How to interview your family members

It’s tough to ask tough questions

Have you ever wanted to ask questions of your relatives and backed away because it was not “a good time?” We have.

It’s time to get busy. Grab a notepad, make sure your audio and video recorders are sufficiently stocked with new batteries, put on your listening ears and initiate your family research.

It may be uncomfortable for some relatives to open us. That’s natural. Learning what to ask and who to ask questions of, are key to your success. Before you get knee deep in researching family history, make a list of your prospective interview subjects by simply asking, “do you mind if I interview you (or discuss with you) about our family history?”

Once you get to “yes,” you are on your way to discovering the gems and rough spots in your family.

How to handle interviews

You should seek information from everyone in your family, friends, neighbors, clergy, co-workers of your loved one. Whoever is willing to open up and share, are great informants.

  1. Often the oldest person you can speak to in your family, is the best source for robust information about your loved ones.
  2. Daughters and sons of elderly parents are often great sources of information to aid in your genealogy research.
  3. Neighbors, cousins and other relatives of all ages are great sources of information. Our maternal great grandfather’s delayed birth certificates lists a relative and neighbor as informants for Eugene Gibson Owen, Sr. to obtain his official documentation some 56 years after his birth. See below:
Great Grandfather Eugene G. Owen, Sr.’s delayed birth certificate from the state of Tennessee. He was 56 years old when received.

Who should your interview?

  1. Ask your interviewees if they are comfortable being recorded by video and audio devices, or other means. Negotiate for your best mutual benefits.
  2. This is not the time to pretend you are Oprah Winfrey or another celebrated interviewer who may garner as much attention as the interview subject.
  3. Remember that some matters are touchy subjects. Be sensitive to the questions that may not immediately or ever yield you answers from the person(s) you interview.
  4. Be humble. Humility goes a long way in family discussions.
  5. Listen. Listen. Hear them. Listen. Don’t overtalk your interview subject.
  6. Do not judge their comments. Their comments may not agree with today’s understanding of similar situations. For instance, some of our relatives stressed the importance of being silent against stiff situations involving racist behaviors towards them. Some interviewers may prefer to speak up, or vice versa in such situations.
  7. Organization matters. Establish your goals in interviewing your loved ones through a series of inquiries you have developed out of natural curiosity and “things” you may have heard or been told through family grapevines.
  8. Be flexible. Your established goals to glean certain information may not be forthcoming. In some cases, you may have to adapt your interview collection methods to meet your relatives where they are. For instance, I provided one of my loved ones with the opportunity to record their story. He mailed the cassette recordings to me. I had to locate a cassette player to download the important family data.
Grandson,John C. Kimbrough, (seated) interviews his Grandfather, Dr. Rodney S. Wead, on Wead’s porch in St. Louis.

Schedule time to meet

The more your relatives age, the more questions arise about what the loved ones know that can add value to your family’s history.

  1. Schedule a mutually convenient time to hold a virtual or in person meeting.
  2. The interviewer should make the request and establish the approximate length of the meeting. In person meetings tend to be longer than online meetings. Allow for the extra time.
  3. Plan for multiple meetings to gain a wide berth of information about your family.

Location matters

  1. Where you meet is key to the success of the information you obtain.
  2. In person meetings should also be guided by where the interviewee wishes to dish out the desired family information.
  3. In some cases, the interviewer may wish to recommend the location for the discussion. For instance, I asked my father to take the most comfortable chair in my home to begin our series of discussions. My maternal grandmother preferred a lunch date. My maternal grandfather was confined to a skilled nursing facility. That’s where I retrieved, we spent three days discussing our family.

What you should ask

There are myriad of questions to ask your loved ones in anticipation of great information about your family. One half of the Good Genes Genealogy team — Ann Wead Kimbrough — is a career journalist who’s interviewed perhaps thousands of individuals.

  1. Start with the basics in questions and allow it to build from there. The basic questions are “who, what, when, where, why and how?” Samples of what to objtain from your planned family discussions are found on the information sheets that Good Genes Genealogy Services has provided via its Genealogy Store.
  2. The questions provided in our e-workbook that was designed for the two workshops held on Feb. 11 and Feb. 18, 2023 in partnership with Atlanta’s Hillside International Truth Center, are designed to get at the core of the results needed to effectively conduct genealogy and ancestry research.

Interpreting results

It’s time to edit.

  1. Download your interviews onto another device as soon after your interviews as possible. In journalism circles, we were encouraged to review our reporting and begin writing while the information “was still hot.”
  2. Add notations in the margins of your written notes, or highlight your online reporting, or mark the time codes on your broadcast recording equipment when key points are made.
  3. Check out the information that you obtained. It is easy to get addresses or street names incorrect by your informants. There are plenty of historical maps, street directories, church records, ancestry, governmental and other data available to check the facts.
  4. In some cases, check back with the informants after interviews to help clarify the matters discussed.
  5. Produce your results in formats that are comfortable with you and family members. There are several genealogy books, other guides and even family Bibles that are great sources of recording the information from your well-earned interviews.

Happy researching!

Do not NAP on DNA results

Ann Wead Kimbrough just received her updated DNA results. She is prone to take daytime naps. Or is she?

Here’s what Ancestry.com found:

Taking naps

Ann Lineve Wead Kimbrough’s results

Ann Lineve Wead Kimbrough, your DNA suggests you’re equally likely to be a napper or non-napper.

Based on your genetics, you’re right in the middle—neither more nor less likely than average to take naps.

Nature and nurture

Your DNA affects whether or not you take naps, but your environment makes a bigger impact.

Making the most of your naps

If you’re a napper, keep it short—10 to 20 minutes is likely all you need. Longer naps can leave you groggy. To avoid nighttime wakefulness, end your naps before 3:00 in the afternoon.

Napping can curb your appetite

Missing out on sleep can make you feel hungrier. So taking naps can help you avoid overeating (especially if you nap through dessert).BACK TO SURVEY

Discover more

Tell us about yourself and your family through some simple survey questions. They’re fun and easy to answer.

Your responses help to improve our products, such as your ethnicity estimate and Traits, and to develop new features, which we hope will bring you a deeper understanding of yourself and your family connections.

We may also share aggregated responses, to give you insights into how your answers compare to others. You can always change or delete the responses on this page. Learn more.

Your answers may also be used for scientific research if you agreed to our Informed consent.OK, got it.

Discover more traits

  • NEWMorning or night person
  • Remembering dreams
  • Risk taking
  • Omega-3
  • Vitamin B12

Compare traits

See which traits are unique to you and which ones you share with your DNA matches.

Find out

Genetics & other factors

What affects whether you’re a napper?

Genetics

Ancestry scientists found a lot of DNA markers (over 46,000) connected to taking naps. Some other markers may play a role too.

Environmental factors

People whose schedules require them to rise early tend to take more naps–as do folks whose nighttime sleep is interrupted. And of course, having a daytime schedule that allows for naps makes napping possible in the first place.

What is my result based on?

Your result is based only on your DNA. We compared your DNA to the DNA of more than 650,000 people who answered the question, “Do you take naps?” The large number of responses makes the data reliable. This test has no medical purpose. Nothing in this report is a diagnosis of a health condition or medical disorder. This report is not a substitute for medical advice. Before making any lifestyle or dietary changes, or if you have any questions about how your genetic profile might relate to your health or wellness, please contact your healthcare provider.

From the Philly Voice: “Contributions of Black, Indigenous soldiers detailed in new collection at Museum of the American Revolution”

(Thank you, maggie@phillyvoice.com for this great article)

Nearly 200 historic documents are being digitally archived for public use. Several are on display as part of the Black founders exhibit, including a discharge paper signed by George Washington

PROVIDED IMAGE/MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
The Museum of the American Revolution is partnering with Ancestry to digitize its Patriots of Color archive, which features nearly 200 rare documents bearing the names and stories of Black and Native American soldiers who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

Excerpts

The Patriots of Color archive will be fully digitized and made available online at no cost to the public thanks to a partnership with the genealogy website Ancestry, museum officials said Friday. The Old City museum acquired the documents in 2022 from a private collection, following contributions from several donors.

“At least 5,000 men of color fought in the Continental Army, but their stories aren’t as known as they should be,” said R. Scott Stephenson, president and CEO of the museum. “This archive allows us to explore the extraordinary lives of men who helped to secure independence, yet who have not received the recognition they deserve as American Founders. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Ancestry to share these rich human stories with the world.” 

The documents include Continental Army records related to Jeffrey Brace, who chronicled his life from enslavement to freedom in the 1810 memoir “The Blind African Slave.” 

Brace, born in Africa, was not seized by enslavers until he was about 16 years old. He was shipped to Barbados, where he was treated brutally by an English seaman. He fought in the Seven Years War and was purchased by “widow Stiles” in Woodbury, Connecticut in 1768.

The widow taught Brace to read, and he served in the Continental Army. After being discharged in 1783, he was freed by Stiles’ son. His nickname — Pomp London — appears on several documents in the archive. Several years ago, Rhonda Brace, one of Brace’s descendants, visited the home in Woodbury and the descendants of the family that once enslaved her grandfather, six times removed. 

“They actually brought us down, my dad and I went — my mother wouldn’t go — we went down to what they believe were the slave quarters in the house,” Brace said. “That was very, yeah … But it was something just to be on the property.” 

Key to breaking “brick walls”: Ancestry and genealogy information collectors

Some genealogy and ancestry guides and books used by GGGS’ Ann Wead Kimbrough for her research.

Get forms for family research

Go to the Good Genes Genealogy Services website and utilize the forms that we made available especially for participants in our two-part Sankofa Genealogy workshop in partnership with Hillside International Truth Center.

Since the first workshop on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, several participants have telephoned, texted, emailed and visited their relatives to gather information needed for their individual family searches. It is healing and helpful for your family and friends to discover their histories.

The forms in this workbook are helpful for recording family histories.

Way to get the book?

  1. Go to Good Genes Genealogy Services‘ website.
  2. Then go to the Genealogy Store link.
  3. Select e-book.
  4. Customer information will be available to be populated for completion of the $5 workbook.

Thank you!

Please join our Hillside family in this month’s Sankofa activities and fellowship.

Legacy partners present free, Third Annual Sankofa Genealogy workshops

Get your e-workbook

Join us at 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, for a valuable workshop via Zoom designed to prompt participants to find their “lost” loved ones and gain joy, satisfaction, identity and spiritual uplift on the journey. The workshop focuses on Black Genealogy and Ancestry family research and more.

Sankofa Genealogy workshop attendees are asked to purchase the companion workbook. Go to our website and select “Genealogy Store.” You will be able to download your copy after selecting the book cover image (see below) to pay for your book. All proceeds offset our free and low-cost, year-round genealogy consulting services. Kimbrough and Owen are the co-authors and Veverly Byrd-Davis is the book designer and illustrator of the cover.

Part two and final 2023 Sankofa Genealogy workshop will be held at the same time, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. Details will be provided next week.

Partners sponsoring this workshop.

Ann Wead Kimbrough and Mark Owen, first cousins and genealogists of GGGS, will facilitate the workshops for the third year.
Workshop partner leadership: Presiding Bishop Jack L. Bomar, Rev. Sharon Hodnett (Zoom ologist) and Dr. Marian Gamble (Assisting Zoom ologist)

Zoom meeting details

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86148300328?pwd=R2djSXUrNXI1SFF1TTM1NlJ3S2lZdz09

Meeting ID: 861 4830 0328
Passcode: 02112023
Dial: 929 205 6099 US

Looking for our ancestry love in all the right places

Genealogy and ancestry “hunters” come in all ages.

‘Back in the day,’ our ancestors’ version of social media was human contact. Stories were shared by village griots about our roots. Physical signs such as smoke were used to communicate. Entries were manually entered into family Bibles. Long visits with food-in-hands were made to families whose loved ones transitioned. Telephone calls were made on rotary dial devices. Telephone company operators connected calls between lines.

Storytelling among family via original stories and those read from informative books, are valuable to pass along family history.

Today, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of daily opportunities for the novice to serious genealogy and ancestry “hunters” to find details about their loved ones. One of the obvious, natural sources of data gathering is apparent in our daily doses of media. Whether current TV newscasts or historical clippings from newspapers, there are photos and stories waiting for us to find and connect them to our ancestors.

Social media is a great source to find relatives. Social media is not limited to Meta, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or Pinterest. In 2019, Meriam-Webster Dictionary defined social media as:

“… forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)…”

Meriam-Webster Dictionary

There are so many sites that apply to this definition and that is where the Good Genes Genealogy Team invites you to begin or resume your ancestry research. According to Datareportal, nearly 5 billion social media users are regular users on thousands of different sites. On average, 7.2 sites are visited each month by users. The top reason why we utilize social media is to remain in contact with living and deceased friends and families. Often, we receive news about the passing of a loved one from social media sources.

To help jog your brain, here are a few of the platforms that are part of our social media community:

  • Church websites
  • Sorority and fraternal websites
  • Community blogs and vlogs
  • Every app on cellular phones
  • Government resources
  • Newspapers
  • TV and Radio
  • Event, show bookings
  • Tradeshows
  • Quiz sites
  • Dissertation sites
  • Publications, ranging from scholarly to trade
  • Lots more sites are revealed on Datareportal:

Here’s an important tip on locating historical points on the QuizDaily website. It opened clues to one of our client’s family members.

“In 1832, the Georgia Infirmary became the first hospital for African Americans when it opened on Christmas Eve. Established by the Georgia General Assembly and a $10,000 grant from the estate of a merchant and minister named Thomas F. Williams, the Georgia Infirmary was built 10 miles south of Savannah, Georgia. In 1974, the infirmary was renamed the Adult Day Center; it is still an operating facility.”

https://www.quizdaily.com/quiz/61e84610f2c1d0000825d16f?utm_source=intro&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=63d09d81816737bda7888548

What you see and what you get in finding and understanding your Black, African and Caribbean roots in the U.K.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

In the worldwide Census data collection and distribution, there are straightforward and confusing results within the same reports. In the U.K. (England and Wales), the percentage of whites, for example, increased in the latest Census due to:

The ethnic groups used in the 2021 Census were slightly different from the 2011 Census ethnic groups.

There were 2 changes in 2021 – the ‘Roma’ group was added under the ‘white’ ethnic group, and people could write their own response under the ‘black African’ ethnic group.

As a result, figures for the white other and black African and black other ethnic groups may not be directly comparable for 2011 and 2021, although the groups concerned account for very low percentages of the overall population.

https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest

The Romani, or Roma as they are known, were once the EU’s largest minority group and now the addition of their population has increased the “white” column in the 2022 U.K. Census data. Romas are counted in the 2022 U.K. Census — actually in two categories. Why? That’s the straight forward-yet confusing data that is found in the U.K. Census.

As a result, the change in how whites and African-connected heritages are reported resulted in the latest data released about the ethnic, Caribbean, African and white populations in England and Wales. The latest results are not comparable to other years.

Over time, here’s what shows up as percentages of the entire population. Note that what I derived from the overall data will not equal 100 percent. See the full table of data:

Population %2021 %2011 %2001

Black4.03.32.2
Black African2.51.80.9
Black other0.50.50.2
Mixed2.92.21.3
Mixed White/Black African0.40.30.2
Mixed White/Black Caribbean0.90.80.5
Black Caribbean1.01.11.1
White British74.480.587.5
White other6.24.42.6
Roma0.2N/AN/A
Notice all “Black” categories

The Gov.UK December 2022 report on its ethnic facts and figures are as follows:

  • According to the 2021 Census, the total population of England and Wales was 59.6 million and 81.7% of the population was white.
  • People from Asian ethnic groups made up the second largest percentage of the population (9.3%), followed by black (4.0%), mixed (2.9%) and other (2.1%) ethnic groups.
  • Out of the 19 ethnic groups, white British people made up the largest percentage of the population (74.4%), followed by people in the white ‘other’ (6.2%) and Indian (3.1%) ethnic groups.
  • From 2011 to 2021, the percentage of people in the white British ethnic group went down from 80.5% to 74.4%.
  • The percentage of people in the white ‘other’ ethnic group went up from 4.4% to 6.2% – the largest percentage point increase out of all ethnic groups.
  • The number of people who identified as ‘any other ethnic background’ went up from 333,100 to 923,800.

The take away

  1. Confusing data and materials as recorded by government sources, further the “brick wall” frustration. Don’t be. Dig deeper to get results.
  2. Census data — whether U.S. or U.K. or any other county, area — should always be deeply examined.
  3. Once you review the data, go deeper. Click on all links and take hints to follow the accuracy of the data.
  4. The goal is to gain clarity about what’s behind the statistics, materials and the conditions the results are produced.
  5. The other primary goal is to learn the truth about where our ancestors lived, how they lived, and more.

It’s here! Your next e-workbook is ready in time for our exciting Sankofa Month Genealogy workshop

The Good Genes Genealogy Services Team is pleased to offer our third annual Black Genealogy workshops, 10 – 11 a.m., Saturdays, Feb. 11 and 18, 2023, in partnership with Hillside International Truth Center, Atlanta, GA. We remain in a virtual setting via Zoom.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86148300328?pwd=R2djSXUrNXI1SFF1TTM1NlJ3S2lZdz09

Meeting ID: 861 4830 0328
Passcode: 02112023
Dial: 929 205 6099 US

Hillside’s leadership generously is offering our workshops for free. Cousins Ann Wead Kimbrough and Mark S. Owen, genealogists, are the facilitators for their church’s genealogy workshops. The workshops are open to our worldwide audience.

Kimbrough and Owen specialize in “breaking down brick walls” to find the “hard-to-find” Black ancestors whose histories are usually intertwined with others from contrasting backgounds, such as former slave owners. Kimbrough and Owen have several success stories in helping genealogy workshop participants and other clients to locate their “lost” loved ones. Hillside’s Presiding Bishop Jack L. Bomar, is among those who learned a “great blessing” of family history through the Good Genes Genealogy Services’ research about his family.

Sankofa Genealogy workshop attendees are asked to purchase the companion workbook. Go to our website and select “Genealogy Store.” You will be able to download your copy after selecting the book cover image (see below) to pay for your book. All proceeds offset our free and low-cost, year-round genealogy consulting services. Kimbrough and Owen are the co-authors and Veverly Byrd-Davis is the book designer and illustrator of the cover.

As a preview to the first workshop, we will explore the “natural” and online ways to find your ancestors whose heritage is from the African diaspora. Participants will also learn helpful tips and receive encouragement from the valued benefit of locating and celebrating our individual and collective Black family ancestries.

Black History Month Genealogy Tour

Don’t you love Black History Month? Although February is the shortest month in days of our calendar year, it is nonetheless a time to pause, respect and relish the fantastic achievements of African American, Black and Caribbean ancestors whose works and lives were largely ignored or never revealed.

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

That’s where your great genealogy research comes in. This month, hopefully the multitude of U.S. and global Black History Month recognitions, will prompt you to uncover new finds from your family. Tour museums. Visit special sites. Listen to great lectures. Watch broadcasts on public broadcasting and other media channels that provide insight on the lives that were courageously and well lived.

Thanks to the creation of and steadfast lobbying of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, we celebrate Black History Month. Woodson was the second black person to receive a doctorate degree from Harvard University, received two degrees from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor degree in Literature from Berea College. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Today, some may shrug our shoulders about Woodson’s academic, literature, social and educational achievements. Yet, pause for a moment and think about when and where and how he accomplished so much after being born to former slaves and in poverty in 1875 to former slaves in Virginia. He worked smart during the era with remnants of the slave codes and other racial threats to his life. Yet, he authored several books, founded major organizations, and although he was never married and had no children, Woodson’s influence is an integral part of Black families around the globe.

Here are a few of the exciting happenings this month to honor Black History, beginning with the Good Genes Genealogy Services workshop:

  • Good Genes Genealogy Services is presenting its 3rd annual Sankofa Black Genealogy Workshop in partnership with Hillside International Truth Center. It’s free and you will be encouraged to purchase our workbook. Coming soon!
Metro Atlanta Chapter of the AAHGS is sponsoring this event with the Georgia Archives

Please add your Black History Month events and the Good Genes Genealogy Services team will continue to update the great events throughout the month of February 2023.

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