Archiving a Personal History Collection: Where to Start

Merriam-Webster defines genealogy as, “​​an account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms.” This basically means looking at your ancestors and tracking your family tree. Why does it matter? Why bother looking into personal history? This question can have different answers for different people. For me, it is about a variety of things: connection to roots, documentation of the past, and a search for the answer of “where did my family come from?” It is a sense of curiosity and a desire to remember and document these people that drives me. 

Often, families will have an unofficial “Family Historian.” This is usually someone who expressed interest in the family history, speaking to older family members and getting excited about family records. Almost inevitably, this family historian ends up with an archive. Family members find this person who is interested, and they pass along the heirlooms that they have to someone who will care for them. This frequently includes letters, photographs, statistical records, and artifacts. 

This means that it is necessary to create a personal archive to organize, preserve, and store this material. The process of organizing a personal collection is an important part of maintenance. This allows it to continue to be searchable and easy to use. In my experience, there are two solid ways of organizing a personal collection. You can organize your collection by person, creating files for individuals within family groups. This is a great way to arrange a collection for searchability. Or you could organize by material, separating by photos, documents, newspapers, etc. This is a very practical way to organize a collection for ease of storage. My personal family collection is organized by person. This allows me to quickly access all the materials of a specific individual. My collection is small, so it is easy to manage in this way.  

Another thing to consider when archiving your own collection is the materials themselves, both the materials already in your collection and the materials you may need to purchase to store and preserve your collection. There are several materials that are commonly found in a personal collection. One of the most common items is photographs. The best way to store these is going to be in individual, acid-free polypropylene photo sleeves. Documents are another common item in a personal collection. The best method for preserving these is to store them unfolded. Mine are stored vertically, with measures in place to ensure that they do not bend or slip downward. Another item that is regularly found in personal collections is newspapers or newspaper articles. Because the paper used for newspapers has a high acid content, it is important that these articles be separate from other materials. I make sure that my newspapers are sandwiched between buffer paper, usually just copy paper to keep it away from the other documents and photos so that the acid does not discolor them. 

There are a few basics that you may need to get started in archiving your own collection. An important thing to keep in mind with supplies is that they should always be acid free to prevent deterioration of your materials. Materials are best stored in archival boxes. These boxes are acid free, and usually have a reinforced metal edge. Acid-free folders are another important component of a personal archive. They allow you to divide your collection to keep it searchable and usable. Pencils should be used to mark your folders instead of pens because they are not permanent and will not transfer permanent ink to your historic materials. These and other archival supplies can be found through sellers such as Gaylord Archival or Hollinger Metal Edge. 

With a family history collection, it is not uncommon for items in the collection to overlap. A document or photograph may include more than one person that you have a file for. Solving for those items means that you have to make a decision. My personal choice is to include that item in the folder of the oldest individual in the group in question. In my notes, I then include information about any other people that are represented in the document or photo in question. Digital collection management systems are incredibly useful in these situations because it allows you to tag files. So you could have the document or photo in one file, but you could tag anyone else that is relevant to that item online.

These collections are always growing and changing, so your personal archive needs to be able to grow with it. It is not a stagnant collection. With new research and the internet, the collection continues to grow, especially allowing a digital collection to expand. This means that you will likely be adding new items. The “Family Historian” is often being given new items, so you have to ensure that they get added to the correct collection, whether that is by person or by material or another way that works better for you. Take notes, add tags, and add it to the physical file. 

This brings me to the topic of digital files. There are a lot of different sources for digital information these days. There are federal records, and additional private sources such as Ancestry or Family Search. Access to new information and original sources is much easier, and storing them on the computer is easier too. I break my collections down by individual inside of family groups. For example, inside the Smith Family Group would be a separate subsection for John Smith. When it comes to digital file naming, pick a system that works for you. I like to have the year, record type, and individual in the file name, which might look something like this: 1880_USCensus_JohnSmith. It is important to maintain safe storage for your digital collections. I prefer to have multiple copies, on physical media such as USB or external hard drives, with a backup in cloud storage to ensure that my information is protected. 

The scope of your collection is important to keep in mind as well. Keep your collections specific. You can create multiple collections, but each collection should be specific. This helps you to avoid scope creep. As you get further into the history, it is easy to draw connections. That means that it is easy for your collection to grow to include people, places, and documents that might not fit the specific parameters for that collection. So keep the collection limited to the scope.

At the end of the day, you have this collection because you care about the history that it holds. Find a system that works best for you. Keep your materials stored safely. Preserve the legacy that you have worked so hard to uncover. And if you would like some professional help with your collection, please reach out to me to set up a consultation!