Earlier today, I had the pleasure of taking Charlie and Glenda downtown Dallas to the J. Erik Jonsson Library. Once we arrived, we went up to the 8th floor where the Genealogy records are housed.Charlie has been working on an assignment for school the last 3 1/2 weeks in hopes of learning who his ancestors were.
When I asked Charlie why he wanted to build a family tree and learn of his ancestors, he told me he would like to know if he has any Native American Indian people in his family lines. He also told me he enjoys learning about the 1800-1900 era. Especially the cowboys of this time.
Two weeks ago, I had Charlie think of ten questions he could use to interview his family members. Charlie came up with some amazing questions. He went to work, contacting 20 family members asking if they would help him build his family tree by allowing him to interview them. Some of the folks he interviewed were his paternal grandparents, his mom, and dad, his sister, and several others in his immediate family. He even told me he interviewed himself! (That's dedication if you ask me!!!) I was so excited when I learned how many people he had contacted. After all, I've been at this for 20 years plus and do you know - -some days, it's like pulling teeth to get information from people. I was elated that Charlie's family is willing to assist him on his family history journey.
When we arrived at the Library, we were given a tour by a gentleman named Mick. He explained to Charlie how the records were housed in each area of the 8th floor. He pointed to the card catalog, the books with the Census Records in them, the Periodical section and the other books pertaining to towns/cities, counties and states. He also directed our attention to the opposite side of the very large room to the other books, these were for other countries. Mick also told us about the microfiche and, the different machines that we could utilize during our research. He also showed us the new room called, Creative Spaces.
Once we finished with the tour, Charlie, Glenda and I headed over the flatbed scanner to scan in his records that he had collected. Charlie and I worked on scanning in the interviews and other information he had collected while Glenda worked on a few other things. Before we finished up with the scanner, we built Charlie a 5-generation Pedigree Chart. He was so excited to learn he had more than 10 people in his family.
After we finished with the scanner, we went over to the floor computers and I showed Charlie and Glenda my family tree. I explained to them that at one time, I had 10 people in my tree and today, I have over 24,000 individuals who somehow or another fall into my family branches. Charlie's face lit up and I could see the excitement in his eyes.
Before we left, I began creating Charlie's Family Tree. He has come up with the name all on his own. We have entered his parents, his paternal and maternal grandparents. We have also added his great grandparents on his maternal lines and their children. We are taking baby steps for the time being because unlike the training I received when I started - I want to explain the reasons and the whys of building a family tree with accurate information from the ground up. This step is very important and will either make or break genealogy research.
When we added the few people we did to Charlie's tree, the little green leafs started popping up and Charlie took notice. He began asking questions. I explained the answers...reiterating that genealogy is like putting a puzzle together. You start with one piece and you build on it. Vetting information, researching, asking questions and digging for the answers. Some will come easy, while others not so much.
We ended our day with lunch from El Chico's. Glenda and I had their Taco special and Charlie enjoyed a bowl of queso with tortillas and chips. It was cold and the rain was beginning to fall. I took them home.
When I spoke with Glenda this evening, she was telling me that she and Charlie were explaining to his dad, David - the records, the leaves/hints and such...he wanted to know what the hints were and Charlie was so excited to show him the beginnings of his family tree. I walked Glenda through a few things hands-on, so she can start building the tree up for Charlie and they together, can start researching together. I can't wait to see all they come up with the next time we meet to work on Charlie's Genealogy.
I love walking with the ancestors!
Heart to Heart Soul Creations
H2hsc2020
This is amazing! I wish more of our younger generations would be that interested in genealogy.
ReplyDelete