in the Revolutionary period.

Strong Thesis: The Revolution had a negative impact on women because of the belief that women lacked the rational faculties of men. In a nation that was to be guided by reasonable republican citizens, women were imagined to have no place in politics and were thus firmly relegated to the home.

This thesis addresses too large of a topic for an undergraduate paper.  The terms “social,” “political,” and “economic” are too broad and vague for the writer to analyze them thoroughly in a limited number of pages.  The thesis might focus on one of those concepts, or it might narrow the emphasis to some specific features of social, political, and economic change.

Strong Thesis: The Revolution paved the way for important political changes for women.  As “Republican Mothers,” women contributed to the polity by raising future citizens and nurturing virtuous husbands.  Consequently, women played a far more important role in the new nation’s politics than they had under British rule.

This thesis is off to a strong start, but it needs to go one step further by telling the reader why changes in these three areas mattered.  How did the lives of women improve because of developments in education, law, and economics?  What were women able to do with these advantages?  Obviously the rest of the paper will answer these questions, but the thesis statement needs to give some indication of why these particular changes mattered.

Strong Thesis: The Revolution had a positive impact on women because it ushered in improvements in female education, legal standing, and economic opportunity.  Progress in these three areas gave women the tools they needed to carve out lives beyond the home, laying the foundation for the cohesive feminist movement that would emerge in the mid-nineteenth century.

Thesis Checklist

When revising your thesis, check it against the following guidelines:

• Does my thesis make an historical argument?
• Does my thesis take a position that requires defending?
• Is my thesis historically specific?
• Is my thesis focused and precise?
• Does my thesis answer the question, “so what?”

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• Written Essays

How to write source-based history essays

The biggest assessment task you will be required to complete is a written research essay which develops an argument and uses a range of sources.

All types of assessment tasks will need you to use essay-writing skills in some form, but their fundamental structure and purpose remains the same.

Therefore, learning how to write essays well is central to achieving high marks in History.

What is an 'essay'?

A History essay is a structured argument that provides historical evidence to substantiate its points. 

To achieve the correct structure for your argument, it is crucial to understand the separate parts that make up a written essay. 

If you understand how each part works and fits into the overall essay, you are well on the way to creating a great assessment piece.

Most essays will require you to write:

• 1 Introduction Paragraph
• 3 Body Paragraphs
• 1 Concluding Paragraph

Explanations for how to structure and write each of these paragraphs can be found below, along with examples of each: 

Essay paragraph writing advice

How to write an Introductory Paragraph

This page explains the purpose of an introduction, how to structure one and provides examples for you to read.

How to write Body Paragraphs

This page explains the purpose of body paragraphs, how to structure them and provides examples for you to read.

How to write a Conclusion

This page explains the purpose of conclusions, how to structure them and provides examples for you to read.

More essay resources

What do you need help with, download ready-to-use digital learning resources.

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How to Write a History Essay

Last Updated: December 27, 2022 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Emily Listmann, MA . Emily Listmann is a Private Tutor and Life Coach in Santa Cruz, California. In 2018, she founded Mindful & Well, a natural healing and wellness coaching service. She has worked as a Social Studies Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and an SAT Prep Teacher. She received her MA in Education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education in 2014. Emily also received her Wellness Coach Certificate from Cornell University and completed the Mindfulness Training by Mindful Schools. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 245,119 times.

Writing a history essay requires you to include a lot of details and historical information within a given number of words or required pages. It's important to provide all the needed information, but also to present it in a cohesive, intelligent way. Know how to write a history essay that demonstrates your writing skills and your understanding of the material.

Preparing to Write Your Essay

• The key words will often need to be defined at the start of your essay, and will serve as its boundaries. [2] X Research source
• For example, if the question was "To what extent was the First World War a Total War?", the key terms are "First World War", and "Total War".
• Do this before you begin conducting your research to ensure that your reading is closely focussed to the question and you don't waste time.

• Explain: provide an explanation of why something happened or didn't happen.
• Interpret: analyse information within a larger framework to contextualise it.
• Evaluate: present and support a value-judgement.
• Argue: take a clear position on a debate and justify it. [3] X Research source

• Your thesis statement should clearly address the essay prompt and provide supporting arguments. These supporting arguments will become body paragraphs in your essay, where you’ll elaborate and provide concrete evidence. [4] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
• Your argument may change or become more nuanced as your write your essay, but having a clear thesis statement which you can refer back to is very helpful.
• For example, your summary could be something like "The First World War was a 'total war' because civilian populations were mobilized both in the battlefield and on the home front".

• Pick out some key quotes that make your argument precisely and persuasively. [5] X Research source
• When writing your plan, you should already be thinking about how your essay will flow, and how each point will connect together.

Doing Your Research

• Primary source material refers to any texts, films, pictures, or any other kind of evidence that was produced in the historical period, or by someone who participated in the events of the period, that you are writing about.
• Secondary material is the work by historians or other writers analysing events in the past. The body of historical work on a period or event is known as the historiography.
• It is not unusual to write a literature review or historiographical essay which does not directly draw on primary material.
• Typically a research essay would need significant primary material.

• Start with the core texts in your reading list or course bibliography. Your teacher will have carefully selected these so you should start there.
• Look in footnotes and bibliographies. When you are reading be sure to pay attention to the footnotes and bibliographies which can guide you to further sources a give you a clear picture of the important texts.
• Use the library. If you have access to a library at your school or college, be sure to make the most of it. Search online catalogues and speak to librarians.
• Access online journal databases. If you are in college it is likely that you will have access to academic journals online. These are an excellent and easy to navigate resources.
• Use online sources with discretion. Try using free scholarly databases, like Google Scholar, which offer quality academic sources, but avoid using the non-trustworthy websites that come up when you simply search your topic online.
• Avoid using crowd-sourced sites like Wikipedia as sources. However, you can look at the sources cited on a Wikipedia page and use them instead, if they seem credible.

• Who is the author? Is it written by an academic with a position at a University? Search for the author online.
• Who is the publisher? Is the book published by an established academic press? Look in the cover to check the publisher, if it is published by a University Press that is a good sign.
• If it's an article, where is published? If you are using an article check that it has been published in an academic journal. [8] X Research source
• If the article is online, what is the URL? Government sources with .gov addresses are good sources, as are .edu sites.

• Ask yourself why the author is making this argument. Evaluate the text by placing it into a broader intellectual context. Is it part of a certain tradition in historiography? Is it a response to a particular idea?
• Consider where there are weaknesses and limitations to the argument. Always keep a critical mindset and try to identify areas where you think the argument is overly stretched or the evidence doesn't match the author's claims. [9] X Research source

• Label all your notes with the page numbers and precise bibliographic information on the source.
• If you have a quote but can't remember where you found it, imagine trying to skip back through everything you have read to find that one line.
• If you use something and don't reference it fully you risk plagiarism. [10] X Research source

Writing the Introduction

• For example you could start by saying "In the First World War new technologies and the mass mobilization of populations meant that the war was not fought solely by standing armies".
• This first sentences introduces the topic of your essay in a broad way which you can start focus to in on more.

• This will lead to an outline of the structure of your essay and your argument.
• Here you will explain the particular approach you have taken to the essay.
• For example, if you are using case studies you should explain this and give a brief overview of which case studies you will be using and why.

Writing the Essay

• Try to include a sentence that concludes each paragraph and links it to the next paragraph.
• When you are organising your essay think of each paragraph as addressing one element of the essay question.
• Keeping a close focus like this will also help you avoid drifting away from the topic of the essay and will encourage you to write in precise and concise prose.
• Don't forget to write in the past tense when referring to something that has already happened.

• Don't drop a quote from a primary source into your prose without introducing it and discussing it, and try to avoid long quotations. Use only the quotes that best illustrate your point.
• If you are referring to a secondary source, you can usually summarise in your own words rather than quoting directly.
• Be sure to fully cite anything you refer to, including if you do not quote it directly.

• Think about the first and last sentence in every paragraph and how they connect to the previous and next paragraph.
• Try to avoid beginning paragraphs with simple phrases that make your essay appear more like a list. For example, limit your use of words like: "Additionally", "Moreover", "Furthermore".
• Give an indication of where your essay is going and how you are building on what you have already said. [15] X Research source

• Briefly outline the implications of your argument and it's significance in relation to the historiography, but avoid grand sweeping statements. [16] X Research source
• A conclusion also provides the opportunity to point to areas beyond the scope of your essay where the research could be developed in the future.

Proofreading and Evaluating Your Essay

• Try to cut down any overly long sentences or run-on sentences. Instead, try to write clear and accurate prose and avoid unnecessary words.
• Concentrate on developing a clear, simple and highly readable prose style first before you think about developing your writing further. [17] X Research source
• Reading your essay out load can help you get a clearer picture of awkward phrasing and overly long sentences. [18] X Research source

• When you read through your essay look at each paragraph and ask yourself, "what point this paragraph is making".
• You might have produced a nice piece of narrative writing, but if you are not directly answering the question it is not going to help your grade.

• A bibliography will typically have primary sources first, followed by secondary sources. [19] X Research source
• Double and triple check that you have included all the necessary references in the text. If you forgot to include a reference you risk being reported for plagiarism.

Sample Essay

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.historytoday.com/robert-pearce/how-write-good-history-essay
• ↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/writing-a-good-history-paper
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/thesis_statement_tips.html
• ↑ http://history.rutgers.edu/component/content/article?id=106:writing-historical-essays-a-guide-for-undergraduates
• ↑ https://guides.lib.uw.edu/c.php?g=344285&p=2580599
• ↑ http://www.hamilton.edu/documents/writing-center/WritingGoodHistoryPaper.pdf
• ↑ http://www.bowdoin.edu/writing-guides/
• ↑ https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/hppi/publications/Writing-History-Essays.pdf

About This Article

To write a history essay, read the essay question carefully and use source materials to research the topic, taking thorough notes as you go. Next, formulate a thesis statement that summarizes your key argument in 1-2 concise sentences and create a structured outline to help you stay on topic. Open with a strong introduction that introduces your thesis, present your argument, and back it up with sourced material. Then, end with a succinct conclusion that restates and summarizes your position! For more tips on creating a thesis statement, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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The Irreconcilable Versions of J.D. Vance in ‘Hillbilly Elegy’

Even before the Republican vice-presidential nominee aligned himself with Donald Trump, contradiction was central to his rags-to-riches biography.

J.D. Vance became the Republican vice-presidential nominee on Wednesday, running with a man he once speculated could be “America’s Hitler.” Credit... Todd Heisler/The New York Times

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By Mike McIntire

• July 18, 2024

Much has been made of the political pirouette J.D. Vance executed to secure the embrace of Donald J. Trump, a man he once called “cultural heroin” before seeking his endorsement for the Senate and, Wednesday night, accepting the Republican nomination to be his vice president.

Old friends and former classmates have expressed bewilderment at the seemingly irreconcilable versions of Mr. Vance. But contradiction has been central to Mr. Vance’s biography, nowhere more so than in his popular 2016 book, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.”

The memoir, whose political dividends have far exceeded the millions of dollars it has paid in royalties and movie rights, emerged at a pivotal point in national politics, quickly becoming a go-to guide to the white underclass discontent that propelled Mr. Trump’s surprise presidential victory.

Mr. Vance used his personal account of overcoming dysfunctional Appalachian family values to tell a larger story about forgotten Americans. In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, he leaned again into those themes, at one point drawing attention to his mother, “who struggled with money and addiction but never gave up.” She stood in the audience when he continued, “And I’m proud to say that tonight my mom is here, 10 years clean and sober.”

But during Mr. Trump’s presidency, reaction to the book, like so much else in culture and politics, became increasingly polarized. While he expected pushback, Mr. Vance was confused by the attacks from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, he professed in an afterword appended to the book in 2018.

“I’ve heard, for instance, from someone on the Left that my book is a victim-blaming piece of anti-government libertarianism,” he wrote, adding that “someone on the Right” had complained that the book’s premise “would justify a massive expansion of government welfare programs.”

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Write a Personal History

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Why Create a Personal History?
• 3 When Should I Create My Personal History?
• 4.1 Written Biographies
• 4.2 Journals
• 4.3 Narratives
• 4.4 Records of Milestones
• 4.5 Scrapbooking
• 4.6 Oral Histories
• 4.7 Electronic Recordings
• 4.8 Online Photo Books
• 5.1 Potential Subjects for Your History
• 5.2 Start Writing
• 5.3 Other Things to Include
• 5.4 Writing Challenges
• 6.1 After the Review
• 7 Decide How You Want Your Finished History to Look
• 8.1 Websites
• 10 Websites
• 11 See also

Introduction [ edit | edit source ]

A personal history is one way of leaving a legacy for descendants to treasure for generations. It is important to retain accuracy of information when creating your personal history. If you leave it to someone else to create it, he or she can only rely on their memories of you and secondhand stories that may not accurately reflect your life.

If you feel overwhelmed about where to begin, go to jrnl.com (Sign up; it’s free!) On the site, there is a section titled “All About Me.” This is a great starting point, because not only does it ask questions to trigger memories, it also allows you to document your answers right there within the form. The questions are categorized to keep details organized.

Also, see this FamilySearch blog article about this subject, New Year's Resolution: Write Your Life Story #52Stories .

Why Create a Personal History? [ edit | edit source ]

Ask yourself these questions – if your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors did not leave life histories, do you wish they had? Do you wish you could read about their lives? If so, it is likely for your descendants to feel the same way if you don’t. A record of your life can be a great gift to those who come after you. Words in print can be read and reread, pondered over, and returned to. The words your teenager rejects now may become clear and precious when he or she rereads them later in life.

You could have a great effect on those who follow you. Your example, trials, and triumphs can strengthen and motivate others. A famous, biblical example is Job of the Old Testament, who suffered many trials. “Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever!” he mourned (Job 19:23-4 KJV). His words were written, and so his triumph over tragedy and his faith have remained an example of devotion to people of the world for thousands of years.

Writing your history can also provide you with an opportunity to evaluate your life. It may help to clarify your direction in life. Writing about your past, even if it was not idyllic, can help you cope with feelings and create an opportunity to find understanding and forgiveness. See also 2: Writing a Family History” in the FamilySearch Learning Center . Many of the same reasons also apply.

When Should I Create My Personal History? [ edit | edit source ]

There is no better time than now. Do not put off writing until you believe you’ll have more time, or until you’ll retire. Our expectations of how much time we have to do all that we need or want to so do not usually match that of what happens. In addition, you never know how long you may live, so do not procrastinate.

No one else can write your personal history the way you can. The story is about your life, and it should be written by you. However, the longer you wait to write it, the more details are likely to slip away and be forgotten.

When writing your story, set realistic and specific goals. For example, you could set a goal to complete a first draft in three months. A final draft could be ready to review within six. By the end of nine months, you could have a finished copy ready for distribution to your family members. The time allotted to write your history is subjective. It may be more reasonable for you to write a chapter a week for the next years or write about one subject per week or even a page per day. Do what you can, but do it regularly and consistency.

Your history isn’t limited to just subjects. It may be easier to write about the different stages of your life like preschool, grade school, high school, etc. Breaking up your history into segments like these makes the task easier to accomplish.

Different Types of Personal Histories [ edit | edit source ]

You can preserve your life history and memories in many ways. The following are a few ideas:

Written Biographies [ edit | edit source ]

A written biography is a great way to record personal histories for those who enjoy writing. They can include any of the following:

• Personal account of events in your life. Cyndislist is a good website to help you get started.
• Photographs of events, family, friends, homes you grew up in, places you’ve traveled, and other experiences of interest in your life. Photographs are good visual aides to supplement your history.
• Copies of family records, such as your birth and marriage certificates, school records, diplomas, religious certificates, awards, and other records of interest.

What you decide to include is up to you, and any physical documents or images can help round out your words.

Journals [ edit | edit source ]

Journals are excellent to preserve your history. Where a personal history tends to be broader in scope and generally covers a greater period of time, a journal can preserve the day-to-day or week-to-week events of your life. A journal provides a more intimates and detailed account of your daily experiences.

They may be easier for someone to write. Although journal writing can span over large amounts of time, it is done in small increments rather than covering a lot of information at once.

Journals have a more personal feeling to them. They often contain insights, expressions or emotion, observations about events and how they affect you and those around you, musings, and much more.

You may also choose to include drawings or photographs within the journal, which can add interesting dimension.

Journals are not only a good way for those after you to see into your personal, but also a medium for you to reflect on during your life to see how you’ve grown.

Narratives [ edit | edit source ]

Narratives are another form of personal history. This particular kind of narrative documents memorable events and are usually brief.

Many people find it useful to set aside a time each week to write their narratives. For example, one woman spends an hour writing each Sunday afternoon while her young children take a nap. During each session, she writes two or three short narratives.

These narratives can later be polished and compiled into a longer history.

Appendix A of this lesson gives a list of subjects for personal narratives. You do not need to limit yourself to these topics, though. They may, however, remind you of other events that you would like to write about.

Records of Milestones [ edit | edit source ]

Creating a record of milestones is similar to keeping a journal, except it tends to be added to less frequently.

It is a record of important events like birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, death, life-changing experience, and major accomplishments. They also include your feelings regarding the milestones.

Scrapbooking is one method some people use to chronicle their own milestones.

Scrapbooking [ edit | edit source ]

This is also a popular form to preserve memories and can be a great alternative or addition to a written personal history. Scrapbooks focus on documenting special events using photographs and other memorabilia.

Scrapbooks tend to not be as comprehensive as written history, but they provide excellent visual documentation.

Scrapbook supplies and classes are often readily available.

Oral Histories [ edit | edit source ]

An oral history preserves the voice of someone. It is a great alternative for those who do not feel that they have the skills or desire to write. Those who struggle with writing may find it easier to sit down and talk about their lives. For many people, having someone record someone from their lives is a fun and deeply touching experience.

Electronic Recordings [ edit | edit source ]

With the development of electronic devices, like video equipment and tape recorders, recording history is easier than ever. Using this equipment to record your history, you can include much more than is typically found in a written history.

These can include recordings of your voice, of you singing or playing an instrument, among other visual and auditory images.

A thing to be aware of when deciding to record electronically is that they can deteriorate or become outdated. Computer discs, hardware, and software programs can become outdated over time, and this process is becoming faster, with technology changing vastly over a few short years. After a few years, you may find that you have difficulty finding a computer or program that will read what you have recorded.

You should review the medium your recorded with on a regular basis. Once a year it best. Tapes should be played back annually to prevent the sound from bleeding through the tape.

Before it gets harder to find equipment to play or read what you have recorded, it is a good idea to transfer your history to an updated medium.

Online Photo Books [ edit | edit source ]

With the availability of the Internet, it is possible to create a fine quality history book online and have it delivered to your door. You can add at many photographs and as much text as you would like. The company then prints out as many books as you want and ships them to you. These can then be distributed to friends and family members.

Before You Begin Writing [ edit | edit source ]

After considering your options, decide what method you would like to use to record your history. Whether you are going to write, video tape, or make a photo- or scrapbook, you should consider doing the following:

• Gathering everything you can find about your life that might help you remember events.
• Organizing the items per the type of history you plan to create.
• Carrying note cards with you to record memories as they come to mind. Often memories will come up at inconvenient times. Note cards provide an easy way to record them, regardless of when they arise.
• Elaborating on some of your memories as you have the time. Add more details that what you may have written on your note cards.
• Talking into a tape- or video-recording device to record some preliminary ideas. Memories may also come easier and with more detail if you are speaking them. You may want to transcribe the recording alter or use it as a starting point for writing.
• Asking relatives and friends to share memories and stories they have of you. These recollections are extremely valuable; others often remember events that happened when you were too young to remember them, or they might remember things that didn’t seem important to you when they happened or memories you may have forgotten.

Potential Subjects for Your History [ edit | edit source ]

Listed below are general topics you might consider as you prepare to write. Appendix A provides an additional list of questions to prompt your memory.

Below are some general topics to consider as you prepare to write. Appendix A provides an additional list of questions to prompt your memory.

• A list of life events in the order they occurred (a chronology)
• A list of the ten most important things in your life now and details about them
• A health chronology if there are health issues that might affect your descendants
• Family traditions
• Personal convictions and learning experiences
• Childhood memories
• Family members – ancestors and descendants
• Funny or embarrassing experiences
• Society, geography, and entertainments surround you – anything that gives context to your life
• Examples of your talents (poems, artwork, songs, etc.)
• Challenges and how they shaped you
• Stories of your life experiences
• Stories or comments about you contributed to by other people
• Advice you’d like to share with future generations. These words may be the most precious words you leave to your loved ones.

Start Writing [ edit | edit source ]

Do not be too critical of your writing skills. In the beginning, it is more important to get the information, stories, feelings, and events recorded first. Late, you can polish what you’ve written. These suggestions may help you begin your personal history:

• Begin your narrative at an exciting point in your life. You do not have to begin by listing your date of birth. Get your readers interested first, and then they will enjoy learning the facts later.
• Do not worry about style, grammar, punctuation, or other composition technicalities at the beginning. Write however feels most comfortable for you.
• Be visual with your words. Include background information about the location or local history at the time a memory or event took place. Describe clothing, rooms, expressions, and so on that were involved. Try to recapture the emotions of people. Give enough detail about the situation to make things interesting (See an example in the Teacher Suggestions section at the end of this lesson). Do not let your writing become just a list of dates and places with stories and a background to bring them to life.
• Be willing to laugh at yourself. Let your personality and humor shine through in your writing.
• Do not be afraid to write about your weaknesses, as well as your strengths. If you feel comfortable writing about mistake you’ve made, elaborate on what you learned from them and what consequences followed.
• Always be truthful and honest about your life. If something is too uncomfortable to share, just exclude it and move on.
• Be wary of extremely sensitive issues, especially if other people were involved. It’s important to be careful of libeling or embarrassing others.
• Remember your story doesn’t have to be told in chronological order. Digress whenever you feel like; these digressions may just be the most interesting parts of your story.

Other Things to Include [ edit | edit source ]

In addition to writing about your memories, you may want to include some of the following items of interest. They can be part of the body of the history or can be added as an appendix.

• Photographs of family, friends, homes, wedding day, yourself at milestone ages, a few vacation highlights, homes you have lived in, schools you attended, and so on
• Your feelings about social, religious, or personal issues
• Lessons you have learned
• Feelings about loved ones
• Dreams for the future
• Excerpts from journals
• Poems you have written
• Newspaper articles about you or events you took part in
• Copies of certificates
• Direction from insightful inspirations

Writing Challenges [ edit | edit source ]

If the writing process isn’t going well, ask yourself why. Maybe you’re writing about a subject you feel should be included but doesn’t excite you. Think about whether it is really important or if you can just skip over it, even if just for the moment.

Realize that hard work is often necessary for inspiration. Self-discipline to write when you don’t feel up to it may work, but taking a few days’ break may also. You can spend the time off from writing looking for photographs to include or revisiting a place you plan to talk about. Consider having a tape recorder handy while you’re doing these in case you remember more details. Activities related to your history may be enough to re-motivate you.

Sometimes the hardest part of writing is starting. If anything, write a single word. Then expand that word into a sentence. Expand that sentence into a paragraph. Once you’ve started writing, the process usually becomes easier and more enjoyable. When you need to take a break from writing, stop in the middle of an interesting story or paragraph. Then, when you return to your work, it will be easier for you to start again where you left off instead of wondering where to go next.

Another way is to start at the easiest part of your story, or begin will a topic you really want to write about. If you find that you’ve come to a stump and simply cannot keep writing, consider recording your thoughts and memories and transcribing it later, adding in additional details.

Review and Evaluate What You Have Written [ edit | edit source ]

Writing a first draft is only the beginning of your personal history process. Some of your best writing will happen as you review and revise what you’ve written. Take the time to rewrite sentence that don’t work as well as you’d like them to.

Getting a trusted friend, colleague, spouse, or family member to do the same will point out mistakes or confusions you may have skipped over. As you’re reviewing, ask yourself and any others helping you the following questions:

• Does the reader feel involved and care about the outcome of the stories?
• Is your writing organized? Do the stories flow well? If not, how can they be improved – rearrangement, additional details, etc.?
• Do you have good sentence structure? Are any sentences too long or complicated, or do you have too many simple sentences?
• Are the identities of people in the stories clear? For example, if you have mentioned Grandma, have you elaborated on which grandma? Do you explain which aunt you’re talking about when you say, “My aunt gave me my favorite Christmas gift that year”?
• Do any details or events need to be clarified or elaborated on?
• Have you included too much or overwhelming detail?
• Do the stories need to be shorted or lengthened to make them more enjoyable?
• Are there any spelling or other grammatical errors? These types of mistakes become more apparent when the text is read aloud.
• Do you use repetitive phrases or words often? For example, do too many sentences begin with, “I remember”?
• Are names, dates, places, and other details accurate?
• Have you used the proper tense throughout the entire history?

After the Review [ edit | edit source ]

You must decide what input and feedback is most valuable to revision. Sometimes a reviewer will express a concern that will indicate a problem besides the one mentioned. For example, a reviewer may say that a certain story is too long, but perhaps length is not the real issue. You may need to consider how to retell the story or describe events in another way.

Also, keep in mind if a reviewer makes a comment on a universal issue, for instance, using the proper tense or the same phrase within a certain area, it may apply to other areas within your history. Take the time to make sure the issue is addressed.

Now is also the time to decide where to insert photographs, letters, certificates, and other physical or visual documents.

Decide How You Want Your Finished History to Look [ edit | edit source ]

Play around with layout. It is a good time to review and adjust the appearance of your work. Consider line spacing, headings of chapters, and subheadings. You may decide to add or delete some of the design and layout elements as you work. Some elements may be:

• Cover page • Title page • Preface (where you share your thoughts and feelings about your project) • Table of contents • Lists of photographs and illustrations • Chronology (a quick and concise overview of your life in a page or two) • Narrative • Appendixes (family group sheets, pedigree charts, will extracts, handwriting samples, favourite recipes, and so on) • Maps • Index

Resources [ edit | edit source ]

Websites [ edit | edit source ].

• See the tutorial at the FamilySearch Learning Center , Ancestors Season 1: Leaving a Legacy .

Books [ edit | edit source ]

• "From Shoes Boxes to Books: Writing Great Personal Histories" by Amy Jo Oaks Long. Ten-step program to creating a personal history.
• "From Memories to Manuscript – The Five Step Method of Writing Your Life Story" by Joan R. Neubauer

Appendix [ edit | edit source ]

For suggested questions to prompt personal recollections, and for tips on preserving family photos and artifacts, go to the Appendix .

• Jrnl.com – New website to ldsjournal.com. Questions to trigger memories.
• Cyndislist.com – Links to various sites with help on writing personal histories.
• GenWriters.com – Help on writing personal histories.

See also [ edit | edit source ]

What to do with the genealogy and family history I collected

Use the FamilySearch Learning Center to find online genealogy classes.

• Personal History
• New to Genealogy

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Search learning & how-to's.

America Is Ready for a Black Female President—but Not Kamala Harris

If Kamala Harris and her supporters, driven by ego and their own desire to see history made, help elect Trump, then her legacy will end up just as damaged as Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s.

Joe Raedle/Getty

Keli Goff, a Daily Beast columnist and contributor to KCRW's Left, Right & Center, was nominated for two Emmy Awards for the documentary Reversing Roe.

I strongly believe a woman—a Black woman—can become president of the United States. I just don’t believe Kamala Harris can. So, while it pains me to say it, I hope she will consider following Joe Biden ’s lead by putting the country first and stepping aside.

My family, some of whom agree with me on this, worried writing this column would disappoint other Black women who disagree. Those same Black women, however, will be hurt worse by the election of Donald Trump again. Despite her general favorability ratings being lower than Donald Trump’s and four preceding vice presidents, I was still open to being convinced that Kamala Harris has a viable path to the presidency.

In addition to data showing she underperforms compared to Biden among women and non-Black minorities, recent polling of Black voters provided a much-needed reality check. A recent poll of Black voters in swing states found that Harris polls a couple of points better than Biden—both landing in the 70s, behind former President Barack Obama, whose favorables stand at 90 percent and whose unfavorables are at 10 percent. The vice president’s unfavorables among Black voters stand at 22 percent.

To some that may sound insignificant, but when considering how close our last few elections have been, it’s not. Consider this: In 2008 Obama won 95 percent of Black male voters and 96 percent of Black women. His next election he won 96 percent of Black women and 87 percent of Black men. Hillary Clinton ’s support among Black men slipped to 82 percent and her support among Black women to 94 percent. She lost. Black voters comprise approximately 25 percent of the Democratic voting bloc.

That means if a Democratic candidate doesn’t knock it out of the park with Black voters, things turn pretty desperate pretty fast. For Kamala Harris, they already are. Like Hillary Clinton, Kamala is a known quantity, with sky-high name recognition. She also happens to be a Black woman. Why aren’t her numbers higher? The truth is I’ve been asking versions of this question for a while.

My alarm bells first started ringing when during her disastrous run for the presidency in 2019, a number of older Black women, from varied backgrounds, told me they didn’t like Kamala Harris. Some of their reasons struck me as underwhelming. She was described as “arrogant.” (OK, but plenty of men are too.)

Some said she had relied on her looks to get ahead, a theory bolstered by President Obama referencing her good looks at a fundraiser. (OK, but if Gavin Newsom were short, and bald would he be governor?) I also heard plenty of, “there’s just something about her.” After today’s announcement, right-wing broadcaster Matt Walsh attacked Kamala in horrifying terms.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on July 4.

Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

When it comes to politicians and popularity, the unsaid is often more important than what is said. “Something about her,” is a favorite phrase reserved for women people simply don’t like. It covers a lot of ground, including the possibility that a person simply reminds you of the girl from high school who made you feel small, even if she didn’t mean to.

On Sunday, the New York Times spoke to Black voters with doubts about Harris’ path to victory. “Even in 2024, America is not ready for a Black, female president,” Don Johnson, a 65-year-old truck driver from Milwaukee, said, adding that he would support her. “I think she’s a pretty good politician but overall it boils down to race and gender. And America is going to hold that against her.”

Realizing their importance, Harris supporters are already focused on galvanizing Black female voters, with a planning and rousing morale-building call Sunday night, “Win With Black Women,” attended by an estimated 34,000 women.

Personally speaking, I’ve noticed that the women who seem to like Kamala most are women like me: I have a graduate degree, I am child-free by choice, and I admire bossy women, probably because every now and then I get called one myself. I don’t consider any of these qualities bad things, but a lot of Americans do, including, apparently some women. If that weren’t the case, Hillary Clinton would have become president.

If Kamala Harris comes across as the cocky homecoming queen, then Hillary was the know-it-all valedictorian who made others feel dumb. She first famously drew the ire of stay-at-home moms for defending her choice not to stay home baking cookies . Frankly, that made me like her more, but women like me are not the majority and Hillary Clinton didn’t win the presidency and we were left Donald Trump, Part 1.

If Kamala Harris is the nominee I believe we will get to see Donald Trump, the sequel. Nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong and for my friends who will hate this column to eventually tease me about how wrong I was. If I am right, however, and Kamala and her supporters, driven by their own desire to see history made, help elect Donald Trump, then Kamala’s legacy will end up just as damaged as another feminist shero who didn’t know when to exit stage left gracefully.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Sarah Silbiger/Reuters

Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her fans allowed the cult of RBG to blind them from what was in the best interests of those she claimed to care about. By refusing to relinquish her power in a timely fashion she ultimately gave her power to conservatives. Now RBG’s fans seemed poised to do it all over again.

I’m already tired of this three-ring-circus of an election. I’m tired of living in perpetual terror about the future of our country, and I’m tired of arguing about the same politicians we have for the last decade, including Biden, Trump and yes, Kamala Harris. I’m also tired of trying to defend a woman that some people may not like because of racism, sexism and others simply because there is just something about her. The reasons people don’t want to vote for someone don’t have to make sense, but if those reasons are ingrained the only choice is to either accept losing their votes, or give them alternatives.

Val Demings.

Marco Bello/Reuters

With that in mind, it’s time to turn the page. Republicans did that brilliantly by choosing J.D. Vance , not simply because he’s young but because he’s not weighed down by the baggage all of these other old-school candidates (including Trump) seem to be carrying. In addition to male candidates like war veteran Jason Kander of Missouri , former Ohio congressman Tim Ryan, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, there are other Black and Asian women who represent the very best of our country’s diverse leaders.

Val Demings may have lost her Florida Senate race, but her law and order record, and credibility on crime would make her a viable contender. California senator Laphonza Butler’s deep roots among organized labor would also make her a great addition to any ticket. Michelle Kwan’s journey from trailblazing Olympian to ambassador and Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s record as a veteran and role model for those with disabilities also make them candidates worthy of serious consideration.

There also those who I consider fantasy draft picks, like Ursula Burns, the first Black female Fortune 500 CEO and Mellody Hobson , who in addition to her own extraordinary business record, is telegenic, and has strong Hollywood ties that would make fundraising a cakewalk.

The bottom line is, I wish I had the luxury of convincing other Americans to like the people and politicians I do, but I don’t. So if asking someone I admire to step aside will help save democracy, I’m willing to do it.

I just hope Kamala Harris loves America as much as I do.

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• Revisiting the work of Donald Harris, father of Kamala

The combative Marxist economist focused on questions related to growth

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I n a video clip that has gone viral recently, Kamala Harris quotes her mother asking her whether she thought she had just fallen out of a coconut tree. The probable Democratic nominee for president breaks into a laugh at the turn of phrase before explaining, somewhat philosophically, the message of the story: “you exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” For Ms Harris some of that context is esoteric economic theory. Her father, Donald, is an 85-year-old, Jamaican-born economist, formerly a professor at Stanford University.

As part of a tradition of heterodox economists, Mr Harris is tenacious and prosecutorial, with a terrier-like grip on the blind spots and misguided assumptions of the mainstream (as well as the foibles of his daughter, whom he publicly admonished for stereotyping Jamaicans when she admitted to smoking marijuana). He is a clear writer. There are few compound nouns or sentences that run for paragraphs. Yet he is still a Marxist and his writings are sprinkled with obscurantist theorising. Republicans who have mocked Ms Harris for word-salad speeches will find precedent in her father’s writing.

Mr Harris’s work shares some of the economic concerns of the Biden administration, in which Ms Harris is vice-president. His book, “Capital Accumulation and Income Distribution”, published in 1978 and dedicated to Kamala and her sister, examines the pitfalls of relying on profit-seeking capitalists to direct an economy. The focus is on the connection between inequality and growth. Seeking to not only understand why some countries are rich and others poor but also why parts of all economies are backward, a pattern he calls “uneven development”, Mr Harris rejected the work of Robert Solow, the father of mainstream growth theory, and aligned himself with post-Keynesians such as Joan Robinson and Piero Sraffa.

The two camps sparred often. In the 1950s Robinson’s critique of Solow’s growth model led to what became known as “the Cambridge Capital Controversy”, owing to the fact it took place between neo-Keynesian economists in Cambridge, Massachusetts, such as Solow, and post-Keynesians in Cambridge, England. The latter alleged that their American peers improperly conceptualised capital. Aggregating the capital stock, the diverse mix of equipment an economy relies on, in terms of money involved circular logic: the return on capital was required to calculate its volume, which was then required to calculate its return. The American economists conceded the point but kept using their models. “If God had meant there to be more than two factors of production, he would have made it easier for us to draw three-dimensional diagrams,” Solow quipped.

Mr Harris did not move on. In his 1978 book he developed a model of growth without an aggregate capital stock. Rather than the smooth “production function” of Solow, in which the rate of saving and population growth determines capital per worker, Mr Harris instead proposed that firms must choose from a “book of blueprints”, which need different capital goods. Capitalists will compete to ensure the rate of profit is consistent across different industries, picking a blueprint based on the level of wages and profits in the economy. Unlike in Solow’s model, each part of the economy does not use the maximum amount of capital per worker. There is no “steady state” path of growth, but multiple equilibria dependent on the level of wages and profits. Later he would suggest that constantly evolving technology inevitably leads to persistent unemployment.

In his diagnosis of capitalism as inherently insecure and, if left to its own devices, insufficient to improve living standards, there is an echo of themes in both American party’s platforms; namely, the public investment and industrial policy in Bidenomics, which is intended to juice growth for the “middle class”, and the more interventionist aspects of Donald Trump’s economic nationalism. Americans across the political spectrum now seem to agree that the unfettered free market is not the route to widespread prosperity.

Trying completely to reconcile Mr Harris’s work with the mainstream would bowdlerise it, though, as it is more unashamedly Marxist than anything in modern American politics. He is concerned with exploitation, the value form and the diminishing rate of profit. In one paper he dismissed the idea of America’s black population as analogous to those living under colonial rule, arguing that the problem was capitalism rather than dominance by a foreign power. There is no reason why black workers would be better off under black capitalists than white ones, he wrote.

Today few politicians are keen to cite Robinson or Sraffa as intellectual influences. Mr Harris, for his part, retired from academia in 1998 to focus on policy work, including advising the Jamaican government. For all his earlier radicalism, he has recommended fiscal discipline and crime reduction, as well as export-led growth and industrial strategy. In the end, however, perhaps his greatest economic legacy will be his daughter. ■

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The other Donald”

Finance & economics July 27th 2024

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