A personal history is often the story of a life, or from a life. It can be a memoir, a tribute, a life story, an autobiography, a biography, or an oral history. It may also be a legacy letter or ethical will. Personal histories come in various formats - chiefly print, video, or audio - and are often illustrated. A life story, for example, might be as simple as an audiofile and transcript or as long and polished as a book; a video might be a short tribute or a full-length documentary. Personal histories can also take such unexpected forms as a family or community cookbook, a personalized quilt, a memory box, or a photo-art collage.
Why Create a Personal History?
Family members often commission life stories or video tributes to celebrate a life or as a tribute to some- one who has died or is dying. As personal historians, we see in eyes wet with tears of pride and gratitude how special this gift can be. Whether you create a personal history yourself, hire someone to help you, or arrange to help a loved one, we hope you will experience first-hand how satisfying the process of life review can be and how priceless a legacy for the family and later generations. Contribute to history! Tell your life story or that of someone in your family.
Tips Before You Get Started
Before you start work on your personal history, you can make more efficient use of interview time by making notes before the interview. Whether you are being interviewed, or you are interviewing relatives, think about the answers to these basic questions. Assume that “you” is you (if you are writing on your own) or your subject (if you are interviewing someone else).
How a Personal Historian Can Help
Your personal story. A personal historian can:
- Interview you, record your responses, and edit your memories, stories, and observations into a flowing narrative or video.
- Organize, edit, and print a story that’s already been written. A personal historian can also help by adding photos and captions, conducting interviews to clarify passages or find missing information, designing the book, and working with a printer.
- Conduct research to add background and context to the stories you want to tell.
- Edit, copy, transcribe, or convert your audio tapes, home movies, or video tapes into the most current media formats.
- Create art that reflects a person’s life, such as a photo montage, a scrapbook, an illustrated poster, a handmade book, or a designer quilt.
- Collect and weave together the stories and experiences of groups such as war veterans, community elders, trauma survivors, hospice residents, or members of civic, ethnic, or religious groups.
- Manage large history projects for businesses or organizations, doing interviews, conducting re- search, writing the final narrative, and overseeing production.
- Work with old photos and memorabilia, to preserve and restore the originals and create copies that can be used in various forms of personal history.
- Work with libraries, universities, and historical societies to preserve the history of a special person or organization.
- Lead life story writing groups that help participants tell their own stories.
- Work with you as a project planner, coaching you through the process of creating your own per- sonal history.
- Teach you how to: interview relatives and record and edit their stories; write your own (or your family’s) life story; write an ethical will or legacy letter (expressing your values, hopes, and wishes for the next generation).