Category: Storytelling

Creating a Timeline To Show My Grandfather’s Life

Timelines reveal a lot about your ancestors' lives. Learn how to create timelines for your family history as well as practical tips for using them in your research.

6 Genealogy Questions to Ask Your Relatives Before It’s Too Late

Life is shorter than we like to think, so our time to interview relatives is limited—especially with our elder family members. Be sure to ask your loved ones these important genealogy questions.

How Genealogists are Helping Coroners Track Down Family

When someone dies alone, county coroners must track down next of kin to notify—and they’re increasingly asking genealogists for help. See how three determined researchers cracked a tough family-finding case.

How to Trace African-American Ancestry Through Oral History

Oral history plays an important part in African-American genealogy research. Learn how to use the stories passed down to uncover records and find your family history.

Beginner Tips: Where to Look for Great Ancestor Stories

Just getting started in your quest to discover your family history? Check out our tips for finding great stories in your ancestry!

10 Top Tech Tools for Sharing Family History

You’ve started discovering your family history—now it’s time to share it. These 10 top tech tools will help you tell your family story in engaging ways.

free family tree chart

4 Ways to Put the “Story” in Your Family History

You don't have to be a writer to tell a story well. Put the "story" in your family history with these four tips.

10 Family History Conversation Starters for the Holidays (or Whenever)

Ready to learn more about your ancestors? These appetizing conversation starters will get the juicy family history talk flowing at your next get-together.

Social Work: Using Social Media for Genealogy Research

Sites like Facebook and Pinterest give you unprecedented access to people and ideas. Our social media expert helps you leverage that power of connection for your genealogy research.

Thank-You Notes to Ancestors

If you could write a letter of gratitude to your ancestors, who would you pick and what would you say? As we celebrate Thanksgiving, see our ancestor thank you notes, then write your own in response to the prompt.

30-Day Family History Writing Challenge

Each month, the editors of Family Tree Magazine will bring you a genealogy challenge to help you use your research in new and exciting ways.

25 Family History Interview Tips You Need to Know

Oral histories are a basic way to learn about your family line, and they serve a double purpose: Your questions may lead to research clues or even spark a memory about the very details you’ve been searching for.

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