It has been a few weeks since I returned from the conference and they have been very busy weeks. I will be posting my experiences at the NGS conference over the next few blog posts.
I was assisting Louise St. Denis and Susanna de Groot of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies at the booth for the Institute and the booth for Heritage Productions in the marketplace.
Tuesday was a tourist day. Susanna and I walked up to Fountain Square to have a look around and the Findlay market was there.
We then walked down to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center located down by the Ohio River. It was a wonderful museum.
New things were learned and it was interesting to see the references to people who ended up in Canada and their experiences.
We went to the Rockbottom Micro Brewery Pub in Fountain Square for lunch. It was really good and the servers were very friendly.
After lunch we walked down to the Cincinnati Public Library to have a look at the daguerreotype of the city.
We saw a print that was on display on the main floor and then went upstairs to view the original that was kept behind a screen and in the dark to protect it.
When we entered the local history room the librarian opened the screen and turned on a back light so we could see it. It is amazing this piece of history still exists.
That evening I went to the FamilySearch bloggers/media dinner and met some old and new friends. I met Amanda Perrine of Amanda’s Anthaeum blog. Our blogs share an anniversary. Someone kindly took our picture.
We stayed at a hotel near the Cincinnati airport in Hebron Kentucky. So it was time to go back to the hotel for an early start the next morning.
On the topic of Irish research there is a post at the findmypast.ie blog called “The Petty Sessions order books” which looks at their value to the researcher. The other is Irish Genealogy News with a post called “Database updates its list of registers” which looks at IrishGenealogy.ie and their quiet updates.
The National Archives Blog has updated the status of the swan family on the grounds of the Archives with a post called “Very fine swans indeed.” They also have a post called “Information management through music” which looks at usability in records management.
On Marian’s Roots and Rambles there is a post called “Just the Hint of a Smile” where she shares her experiences in collecting the oral history of her community.
The Family Recorder is providing a bit of history to go along with the Olympic torch relay in her posts called “Olympic torch route.” She has a new post for each day of the relay.
The In-Depth Genealogist has a post called “Genealogical Journaling” and it provides some good insights into using journaling to help with your research.
What were your favourite blog posts this past week?
Gena Philibert-Ortega is on a virtual book tour promoting her new book “From the Family Kitchen.” You can find the schedule for her virtual book tour here. She writes the Food.Family.Ephemra blog.
Gena will do a drawing for a free book to one reader chosen among all the comments on her virtual book tour, so please comment on her guest post.
The Passionate Genealogist is pleased to present a guest post by Gena Philibert-Ortega author of “From the Family Kitchen.”
Serving tea at the community kitchen at Bardon, October 1942. State Library of Queensland. http://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryqueensland/3960299073/
It’s always amazing to me how family memories can be so different. While you may have specific food memories about your grandmother, your cousin’s memories offer a different perspective and could add to what you already know. I remember every summer as a child my family would visit my maternal grandmother and stay with her for a few weeks. Inevitably one of the foods we enjoyed while there was watermelon. A cousin later told me that my grandmother had warned him as a small child that if he swallowed any watermelon seeds, the fruit would grow in his stomach. (I believe this was probably an effort on her part to make him behave.) He feared eating watermelon because of the potential fruit that would take over his stomach. Now something as everyday as eating watermelon reminds me of my cousin who grew up believing that he was destined to have a watermelon grow inside of him.
One way to learn more about your family’s food history is by asking questions of family members, either informally through an email or more formally as a structured interview. You can contact family members through email correspondence or through social networking sites such as Facebook where you can conduct a private chat or send a private message to a group of family members. Sending a message to a group of people allows family members to read each other’s responses, which may help trigger more memories. This is a great way to solicit memories from the younger generations in your family.
So what kinds of questions should you ask about food? Well that all depends on what information you want to learn. Do you want to learn about holiday celebrations? Do you want to learn about immigrant foods? Do you want to learn more about what a great-grandmother cooked?
To help you get started with questions to ask, I’ve included the following interview questions, but don’t limit yourself to just these. As the person you are interviewing tells their story, you’ll likely think of additional follow-up questions. Don’t be afraid to ask these. It’s important to see where the interview leads you and not be too rigid. Some questions you can include in your interview are:
Family History and Food
What did you eat as a child?
What did you eat at your grandparent’s house?
What did the older people eat in the family (sometimes this can be different than what the children are willing to eat)?
Did you eat anything as a child that your family would not be willing to eat now?
What was your favorite meal growing up?
How did you learn to cook? Who taught you?
What was your first meal that you prepared?
How was food different when you married?
What did your in-laws serve that was different? What were their food traditions?
Was any of the food you ate handed down from immigrant ancestors? If you were the immigrant, then what foods did you continue to prepare once in the United States? What ingredients were difficult to find? Did you change the recipe at all?
Who was the best cook in the family? Why? What did they prepare?
What kinds of desserts did you eat? Did you have a favorite?
Holidays/Special Occasions
What holidays, if any, did your family celebrate?
What was served for holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas?
Did you have any traditional dishes that were served each year?
Did you eat any foods that were not traditional for that holiday?
Who cooked at family gatherings?
Did your family ever host a large gathering like a 25th or 50th wedding anniversary or a wedding?
How was food served differently at a holiday or special occasion than a normal dinner?
What was served at birthday parties?
What occasions did the extended family come together for? Who attended those occasions?
What, if any, were the foods or beverages your family abstained from because of religious beliefs?
Additional questions and information about interviewing family members can be found in my new book From the Family Kitchen.
