Arti Unlimited and Professional members can use our new AI-boosted ARTIAssist to enhance their stories and memories with historical and factual details about the items they Artifct.
You know the expression, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Well, we wonder, if you connect all the dots of your family history and no one knows about it, did it happen?
Today's ARTIcles story is all about how we can share our family history so that the content and themessage, aka stories, are actually received. To set the stage, we're sharing the inspiration for this article, a message from a woman we'll call Susan, who is a hobbyist genealogist, and who we think is not alone in her frustration. She reached out to us via Facebook Messenger back in March with a humourous headline: "True Story: My Family Refuses to Look at My Family Tree."
Here's a rough summary of what Susan had to say about her frustrations in trying to share family history with her relatives:
“My parents and siblings ask me for historical details about our family all the time.
When was that again that they came over from France? And what part of France was it?
Do you have a photo of Great Grandpa {last name}?
Did we have any {bank robbers, poets, craftsmen, ... } in the family?
Is the family burial plot in {city} the only family plot?
Did anyone in our family serve in {name of war}?
And I have come to realize I have no great way of sharing my findings with my family because they refuse to create accounts and sign into any of the genealogy software systems I use.
I’m in my late 50s and many of my siblings and in-laws are a lot older than me, so maybe technology is a factor. But I think it’s more that they simply want the answer, not what they see as the gory black and white details we genealogists love.
That said, even with the younger ones, the nieces and nephews, the second I flash a family tree or mention “Your great grandpa on your mother’s side… ,” they zone out.
That means I usually end up sending information by text message and email. But then they lose that quickly and it doesn’t get shared with everyone, so I have to repeat this work over and over again. It takes the joy out of it.
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Better Options than Text, Email, or Intimidating Websites to Share Family History
There are so many options available to help you share your family history discoveries, all those dots you’ve connected, black and white facts found, that will save your sanity and keep your family better connected with their history now and long into the future.
Stick with links.* Share website links to directly relevant pieces of a family tree, photos, or documents that you might have in MyHeritage, Ancestry, FamilySearch or the like to prioritize your time and sanity. Like Susan, this is where you are comfortable operating. If they are truly interested, they can follow the simple steps to create an account. And there is usually a free option for them to do so. If that’s not the case, tell them the price and/or tell them how to sign up at a discount if you know there is a free trial period, a discount code available, or a sale coming up. Since you so kindly sent them a link, they won't have to dig - you'll guide them to exactly where the answer awaits.
Grant access to your cloud storage.* If you keep your research in a cloud-based system (like Google Drive, DropBox, Box etc.), give family members permission to view specific folders or bits of information that answer their questions, such as photos, documents, and maps. This simple approach is still better than losing things in email or text.
And please plan for the transfer of your digital genealogy assets upon death in your estate plan so all these family history treasures can be passed on to the next generation.
* Remember that anyone can share a link but granting permission to access what that link leads to may require another step. So, with either of these first two options you may get others coming to you to request access to the same information because someone gave them the link. Hopefully the genealogy software or cloud solution you use automates that all to make it easy on you!
Scan the photo or document, and Artifct That! There are many great app- and desktop-based options out there to scan a picture or document that you as the family keeper may be holding onto, such as the “Notes” app on many phones or the Photomyne subscription app. If you’d like assistance digitizing media, you can hire a professional photo manager, pop into a local shop that specializes in digitization and/or archival preservation, or check local libraries and genealogy centers for digitization resources, like the Vivid-Pix scan stations.
Scan those photos and docs and then do not let them get lost in text messages or 100s of photos back in a folder.
Artifct in the moment where you can then record the story and details and share with your loved ones before moving on to the next piece of the puzzle. But share where? You can ...
... Create Artifcts Circles. You can create as many Artifcts Circles, with as many people in them, as you like, for free. Think of circles like chat groups – anyone who accepts your invite can then share their Artifcts to the circle, too. You can even name another admin to add/remove people, too. People you invite need only to create a free Artifcts account to accept your Circle invitation and create and share up to five free Artifcts with the Circle, too!
Sharing your stories and discoveries with Circle members means you are no longer the single point of failure or truth. Everyone will have access anytime, anywhere. But again, make sure in you've listed your primary and secondary legacy contacts in your Artifcts account settings so your Artifcts can live on.
And you can crowdsource with Artifcts Circles, too. Have a gap you’re trying to fill in the tree? Wishing you had more family heirlooms, photos, or documents to back up your research? When people and estates are dispersed through time, it’s easy to forget who has what that may help to fill those gaps.
Ask family to Artifct and share with the Circle. Yes, it may be more family lore than history or genealogy, but the lore is often equally as valuable to any facts you have collected. Lore is the character and color of the family history that has survived and can provide clues along your way – Artifct that! Get step-by-step details and inspiration for family circles here >
Have Fun Preserving and Swapping Stories
Next time you and your family get together, pick a theme in advance, and ask everyone to contribute to an Artifcts Circle.
Among our favorites:
Oldest family photo
Favorite heirloom
Secret/not-so-secret family recipe
Suggest everyone use the same tag for instant sorting of the Artifcts in the Circle to see just those created for this activity, e.g. #PicChallenge25, #Reunion25recipe.
A rare family photo, with all 13 kids, preserved and shared with the rest of the Tirres family via Artifcts.
Across the US, homeowners are watching their insurance premiums skyrocket. According to an analysis of insurance industry reports, average premiums have risen over 20% in the last year alone, with no signs of slowing. And when disaster strikes — from hurricanes and wildfires to floods and theft — insurance payouts can take three to six months or longer to be fully processed and received.
Even when claims are approved, homeowners are often left grappling with another harsh truth: some things can be replaced, but many cannot. And often the things that cannot be replaced are the ones that we value most. They may not be the ones that hold the most financial value, but they certainly tend to hold a lof of what we call “heart value.”
What’s a Needlepoint Pillow Worth?
Let’s say your insurance company writes you a check for the fair market value of your damaged or stolen items. Refrigerator? Check, that’s easy. Sofa and loveseat, double check.
But what’s the monetary value of Nana’s handmade needlepoint cushions that sat in her living room for decades? Or the vintage charm bracelet your mom wore every holiday? How about your child’s first fingerpainting, lovingly framed and hung in the hallway?
The answer: There is no replacement cost high enough to recover the meaning of these items.And that’s why we Artifct.
There is no replacement cost high enough to recover the meaning of these items
When Disaster Strikes, an Artifct Is Your Memory Vault
Natural disasters don't give us time to prepare. But a digital record of your most sentimental belongings means you can prove ownership, document financial value (when possible), and most importantly — preserve the memories even if the object is lost.
While insurance companies assess damage and estimate costs, your family won’t be left trying to remember what that cherished object looked like or where it came from. You’ll already have a rich, secure record, and a legacy to pass on.
This October, we challenge you to Artifct the irreplaceable. Not everything in your home, just the things that would break your heart to lose. Start with:
A family quilt with generations of history sewn into its fabric
The wedding china no one dares eat off of, but everyone remembers
Click on the image to view the Artifct, one of many irreplaceable items of this family's history.
At the end of the day, no insurance policy (or AI algorithm for that matter) knows what matters most or what items have the most heart value to you and your family.
Your Family’s History Is Worth Saving
As you celebrate Family History Month this October, don’t stop at genealogy charts and old photographs. Think about the physical items that tell your family’s story. Think about the why behind them. And give yourself (and future generations) the gift of preserving not only the item, but the history, stories, and memories that go along with it.
Because in the end, your history is more than names and dates. It’s the objects you touch, the stories you tell, and the people you love.
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Looking for additional tips to help you be prepared for all of life's what ifs? You might also enjoy:
What is a family heirloom other than some object that someone decided was important in some way and decided to keep it and pass it along to another family member. That’s it. For what it’s worth, Webster’s dictionary agrees with us – and it all hinges on the word “special.”
: something of special value handed down from one generation to another
No one ever said family heirlooms have to be financially valuable or historically significant.
A family member might have an inkling that an heirloom carries with it some history. But then again, even if so, how will you gain access to that history? Usually it’s a conversation, a sticky note, a journal that’s also hopefully passed along. We can do better. We need to do better.
Artifcts and Heirlooms Go Hand-in-Hand
Each Artifct you create carries the potential of heirloom status. How you may ask? Many ways, including:
By creating awareness that this object even exists, or that it has some interesting origin or story, you increase the probability someone will care about it and claim it as their own. It’s no longer just ‘stuff.’
One of our Artifcts members thought her china set was doomed for the Goodwill bin. However, when she Artifcted it and shared the story with her family, she had children and grandchildren eagerly offering to take it off her hands. Why? Because it wasn't simply a china set that she had received as a wedding gift as long assumed. No, it was a set she purchased while stationed overseas in sub-Saharan Africa as a newlywed under instruction from the US Ambassador that, "Martha, you need a china set for 12 because you are going to start hosting diplomatic dinners." Who would have thought!
Because it wasn't simply a china set that she had received as a wedding gift as long assumed
By serving as a unique digital asset, a digital heirloom. Someday, your loved ones can inherit your Artifcts collection and the stories, memories, and more captured in each Artifct will live on. If you haven't already done so, simply designate your primary and secondary legacy contacts for your Artifcts account to ensure your heirlooms live on for generations to come.
By creating new family heirlooms from existing ones. One of the earliest examples of this that we saw here at Artifcts was Grandmom's rolls recipe from the early 1900s that was reborn and brought out for everyday enjoyment when engraved in her mother's handwriting on a cutting board.
One of our favorite tips for Artifcting future family heirlooms is to include a photo of a family member using, wearing, or otherwise enjoying the heirloom-to-be. It helps connect the dots between the object and your loved one, and adds context and visuals to the story or lore.
What family heirlooms are you the keeper of? Do you have many? Artifct them today to ensure those heirlooms and their stories make it to the next generation.
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Heirlooms on your mind? You might enjoy these related ARTIcles by Artifcts:
We’ve all heard the expression “greeting card holiday,” sometimes even used against one of your personal favorites. So many love-hate relationships out there with national days for everything from your dog to your sibling to coffee and doughnuts.
Then there are the months generally preserved for themes of broad societal significance, like heart health, black history, hispanic heritage, and even family history. Hello October, and hello Family History Month!
This October we’re sharing a few ideas from the Artifcts Community to help even those of you who may think you have no interest in family history to find some value in a month dedicated to exactly that. Use the month as an excuse or opportunity to get to know and capture your own family history and legacy a bit better.
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Hello, Family Genealogists (And Those In the Making)
An Artifcts community member once lamented to us, “I’ve spent so much time and money researching all of this history, and I have the files, but I really haven’t taken that next step to share with my extended or even immediate family. Without me they’d have to start over.”
And then she told us that all her research is locked up behind a subscription-paywall. Hmmm. If you can relate, here are some tips to help ensure your family history is not lost to the next generation:
Purchase a second research subscription for someone who can pick up the research alongside you to carry it forward to the next generation. Guide them through the myriad of resources online and through special archives and libraries as well as in your own family collection. If you have a tech-savvy grandchild in the family, this may be the perfect way to spur intergenerational connection AND keep the family history/research going.
Take a class or catch a speaker! You can find a plethora of them by searching online or go local. Check your library, community center, museums, or local genealogical society for special events this month (and beyond). Confernce Keeper has a wonderful listing of genealogy related conferences and events, a lot of them for free too. Share what you learn with your family and friends.
Create a family videography to highlight key moments in your family’s history, roles family members have played in historical events, and the modern-day family branches. For beautiful, professional videographies, we adore Lori and her team at Whole Story Productions.
Self-publish a book(let) to document your research findings in black and white. Distribute during a family reunion, taking preorders (and payments) ahead of time. If you need an assist in your family history, we recommend our partner at Legacy Tree Genealogists.
At Artifcts you can share the family history behind old photos, cherished heirlooms, even Grandma's china! Your family members need not be Artifcts members to view the Artifcts you share with them. Want to make sharing your Artifcts with your family even easier? Create family invite-only circles for easy group sharing, and off you go! We recommend using a special tag like #NickersonFamilyAssociation to easily sort your collection. Some of genealogists at Artifcts also use the ‘Location’ field when they create an Artifct to list a URL or folder path where additional information is stored.
Memorable Family Dinners, Recipes, and More
You’ve been away from home for months or years, you return, and as you walk in the door, dinner is on, and you get that first smell of your favorite dish. Do you have the recipe? Who came up with it? Do you know the key steps? Special or secret ingredients?
Some family favorites are born directly out of the original farm-to-table concept, before it was so hip, and those origins become a key part of the family recipe story. You grew potatoes and found a million ways to prepare them. You had fresh citrus, wild asparagus, or vibrant rhubarb all around you, and the specialties of your youth reflect it. Capture that history!
Start a virtual family dinner club. You could create a group online to swap recipes or go a step further and once a month someone is the virtual host. Send the recipe ahead (as an Artifct!) so everyone has the ingredients on hand. Then run your own cooking show and enjoy the meal together after.
Collaborate on a special family recipe cookbook. Ask each member of your family to contribute their favorite recipe AND the story behind it. How did it come into your family? Are there any secret ingredients? Who made or makes it best? Create a cookbook that builds all the family history and the stories that go with those recipes. You’d be surprised, but even one generation removed, family members will start to lose track of the details never mind the actual ingredients or instructions.
At Artifcts recipes, cookbooks, and treasured kitchen objects come alive through stories and histories, but also with supplementary video and audio snippets. Artifct your favorite recipes, add a video snippet of a crucial step, and share with your family. Our co-founder Heather Artifcted her mother's cranberry sauce AND included a video to show her teenage daughter how to know when you've got a good batch of cranberries.
Share the History
The reality is not all families have a family keeper, that person who by choice or default holds onto the heirlooms, photos, recipes, and slew of documents that represent generations of a family’s history. Or maybe you are the last keeper or recent inheritor of all this family history and are thinking, “Now what? I really don’t want this stuff.”
There’s a second reality that is important to recognize: family history is not only family history. Sometimes family history is part of local, national, or even global history. It offers clues to key figures, ways of living, and the social, political, and religious practices of a place in time. So, consider sharing pieces of your family history with the world through donations.
Philanthropic donations. Consider galleries, libraries, research centers, foundations, and museums with specialties that may overlap with your items. Donations are not necessarily only in the realm of inherently valuable objects. Often, you guessed it, the story behind the object is the key. Don’t know the story either? That’s okay. Reach out to an institution, share your items, and give them the opportunity to tell you!
Archival donations. Transform your personal family history into elements of a shared community history by offering your items to professional archives. What types of items might fit this category? As a starter: original works of fiction or non-fiction; scrapbooks, journals, letters, and diaries; original business materials (certificates, advertising, shares, board documents, voting records); media (photographs, slides, film, even websites too). You can learn more at the Society of American Archivists.
At Artifcts, before you donate, Artifct the items to retain the family lore and history that’s relevant to you, and then share with family. Make sure no one else is interested in the item before you donate it, and attach any documentation related to your donation to the Aritfct. You can then rest easy knowing your family’s history will be in the capable professional hands of institutions that will preserve and protect them for generations to come.
Let's Talk Wills and Legacy
Hear us out. Wills may be about death, but they are also all about easing the burden on those we leave behind. We all too frequently ignore the items we've collected over time. And, no, they will not sort themselves into piles to sell, donate, or bequeath. First someone must go through it all, a family member or two, or maybe a specialist hired to help. And in the end, someone will have to make 1000s of decisions about what becomes of every single item. Do you really want to leave a burden as your legacy?
Wouldn’t you rather everyone be better prepared and informed? Not only will making a plan and creating documents make it easier for your family to pick up the pieces, but they can also help loved ones understand why you valued the items you are leaving behind. We've got some tips to help:
(Dramatically) Simplified checklist:
Don’t have a Will? There are many wonderful estate planning attorneys in each community who can help you with this process. But this is an industry transformed by the digital revolution, and then some. If you are looking for a digital, self-guided approach, check out our fellow AARP AgeTech Collaborative partners at Trust & Will.
Haven’t really seen your Will in a while? Give it a checkup. There's no time like the present. Add it to your to-do list this month!
Confirm: Are the major themes covered?
Estate
Minor children
Relatives with disabilities
Retirement
Powers of Attorney
Living Will
Stewardship of digital assets (profiles, accounts, photos, web pages, etc.)
Is there a list of tangible assets referenced in your Will? Your Will may provide for a separate “Memorandum” that can be updated and changed at any time without making any changes to your Will.
No list? Start. Just take a first cut by looking around the house (or your Artifcts collection!).
Already have a list? Double check that it covers at least those items of greatest financial or heart (sentimental) value.
At Artifcts, pick three or four of your most treasured items to Artifct and let your loved ones know why each item matters to you. Use the "In the Future" field to think through and record what you would like to happen to this item one day. Will it be passed down? Rehomed? Sold? Consider sharing the Artifct with your estate planner or attorney to list with other tangible assets referenced in your Will.
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Artifcting Starter Resources
We have all sorts of helpful resources that we want to be sure you know about to take the pressure off and let the fun begin:
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Click on the image to view the Artifct, one of many irreplaceable items of this family's history.
